I've found, somewhat locally, a small horizontal mill for relatively cheap. Other than a few horrible dimly lit flip phone pictures of it sitting under a mezzanine staircase, the only info I have is "It was built by John Bertram & Sons". Did a quick Google search, and turned up only the company history from Dundas, ON, no info about machines they built. Finding manuals or specs or anything like that is unlikely. This guy is selling it for his dad. They never used it, and want the space back in their shop. He got it from a friend that apparently used it 3-4 years ago. So, more likely 10 years ago. Looks pretty dusty from being under open stairs, and some light surface rust from humidity. Asked approx weight, and he says maybe 4000lbs, which I don't think is accurate. Might be 1500 at the most. Has one cutter on the arbor. Asked if any tooling comes with, he said he doesn't think so. Doesn't look to be any vise with it. Asking will likely get an "I don't know".
Using the surroundings as a gauge (stair treads and corrugated steel on wall behind), I would peg this at maybe 5 feet high max. It is also mounted on a stand, which makes up about half of the height. This is certainly not a big unit, probably just a bit bigger than a "bench top" unit.
He's a nice enough guy, and gets back to me pretty quick, which is a bonus for any online classifieds. I doubt that he has any others interested in it. I offered 1/3 of his asking price, he countered with 1/2, which still isn't too bad. Parting out would be impossible, but might be able to recover costs in scrap if it came down to that. Just trying to figure out if it's worth the 2 hour trip one way to pick this up in the gas guzzler. Go-go juice ain't exactly free, and spare time is non-existent with a toddler and an infant.
Anyone who has any input, would be much appreciated. If anyone knows anything about Bertram machines, I'd like to know as well.
Using the surroundings as a gauge (stair treads and corrugated steel on wall behind), I would peg this at maybe 5 feet high max. It is also mounted on a stand, which makes up about half of the height. This is certainly not a big unit, probably just a bit bigger than a "bench top" unit.
He's a nice enough guy, and gets back to me pretty quick, which is a bonus for any online classifieds. I doubt that he has any others interested in it. I offered 1/3 of his asking price, he countered with 1/2, which still isn't too bad. Parting out would be impossible, but might be able to recover costs in scrap if it came down to that. Just trying to figure out if it's worth the 2 hour trip one way to pick this up in the gas guzzler. Go-go juice ain't exactly free, and spare time is non-existent with a toddler and an infant.
Anyone who has any input, would be much appreciated. If anyone knows anything about Bertram machines, I'd like to know as well.