Cincinnati LL horizontal mill

Plum Creek

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I just picked up a dial type Cincinnati #2, LL, horizontal mill. Ordinarily I would be pretty jazzed but the odds of this machine ever putting out parts look pretty slim. It has no tooling or arbor and is in pretty sad shape, but I knew that when I bought it. It may end up as a parts donor, but at least it didn't end up at the scrappers I guess. Still kind of sad to see though.
 
What spindle taper does it have? You could always get a couple collets and use it like a vertical mill on it's side. I do that with mine quite often.
Mark S.
 
The only LL manual I could find indicates a #50 INT taper.
Its going to take a while to clean up enough of the damage to test it.
Todays task are to scope the inside of the column for rust, and test the main motor. When they drained all the fluids they left the cap off the column fill and we've been getting lots of rain.
 
I didn't get the motor tested, but it was free and bearings sound decent. Flushed and drained what was left in the gearboxes, and filled the column with DTE medium and rotated by hand. No unusual sounds, shifts and moves oil through the sight glass. Fwd/rev selector handle broken through the pin.
Moved the sight gauge from the coolant to the knee to replace the one they drove a screwdriver or bar through. I guess it was easier than removing the plug.
I also cleaned and lubed the overarm and its drive. It works well now.
Knee motor is free.
The table trip lever (above the open hole) is stuck hard and will probably require removal of the table.
IMG_3331.jpgIMG_3333.jpg

IMG_3332.jpgIMG_3316.jpg
 
Hello @Plum Creek,

Your "new" machine doesn't look much worse than mine when I first found it:
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/gallery/early-peek.94581/

I spent extra care cleaning the sand and dirt out of all the oil channels that the wasps had left behind....vacuum, wire, wire "bottle" brushes, pipe cleaners and lots of rags and time!

I started by going over the machine and removing the loose crud and hitting every moving part and oil hole with a 50/50 mix of ATF (automatic transmission fluid) and acetone. If you can let whatever is stuck sit with that on, and even refreshing the fluid for a few days, you might be able to loosen things up.

Once things were loose I switched over to ISO-32 tractor hydraulic oil. I bought some old sight-glass, drip-feed oilers and some new gits type oilers.

I slowly learned all the controls while still turning the flywheel by hand.

I am not sure how the Cincinnati "LL" differs from the other models......are you?
There are a few manuals here:
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/resources/categories/cincinnati-except-grinders.30/

and at least some of that should apply to your machine, because mine was made in 1916 and is very similar to those manuals is some respects.

Good Luck, and please keep us informed!

-brino
 
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Hi brino

Thanks, Yea they both look pretty rough. Is that you in the pic? ;)

At this point I am using mostly orange glo hand cleaner, rags, wire brushes, small brass brushes on the ways, way oil, 3in1 oil, Heat gun on the paint where there are no seals etc.

Its a 1962 Dial type, #2J2P5L-6. According to what I read, it is a 205MI plain model. Its all hydraulic feed and oiling, no 1 shot or oil cups anywhere. I don't know have any information on the LL designator yet.

Thanks for the heads up on the manuals. I found a manual that is pretty close over at Vintage. I have seen a few Videos of a Cincinnati Horiz mill being operated and combined with the manual I think I am beginning to get a grasp of the operation.

Is yours up and running?
 
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That's quite the project. Table looks to be in pretty nice shape, with just the one cutter mark on it. It would be a real iron eater if you get it up and running. Cheers, Mike
 
Awesome job brino, on both the machine and the microscope! I wouldn't have thought of using a flycutter on that.
 
Thanks Mike. It is a quite a project. Its kind of a low priority which gives me more time to research my next step. We just got 7" of rain so today is a cleanup day in the shop. Hopefully I can get the table off.
 
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