help with Van Norman Milling Machine 1/2

[ironmans10]

Hello I have a Van Norman Milling Machine 1/2 . I would like to put a Bridgeport Milling J head on the over arm . needs some there ideas on the best way to do it .any help appreciated. I have pic if need some.

 

[HMF]

I'm gonna move this to the VN section- we have an expert on this mill there....

 

[Cal Haines]

Hello I have a Van Norman Milling Machine 1/2 . I would like to put a Bridgeport Milling J head on the over arm . needs some there ideas on the best way to do it .any help appreciated. I have pic if need some.

Here's a few pics of a 1/2 with an M head mounted on the overarm:





Cal

 

[toag]

hi cal,
Why did you mount it off center? is this so you do not need to move the head while doing horizontal milling?
Good idea!

 

[Cal Haines]

hi cal,
Why did you mount it off center? is this so you do not need to move the head while doing horizontal milling?
Good idea!

That's the way the machine was when I bought it.

Cal

 

[toag]

Haha
Or that :allgood:

 

[Timmah450]

I also have a Van Norman 1/2 mill from the waltham watch company. I bought it used with a Bridgeport m-head cobbled on to it. I ended up having to re-mount the head on the 90 deg adapter about 3" higher to be able to clear Driil chucks and longer bits. A J-head is to big for this machine. I'm thinking of mounting an Atlas 10" spindle and converting it back to do all style mill it originally was. Ill post a better picture later today.


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[Reeltor]

I would love to have a quill on my VN22L, but I refuse to pay more for a bridgeport head than what I paid for the entire mill including tooling. Any cheap(er) alternatives that have been used?

Mike

 

[Uglydog]

Please help me to understand.

Seems like the real value in a VN is the flexibility to run her in Vertical or Horizontal mode, albeit without a quill feature.
If you ad a (Bridgy, Tree, etc) head, then it would seem that it would prevent you from using the horizontal arbor support without lifting the head off.

Or do users either frequently not use the horizontal position, or not use the arbor support?


Daryl
MN

 

[Reeltor]

Daryl,

The VN series of mills are extremely versatile and rigid. In the horizontal mode you can really move some metal. In fact, more metal than my pucker factor will allow :whistle:. In the vertical mode, you can use end or face mills and by having more rigidity than a bridgeport or clone you can run the mills harder without any chatter. The only downside to the VN is when you want to drill and would like the quill feature. For what sellers want for a bridgeport head I can buy a massive (used commercial) drill press. VN did make a quill accessory, they come onto the market very rarely. I don't know why anyone would want a BP head on a VN other than if they were doing a lot of drilling.

You can run a stub mill in the horizontal mode on the VN; I've only done it once using an end mill, and that was dictated by the setup.

For every job, there must be a zillion ways to get it done...