This may be a big mistake, hoping it isn't. A single poor picture in a group of items for sale showed up on Marketplace. After a few days of thinking about it and reading up on the company and the mills it became more interesting. After contacting the seller I was told that it has an R-8 spindle taper. It's in cosmetically rough shape. The spindle and quill don't want to move but everything else is free. The factory power feed controls snap in and out of gear smartly. The motor and idler pulley spin freely with the belt tension off. The X and Y motions are smooth and not too stiff considering that it's been stored outside under a tarp for a few months. The knee elevation shaft was broken when it was moved out of the shop so that will have to be repaired or replaced. It looks like I might be able to just make a new piece for the outer end and sleeve it onto the existing shaft inside the bearing. The stuck quill and spindle are my biggest concern. As soon as I get it to the house I'll flood the spindle and quill area with Kroil and see if I can get things working there. There's an ER holder in the spindle at the moment and it's stuck as well. The price was reflected in the problems I found so if it's not salvageable it's not going to be a huge loss. There are lots of good parts on it including a really oily/dirty Yuasa 6" vise that works smoothly.
It looks like the table and slide have to come off to remove the shaft. I'm not looking forward to that but it will make me give it a good cleaning. There's a little over a half turn of backlash in the X axis but only a little in the Y axis. That really doesn't bother me, though. I probably won't use it enough to make the wear much worse. It's a hobby machine for me and I've already been retired for a few years. I volunteer on a project that's very rewarding and big on fun, restoring the deck guns and other items on the Battleship USS Texas. The travels on my round column Jet-16 are not what I need for the work on the big guns. Some of the projects include drilling new brass plates for electrical boxes and other larger flat work. A bigger mill and the ability to change the Z height without the round column issues will be a huge help.
Any and all advice is welcome!
David
It looks like the table and slide have to come off to remove the shaft. I'm not looking forward to that but it will make me give it a good cleaning. There's a little over a half turn of backlash in the X axis but only a little in the Y axis. That really doesn't bother me, though. I probably won't use it enough to make the wear much worse. It's a hobby machine for me and I've already been retired for a few years. I volunteer on a project that's very rewarding and big on fun, restoring the deck guns and other items on the Battleship USS Texas. The travels on my round column Jet-16 are not what I need for the work on the big guns. Some of the projects include drilling new brass plates for electrical boxes and other larger flat work. A bigger mill and the ability to change the Z height without the round column issues will be a huge help.
Any and all advice is welcome!
David
