Hardinge BB4

Thanks, there is quite a bit of info out there on this machine. Attached to the front is a property tag from Friden, a company that used to make mechanical calculators and was instrumental in development of the first electronic calculators. I suspect it was originally used with the index head to cut splined shafts or the like but who knows, it was designed as general purpose small horizontal mill and the guy I bought it from makes bicycle frames. The v-grove is for locating tooling and the attachment allows a part to be milled vertically and is one of the reasons I bought the machine, will be looking for more original attachments or making copies in the future.

It is considerably more stout than a mini lathe, I'd estimate it at around 350lbs. Looking forward to getting it powered up and making some chips....

John
 
Without a doubt, John, this machine is far better and heavier than every modern hobby type machine.

I'll be following this thread to see what you make with it.

Oh, BTW, I have an X & Y table on one of my drill presses that I installed small vernier type digital readout on. I'll bet they would be perfect for this machine.
 
I know there are many digital readouts on the market with short scales for small machines. This is what I have on an X&Y table on a drill press. The X travel is 10.750 inches and the Y is 4.965 inches. I lost a small amount of travel due to the module that reads off of the scale. For a drill press, its ok. As the product info states, they sre powered by 1 or 2 CR2032 3volt batteries that can be found in most dollar stores.20211006_152550.jpg20211006_150106.jpg20211006_150125.jpg
 

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Wow this mill is really small, it is even smaller than a Benchmaster.

I don't think I've ever seen anything on these. Hardinge made another horizontal mill about 2x the size which seems to be more common. Neat little mill though, it might take you some time to find a use for it, but once you get it figured out it should do a good job for you.
 
So I finally got time to hook it up and what do ya know, it doesn't work.

It worked great when I tried it out before I bought it, wired everything up right with a North America static phase converter. It has power where I'd expect it to be as indicated by the red arrows, just when I press the start button nothing happens.

I did wiggle all the wires, and have swapped the manufactured leg to a different wire but still nothing.

Any help would be appreciated....


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Looks like you will need to find a schematic diagram- or buy one
Too many connections to try and diagnose without it
-M
 
markba633csi said:
Looks like you will need to find a schematic diagram- or buy one
Too many connections to try and diagnose without it
-M
Click to expand...
I may contact Hardinge but it kinda has to be either the switch or something with the contractor.

I think….

John
 
I contacted them about my lathes paint color and Sherman Williams paint code took three tries to get someone who would help but they were very nice.
 
Had a chance to look it over and clean things up, tried changing out the power legs again and it fired up. I know I switched the generated leg once already but apparently it wasn't happy with just one attempt.

Now the fun begins, already had some ideas for what to make with it....

John
 
I wasn’t able to operate my TR 59 using a static phase converter; it runs well on a rotary phase converter. The two speed GE motor that Hardinge used is wonderful; so smooth due to precision balancing. Don’t even think about replacing it. I used one of these mills years ago and it’s a great little machine.


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