Help identifying this cute little horizontal mill?

[Winegrower]

Looking for a surface grinder (B&S #2, another story) the seller had this little horizontal mill, on wheels, and when all the dickering was over, it came home. But, there is no marking of any kind on it. The seller thought it was some kind of Hispano-Suiza but no evidence. I saw some bigger H-S mills that looked slightly similar, but not an obvious match.

The table is about 20” long (is that still X axis) and about 4 5/8” deep (Y?). It’s buttery smooth. The arbor is about 9” in usable length, and it’s an unknown taper...around 0.5”/foot, but does not really match exactly any of the many Machinist’s handbook taper standards. Drawbar is 7/16-20 And the table slot width is 3/8”.

Speed changes are via belt/pulley swaps, 120 VAC, with a fully functional wall switch on the side.

I’ve cut one keyway in Aluminum for fun, worked great. I think it’s slow enough for larger cutters. I made enough spacers to fill up the arbor, and have the process down so a custom spacer and broached 1/4” keyway would not take long. Seems like this will come in handy occasionally and it is small enough and mobile to not be a nuisance.

So suggestions about the manufacturer would be really welcome.

 

[matthewsx]

No clue on the maker but she sure is cute....

John

 

[Ulma Doctor]

 

[CluelessNewB]

It reminds me a bit of this Vernon but I don't really think it is a match: http://www.lathes.co.uk/vernon/page3.html

 

[Braeden P]

Looks a bit like a Hardinge

 

[frankly2]

Hard to tell but could be a Nichols, no casting numbers ?

 

[Winegrower]

It reminds me a bit of this Vernon but I don't really think it is a match: http://www.lathes.co.uk/vernon/page3.html

i think you nailed it, CluelessNewB! The lower cast iron base is gone, with a similar but not identical belt drive substituted, the overarm arbor support looks shop made, but everything else appears identical. I will have to research why they describe it as Vernon (Sheldon). If it isn’t original, it’s a direct copy.

Thanks so much, Hobby Machinists do it again!

 

[Ulma Doctor]

It reminds me a bit of this Vernon but I don't really think it is a match: http://www.lathes.co.uk/vernon/page3.html

i too, thought it was a Vernon but this example looks just a little different.
very cool mill

 

[Winegrower]

Apparently there were some changes over time, and some accessories could be added, like a power feed driven off a pully on the back of the spindle. There was (not in mine) a really clever gear reduction built into the belt jackshaft, an “epicyclic” thingy, that apparently could get spindle rotation down to 25 rpm.

Frankly2, there don’t seem to be markings of any kind on the mill...perhaps underneath or inside or somewhere...will keep looking as we use it a bit.

Thanks to you all for your great and helpful comments!

 

[Winegrower]

For the record, after looking around, this looks like a Sheldon #0 mill, without the factory base, no auto feed accessory, maybe less speed control options.