New mill Wells-Index 745

It looks like you have the same style of way wipers I have. I bought new rubber strips from W-I. I got 3 feet of it and it was about $35.

Here's a suggestion regarding lubrication. I have one of these little oil guns and it is great for pushing oil into those zerks.

https://www.machinerypartsdepot.com/product/12PB20

My routine is to put one pump into each zerk, except for the back zerk on the left side of the saddle, which gets two pumps. (It supplies a larger area than the others)

Thanks for the tip T.J that is great info, much appreciated.
 
Excellent work and documentation of the process! I enjoyed reading the thread very much. Looking forward to more.
 
Excellent work and documentation of the process! I enjoyed reading the thread very much. Looking forward to more.

Thank you TerryH, that is very kind of you to say. I am enjoying the process of fixing this old machine up. Thanks for following along.
 
Hey Guys, so I did a little more work on the Mill yesterday.

Since I haven't heard back from Wells index about the parts and haven't had a chance to call Shane during his business hours I figured I would get started referbishing some of the smaller parts sitting in boxes.

I was able to punch out the rivets or what ever they are called to take the Index information plaque off the door.

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I media blasted the coloum door, quill crank and the hand wheels.

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I used the same paint process as for everything else. It was a nice day so I painted the parts outside then let everything bake outside in the sun for few hours before bringing them inside. I'll let them cure for several days before I take them down.

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Forgot to mention... Before painting I masked all the parts off:

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You'll notice I didn't paint the hand wheels as I have something different planned for them.

Instead of paint I decided to powder coat the handwheels low gloss black, should make the finish very wear resistant.

First step was to painstakingly mask off the wheels with high temp tape.

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Then I powder coated and baked the hand wheels.
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Next came polishing the handwheels:
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Hand wheels all done...

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I don't really like the original plastic spinner knobs on the hand wheels... I might replace them with some nicer metal ones. Anyone know what size bolt hole is in the hand wheels?
the holes are larger than 1/4 and smaller the 5/16, seems like Metric 8mm but had an unusal thread pitch. Worst case I can drill them out and tap to a standard size I guess.

That's all I've got for now guys, I'll update when I've done more work.
 
Anyone know what size bolt hole is in the hand wheels?
the holes are larger than 1/4 and smaller the 5/16, seems like Metric 8mm but had an unusal thread pitch. Worst case I can drill them out and tap to a standard size I guess.

Mine aren't threaded at all - the rod is pressed into the wheel. Replacing them is on my to do list as well.
 
Mine aren't threaded at all - the rod is pressed into the wheel. Replacing them is on my to do list as well.

Interesting, thanks T.J. ya mine are just a bolt with a nut on it and the plastic spinner piece just sits between the nut and the bolt head. I wonder if someone just jerry-rigged up the spinner knobs on my machine after breaking the originals.... Maybe I will just drill and re-tap the holes if that's the case.
 
Hi everyone, this is just a very small update.

So I took down all the parts I had recently painted and unmasked them...
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I also put the information plaque back on thr colum door. I used a brass hammer to punch the little pins back in on the 4 corners.

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I also polished up the hinge hardware.
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The door reinstalled on the colum.

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That's about all I have for now.
 
Man, that is some epic restoration work. I'd love to get my 645 looking like that, but based on the progress of my other projects, I'm not sure I want it in parts for like 3 years :rolleyes:

On a related note, on your Miller 211, are you using a 10 lb spool of wire? I have a 211 and it welds great, but it took me a while to figure out that the plastic "nut" that they give you for securing the 10 lb spool onto the axle is terrible. It's either too loose and starts to fall off, or too tight and it causes the wire to slip in the drive roll. Once I finally figured it out, I ditched the nut and, drilled a couple of small holes 180* apart on the axle, and just use a piece of solid 12ga wire to keep the spool from walking to the outside of the machine. Curious if you (or anyone else) has run into this. I made that change like 18 months ago and never thought about it since. /thread hijack over
 
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