Benchmaster Horizontal

Smudgemo

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H-M Supporter Gold Member
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Nov 2, 2012
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I picked this little mill up earlier today as a neat little tool to add to the garage, and maybe do a working restoration on one day. It needs a little work and a motor, but everything seems to work smoothly.

The mounting pate for the motor should adjust, right? I think part of the base broke and someone fixed the position. Any suggestions (or a deal on a motor) would be appreciated. No real tooling came with it, but it won't be difficult to source. Once question I have is regarding a draw bar. Should I be using one, or is the MT2 taper all that's needed to hold a collet?

Best,
Ryan

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Hey Shawn,

Give me some photos and details, would ya? I'm figuring I'll make a draw bar based on the collet threading, but I like to see what I'm shooting for.
 
Thanks, Shawn. That's more or less what I figured to see. I made a draw bar for my lathe, so this won't be any problem once I get some collets and check what is needed for length.

I also just realized this morning that someone put the table on in the wrong direction and it needs to be turned around. Maybe he was left-handed?
 
Congrats, looks like a good find. It is a good size. Last yr I acquired a horiz mill but it is smaller than yours. It only has 1 slot and has a smaller vertical work window. I hope you got a lot of cutters with the mill. The vice is nice also.
Enjoy. Joe
 
Great find! I also have a Benchmaster Vertical mill and love it!

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Yeah! But I still need a motor, and I was *this* close to just ordering one from Grizzly to be done with it when I reread your (Shawn) note about a sewing machine motor. I don't know much about electrical motors, but throwing a large pulley on the spindle and using a variable speed motor seems like a winning combo for good torque at low speeds, but nothing that would kill the bearings with too much speed. I was hoping to get this thing at least running this weekend, but I need to investigate this idea further.

On the project side, the vise was taken apart last night and degreased. I grabbed some evapo-rust at lunch which I'll try tonight before I repaint it. Sort of a "see how this works" sort of thing before tackling the important parts.

Oh, and nice machines!

-Ryan
 
Thanks, Shawn. I'll start researching options for a motor. Sounds like a much better way to go than a straight 1725 rpm a/c.

In other news, the vise restoration is under way.

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Simple Green and Evapo-rust before a quick reassembly for photos. I'll probably grab some paint tomorrow.

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Great looking mill, I have the verticle model and I am planning on putting a Baldor DC 1/3 HP. The manditory controller would give you varable speed. These have lots of torque. A friend put a larger DC on his Bridgeport and it works out great. Another option and probably cheaper is to get a 3 phase motor and a VFD. Then you would have a great set up. 3PH motors are fairly cheap and Factorymation has the TECO VFD's for a little over 100$ plus for $20-30 mort you can get a pot and enclosure for it for varible speed. My $.02
 
Chips!
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I need a bigger pulley for the spindle, but it seems to work well so far.

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