VN New to me Van Norman No 12

[markba633csi]

I see that broken handwheel- braze repair possibly? or retrofit a handwheel from another machine (but it's nice having the originals)
-Mark
PS I would consider bringing in a 220/240 volt service for the machine- many more options for power (and more efficient)

 

[Stefants]

Sweet! What's the plan of attach when you say 'ripping it down"?...I'll be watching...

Sorry I didn’t reply earlier...Tapatalk seems to have deleted Hobby Mahinist on me!

I’ll need to disassemble everything to get it to the basement, and I plan to thoroughly clean the innards and paint while I’m at it. everything moves as far as I can tell. The guy who sold it to me had hosed it down at a car wash to clean it up, so I’d really like to get it ripped apart before stray water has a chance to eat it.

I count at least 8 sub assemblies that will move one at a time once moving happens. Until then it’ll be a garage denizen, scattered in pieces once I get to taking it apart. Step 1 is to get it to the point where I can semi-conveniently get it stored away and pull it out to work on it while reclaiming my parking spot!

I already know I need to repair/replace the power feed drive shaft, work on that hand wheel (though that’s more cosmetic overall...a quick and dirty L shaped handle would work fine), I see a broken sight glass, and I suspect it’s missing an oil plug at the moment (what worries me is the potential indication that it could have been run without proper luv in place). There’s a bit of a gnarly noise when I move the table...not too bad, but we’ll see what I’m up against when I get in there. I’m sure I’ll find more. It’ll be slow going in sure, but I think it’ll be fun.

I’ve been sold on keeping the 220 3-phase. So a rotary converter is another sub-project

I’ll post progress


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[Stefants]

I don’t want these this badly (I might try to make my own eventually), but in case anybody else is intrigued by these...only a few hours left...

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[Ain'tQuiteRight]

Work the plan Stefants. I'll be interested in all aspects. I'm finding time to be difficult to come by but knew it would be slow. Good luck.

 

[jmkasunich]

Looks like Its birth year is 1945.

Van Norman Milling Machine Serial Numbers and Dates

This original website is down, but still accessible through the internet archive. I urge everyone interested, to browse through, and copy everything they can, while you can.

That's my website. It went down when the computer that hosted it (in my basement) gave up the ghost. I believe all the data is recoverable, I just haven't had the time to set up a new computer and install the webserver software, etc.

To the OP: You suck! I haven't seen that much Van Norman tooling in one place ever.

You'll like the machine. Smaller than a bridgeport but will take heavier cuts.

I hope you have a drill press though. A bridgeport makes an awesome heavy-duty drill press. A Van Norman not so much, because there is no quill. You drill by raising the knee (in vertical mode) or cranking in the saddle (horizontal mode). Either way, you don't have as much "feel" for the load on the drill as you would with a quill.

 

[jmkasunich]

Sorry I didn’t reply earlier...Tapatalk seems to have deleted Hobby Mahinist on me!

I’ll need to disassemble everything to get it to the basement, and I plan to thoroughly clean the innards and paint while I’m at it. everything moves as far as I can tell. The guy who sold it to me had hosed it down at a car wash to clean it up, so I’d really like to get it ripped apart before stray water has a chance to eat it.

I count at least 8 sub assemblies that will move one at a time once moving happens. Until then it’ll be a garage denizen, scattered in pieces once I get to taking it apart. Step 1 is to get it to the point where I can semi-conveniently get it stored away and pull it out to work on it while reclaiming my parking spot!

Regarding disassembly... when I bought mine I had to disassemble it to move it. The seller had a scale and I weighed the parts. Posted the info on rec.crafts.metalworking for future reference (this was back in 2000 when r.c.m was the place to be). Reposting below, it will be easier to find here.

Vise	58 lbs
Motor (only 1-1/2HP, 1200 RPM, built like a brick outhouse)	121 lbs
Overarm	52 lbs
Ram and Cutterhead	355 lbs
Feed gearbox with motor	85 lbs
Table and saddle (removed as a unit)	316 lbs
Knee	126 lbs
Misc (handwheels, feed shaft, other small parts)	61 lbs
Total of removed parts	1174 lbs
Base and Column	723 lbs
Grand Total weight	1897 lbs

 

[Stefants]

That's my website...

To the OP: You suck! I haven't seen that much Van Norman tooling in one place ever.

You'll like the machine. Smaller than a bridgeport but will take heavier cuts.

I hope you have a drill press though...

First off, thank you for the effort you put into your site! The archived versions of stuff are a great resource!

I was glad to see that there were at least some bits and pieces that will let me hold a tool in the machine eventually . A lot of it is endmill holders, but there are a few horizontal arbors (one looks like it’s been used as a hammer, but the other 4 appear to be in good shape and cover 3 different diameters), and the collets chucks are at least intriguing. No VN collets, but I’m not complaining. I’ll need to make an overarm support before any of the arbors do me any good.

I do have a dill press, nothing fancy but it does the job. I’ve heard tell that you’re not *supposed* to drill with a quill feed on a BP anyway...but I’m sure that’s one of the most ignored suggestions in the field . If all I want is the drilling, I’d at least consider modding a drill press head for the overarm mount. But those are all way down the line thoughts!


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[Stefants]

I wanted to give a quick update on where I’m at with my no 12. Not tons has changed, but I built a gantry to pick it up, and I’ve started removing things. Got pulleys to budge after getting a gear puller, and found that I have a cogged belt on the feed motor drive rather than the original silent chain drive. I’m about to take the motor off the top to get that 100lb out of the way and make it shorter to handle. I was originally planning to put it on short rails that would let me roll it around the garage and reclaim my parking space, but I’m gonna hold off on that. If I can get the pieces off of it from where it sits, that avoids a bunch of moving it around. I lose my parking spot in the meantime...hopefully no bad hail storms before I reclaim it...

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