first mill and its a Wells Index 745

Looks like a beast! No problem with a few battle scars. No problems that can't be overcome
 
The elevation shaft bent is a easy fix. Mine was bent too. Chop it off, make a stub shaft to fit into a bore in the main shaft. Loctite and a couple of tapered pins and it's fixed. More to it than that. Or you could make a totally new shaft if you like. Your call. Word of caution, There is a set screw holding the bevel gear on the shaft. Get that screw out before attempting to remove the shaft.
 
The elevation shaft bent is a easy fix. Mine was bent too. Chop it off, make a stub shaft to fit into a bore in the main shaft. Loctite and a couple of tapered pins and it's fixed. More to it than that. Or you could make a totally new shaft if you like. Your call. Word of caution, There is a set screw holding the bevel gear on the shaft. Get that screw out before attempting to remove the shaft.

No access to a lathe (yet) so i'm limited to the tools at hand. :)
Thank you for the heads up on that set screw. Been watching Steve Watroba's Wells Index 747 teardown and rebuild videos. Though its a different model, it has a lot of similarities. Unfortunately, a lot of small differences in those models too.
After removal, I was thinking of just heating it up and letting the press straighten it back out to "close enough". As far as i can tell, what i lose in temper/strength at that end of the shaft by heating it really should have little effect since it only receives rotational force, and not a lot of that. I could easily be wrong on that (wouldnt be the first, or last, time) so if thats a dumb idea, it would be great to know that before i do it.
 
No access to a lathe (yet) so i'm limited to the tools at hand. :)
Thank you for the heads up on that set screw. Been watching Steve Watroba's Wells Index 747 teardown and rebuild videos. Though its a different model, it has a lot of similarities. Unfortunately, a lot of small differences in those models too.
After removal, I was thinking of just heating it up and letting the press straighten it back out to "close enough". As far as i can tell, what i lose in temper/strength at that end of the shaft by heating it really should have little effect since it only receives rotational force, and not a lot of that. I could easily be wrong on that (wouldnt be the first, or last, time) so if thats a dumb idea, it would be great to know that before i do it.
Yeah, the 747 is slightly different. Should be good for most anything down below the head, very little changes. The real changes didn't happen until the 800 series came out. As for heating up the shaft to straighten, go for it! There's not much critical to the shaft or what runs on it. And my guess is, it's just a piece of 1018 or 1215 cold rolled steel shafting. So you don't have to worry about disturbing any heat treatment in the shaft.
Ken
 
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