Just got an Index 645...

[zaaephod]

Unrelated, anyone have any ideas on why the spindle travel would be reduced? It only goes to about 4" on the scale vs. the full scale it's supposed to be. And yes, the travel stops are out of the way!

Hi NorseDave,
I recently acquired the same model of mill, and noticed limited quill down feed as well. If you're lucky, your issue will be as simple as mine. The spiral spring behind the quill feed handle was adjusted incorrectly. On my mill, with the quill handle, cover, and inner spring sleeve (it's held in place with a roll pin) removed, I found the quill of the machine would move through its range of motion by hand, pulling it down or lifting it while the quill lock was disengaged.

Do be careful, if you wind the spring without the cover, it looked to me like it could rapidly eject itself into something reminiscent of the old Slinky we all tried in vain to untangle as kids. I'm sure there's a proper technique for adjusting it, but I basically just fiddled with the orientation of the mechanism that engages the inside of the spring until it would rotate through the entire travel of the quill. Looking at the spring, you'd expect it would wind through many revolutions, but that's not the case, it is only just enough to move through the travel of the quill.

I suspect the reason for this condition is because most folks would expect the quill to retract like a drill press, which it's not intended to do, it's only meant to help ease the force required to bring the quill back up. The resulting 'adjustment' would end up with the hook at the end of the spring wedging between the sleeve and the spring, preventing the quill from reaching its full extended position.

Something of note if you do work on this, the sleeve that slips inside the spring has a roll pin through it, but it's not on center, the pin will only go through the assembly at 360 degrees of rotation in relation to the quill feed shaft, I couldn't rotate it only half a revolution. Hope that makes sense.

Hope this helps.
Z

 

[NorseDave]

Hi NorseDave,
I recently acquired the same model of mill, and noticed limited quill down feed as well....
Hope this helps.
Z

Much thanks for the info Z! I will have to dive in and see what I can find. The last, ugh, year has been slow on the progress of bringing the mill back into fighting form, so to speak. I've been using it for stuff and working around the various things that aren't working properly, but one of these days I need to just bite the bullet and tear certain things apart, clean, lube, and rebuild as necessary.

 

[Bobbyc01]

and I have no idea what I'm doing! Needless to say, there will be many inane questions and such to follow, as I have zero machining background. But it's a skill I've been interested in learning for a while now, so I'm looking forward to doing just that.

It's probably a strange route to take, buying a machine with no experience, but its worked out for me with welding, so hopefully this will follow a similar path. I considered getting a membership to one of the "maker spaces" somewhat near me, but for a 6 month membership, I could own a mill instead. I've also heard pretty mixed reviews on the skill levels of the folks that work there and are supposed to help you learn.

Anyway, I'll get started with some pics and then some initial questions. The mill was on Long Island, about 200 mi away from me. The mileage didn't really bother me, but having to drive through NYC w/ a trailer during the week is not my idea of fun. Fortunately, once I got there, loading was not a problem. Hallelujah!

View attachment 244111

The next day, I had to resort to a somewhat lower tech, more physically intensive method to get it off the lift and into place. I'm quite happy I rented the lift deck trailer - made the whole process far less frightening.

View attachment 244112

I ran one ratchet strap around the back of the mill and anchored it to the pair of rings at the end of the trailer. I kept another strap around the throat of the machine and anchored to the forward part of the trailer, which was still attached to the truck. I then gave the upper strap some slack, used the lower strap to slide it on the trailer until the upper strap was taut, and repeated the process, gradually inching it off the trailer. I got it onto some wood, then used some wedges and a prybar to slide the pipes underneath of it, eventually maneuvering it into its temporary spot in my shop. Honestly it was not nearly as bad or as puckering an affair as I expected. No complaints!

My knowledge of the mill itself came mostly from watching a few YouTube vids about the W-I stuff, as well as reading various forums. The guy I bought it from was closing down his father's business and he indicated that it had basically been used as a drill press for the last umpteen years. He didn't really know anything about it, and the guy that knew how to run it had been gone for almost a decade. It certainly needs a good cleaning, which I've just barely started on.

What I've figured out so far:
- Serial # 9746 I think (going from memory), 9x46 table.
- table, saddle, and knee all move through full range of motion. Could probably be a bit smoother, but not horrendous.
- motor runs quietly.
- quill goes down smoothly, a bit slow on the return once you let off it though.
- quill power feed works. This was interesting trying to figure out without any instructions, but I got it after a bit of head scratching and fiddling. Not sure if the mechanism that disengages it when it hits the stop works, I forgot to try that.
- table power feed partially works. Kind of. The feed part works, but the power part is missing! If I put it in the slowest feed rate, I can turn the gearbox shaft by hand, and see the table move.
- table surface is a bit rough with some drill holes. Ways look pretty good, just needed a bit of cleaning.
- has a Bijur (sp?) oil system installed.

Now on to the interesting stuff.

First, I'm not sure if it happened during moving, or if it was like that before, but the handle that releases the tension on the belts was FUBAR. Cracked in two places. It was somehow wedged against the machine such that it would run, but as soon as I moved it, it fell into 3 pieces. So, task #1 was to fab a new handle. After much cutting, bending, welding, and grinding, a new handle was put into service.

View attachment 244113

Next up, a bit of a puzzlement. The housing on the right side of the table, where the hand wheel, lead screw, etc. attach to the table, has been welded back together I have no idea what to make of this, other than it must have taken one heck of a hit. Only the one side shows any welding though.

View attachment 244114

The usual pics of the table, ways, etc.

View attachment 244115 View attachment 244116

The oil reservoir for the oil system looks like it came off a WWII-era submarine.

View attachment 244117

Finally, I'll end with a question. This is under the table at the front. Is this the mechanism for adjusting the table? Is that crack supposed to be there? The other side looks pretty much the same, with a similar crack. It looks too even for it to be a mistake, but the welding on the table housing has me a little spooked.

View attachment 244118

I'm looking forward to learning both this machine and how to use it and appreciate any and all input from those of you with far more experience than I!

Mine is broken as well. This what I was told from previous owner. improper gib adjustment. He placed the table where where it had the most wear, adjusted the gib at that point. When he engaged the power feed the table moved to the unworn area and caused it to break. There is a procedure to properly adjust the gib, and it was not followed. Apparently the factory power feed is unforgivin.

 

[Bobbyc01]

A brief update from today. I've been shooting some PBlaster on the ram ways for the last few days in hopes that will help free up the ram. No luck yet, but I just re-read Ken's suggestion and realized I haven't hit it from the side. I will have to give that a try.

In more exciting news, I actually ran it and made holes with it today! I have some stuff that I make that requires putting ~2" holes in 1/8" steel tubing. My current drill press (Powermatic 1150) only goes down to about 450rpm, which is way too fast for that size hole saw. So I thought I may as well see how the 645 does on that job on a piece of scrap tubing. And the answer is, wonderfully! Far less drama than doing it w/ the drill press. I have it running at the 145rpm setting, used the power downfeed, and it just plain worked with no fuss whatsoever. Also gave me a much nicer finish on both the top and underside of the tubing. So I'm pretty pleased with that.

I did encounter one puzzler that I'm sure someone here can shed some light on. I also tried just a plain twist drill - about 3/8", don't remember exactly - and the power downfeed kicked out way before it had hit the vertical stop that is supposed to kick it out. I think it was probably right around when the full diameter of the drill got into the metal. I recall someone mentioning in another thread there is an adjustment for the downfeed clutch, is that what I need here? Possibly related, are these little shims supposed to be like this?

View attachment 245120

Did you find a manual?

 

[8696steve]

Manuals are still available from
wells-index under resources.