Barker PM rebuild and upgrade

Aaron David

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Late last year I spotted, just before heading out of town, a small Barker PM horizontal mill for sale within driving distance. Due to the fact that I was heading out of town I did not have a chance to take any action on this, and thought, due to the low price of $500 that it would go quickly. But, imagine my surprise when I spotted it being relisted for sale a couple months later, and now the price had dropped 20%. I quickly made plans to go check it out, saw that it was in good conditon, with only the actuating arms having been replace. Not sure of how I would squeeze it into my tiny shop, I purchased it anyhow, figuring that I would make it work somehow.

Here is the sellers photo from the ad:


And pictures of it loaded in the back of my truck:
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As you can see, at some point all of the actuating handles have been modified, which doesn't bother me as I plan to change it over to dial feed, which should be a simple process as that was one option they were available with new. I did, however come with a instant reversing motor, with will get switched over to my South Bend.

At this point I have it disassembled into large components for cleaning and ease of moving it around:


Here it is being test fitted into the spot I carved out for it, although this isn't quite how it will end up.

I have a bigger sheet metal tray to place it on (full sheet baking tray) arriving today, hopefully, and I still need to poly the butcher block it will sit on. But I am very happy with the Delta stand I found for a tool base, as it will give extra storage underneath.
 
Dials seem like a really good idea. Seems like levers could easily lead to crashes if the cutters grabbed. Seems like a very special use tool.
 
These were often used as second operation units, set up for single, repetitive use. The machinist I bought it from used it for making small specialty nuts that locked in channels when tightened. He would make thousands per order, and this thing worked great for that. I plan on changing it, with the dials and an angle plate, over for more general use in working on small things.

These are very heavy duty for such a small unit, and this one came with a 3/4hp motor, reportedly they have no issues with cutting steel.
 
Reminds me somewhat of my Hardinge. Will be watching what you do with it for ideas.

John
 
Funny coincidence. I had a barn find last week. I came home with a Barker PM horizontal mill. The good, it was free and appears all original. Handles etc… the bad is it sat outside in the rain for 3 years. So I’ll be attempting to restore it (second machine tool restoration project for me). It’s serial number 1150, so my guess, until I see more info is it was made in the late 1950s. Any one know a source of parts, or have access to a manual in pdf form?

Thanks
 
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