Possible first v-mill?

HEPHAESTUS

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Hello everyone. New to the forum, not new to machines in general. I would say that I am still an amateur though. I have owned a lathe for many years and taken college courses on vertical mills. I've been in the market for a mill for years, never have found the right deal. I've got a few projects that have been adding up over the years that I'd like a mill for and I feel like it's time. My biggest issue is just my location, there's nothing around here. So many of the deals I find are a risk / rewards assessment that includes travel time.

Anyway, I've found this beat up old Jet mill. Several handles are either missing or broken. I think I can repair those easily enough. But the overall condition of the machine is a little worrisome just from the pics. That being said, I know sometimes things can get beat up just from sitting there and a fresh coat of paint is all they need. The dealer knows nothing about it, hasn't even powered it up. No model number on it, he says. Just wondering if anyone has any insight on it? The price is right (Under $1000) and it's about 5 hours away, which is about average for everything it seems. (Again, my location just sucks for anything having to do with automotive / machines / mechanical stuff. No one around here works on things so everywhere that would support such an activity is far away. There is no industry here.) I know it's probably 3-phase, I can deal with that.
 

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Need to look at the condition of the ways, can't see them in your pictures.
If they are rusty or grooved I would pass.
 
Need to look at the condition of the ways, can't see them in your pictures.
If they are rusty or grooved I would pass.

Yeah, I know, thanks. I'm not sure what the dealer's issue is. He has been very difficult to get info out of. I know he's elderly. It seems like he may have mobility issues and he's not good with electronic communication. I've asked him for pics of the ways. It's taken him a few days to get a pic when I asked for them. And when he sends them he sends them one at a time and gets frustrated when I ask for more. We'll see ...

Does anyone have any idea what model this might be? I've asked Jet and they can't seem to identify it yet. I've looked at every manual available on their website, for both current and obsolete models, and this doesn't match any of them perfectly. It seems to have features from several that I see but not completely identical to any. The speeds are variable from 80-3800 and the table size is either 9x42 or 10x50. (Again, dealer has measured twice for me and come up with both those measurements, doesn't seem willing to measure again.)
 
He just verified the table dimension. It's 10x50. You would think he would snap some pics while he's in front of the machine but nope.
 
At less than $1000 in an area you describe as machinery sparse it sounds to me like it is worth a drive to take a look at it. Take your significant other and make a weekend out of it, then if it isn't worthwhile you still have a nice weekend. If it is worth getting, pay the man and make a plan to get it home.

It sounds like the seller is technology challenged rather than being evasive. Being patient and putting in some extra effort may pay off. Going to look at it should tell you if it is just some broken knobs or junk.
 
The biggest concern for me would be the vari-speed head. It may be broken or very worn and you may not be able to source parts for it even though Jet is still in business. You do have a lathe though so that may help if you need to make a part. Hard to tell. If you can't run it and test it out I would pass, personally. Long table machines can be problematic and not work smoothly at the ends of travel. I would stick with a short table like a 32" or 36". I'm not saying don't buy it, but I smell some issues with it, be skeptical
-Mark
 
The biggest concern for me would be the vari-speed head. It may be broken or very worn and you may not be able to source parts for it even though Jet is still in business. You do have a lathe though so that may help if you need to make a part. Hard to tell. If you can't run it and test it out I would pass, personally. Long table machines can be problematic and not work smoothly at the ends of travel. I would stick with a short table like a 32" or 36". I'm not saying don't buy it, but I smell some issues with it, be skeptical
-Mark

That's probably a good point about the head. It appears not to matter anymore though. I guess the seller got tired of getting actual information about what he was selling and stopped responding.

Now I'm onto a step pulley Bridgeport clone that appears to be in great condition with tons of tooling and a phase converter for $2500 - $3000. The name cast into the base is Kodiak, which I've never heard of and can't find any info on. But every bit and piece of it looks like all the other Bridgeport clones I've ever seen. Anyone know anything about Kodiaks?
 
There's probably a hundred "brand" names for the clone machines. Fortunately some of the parts interchange . Phase converter or rotary phase converter? What is "tons of tooling"? A decent vice and collet set would be good, at the minimum. A DRO is nice if it is functional and not too old. Add a dividing head and then you're really talking
-Mark
 
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There's probably a hundred "brand" names for the clone machines. Fortunately most share many of the parts. Phase converter or rotary phase converter? What is "tons of tooling"? A good vice and collet set is would be good, at the minimum.
-Mark

I know there's a million brand names, but when I've happened upon them Google has enlightened me on all but Kodiak. Literally zero results for Kodiak.

Vice, collect set, some end mills. I think it's just a VFD, but it doesn't matter much because I have a 7hp rotary that I run my lathe on that I could just pull power off of for this. Here's pics, I would be getting everything in the pics:








I also have a video of it running that is not shareable.

He's stuck at $3000 for it all. That's more than I wanted to spend but maybe the tooling makes it worth it?
 
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