Repairs And Upgrades On My Burke #4

Mark_f

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Recently I acquired a new (to me) saddle and table for my Burke #4 mill. It has made such a great improvement over the "FrankenBurke" setup I had, But has led me to some things that need additional attention.

The first thing was , my old converted table had a 7/16" slot , the new table has a 1/2" slot. The 7/16" hold down set works fine but the T nuts are a little sloppy, so I made some new ones. I took a .900" x .500" bar and milled a step on each side , the sawed it into .875" lengths and drilled and tapped it for 3/8-16.
T nuts for Burke mill.jpg
These are the finished T nuts and they fit the Burke table perfectly. I stopped the tap early so the last thread in the hole is not complete and the studs will stop instead of screwing through and hitting the table. ( a little extra work , but worth the effort).

The next item on my list for this machine is the vertical head was shop adapted with a long shaft and bar to be used in the top overarm hole in the machine. While this gave more room between the table and head, it required a separate drive or the use of the backwoods hillbilly setup they came up with to drive it from the spindle with pulleys on the back (which worked poorly at best). I wanted to take it back to the factory mounting but the parts are about... no are impossible to find. I need three parts and decided to make them.

First up is a new shaft for the vertical head. I have the drawing for the factory shaft , but decided to leave off the B&S 9 taper and have a 3/4" stub to go in a collet. This will make it smaller and easier to leave on the machine and just swing up when not in use. I got a piece of 1 1/4" CRS bar stock to turn the 1.125" shaft. I have never had the need to turn between centers till now. this was the only way to make this on my lathe due to length. I also did not have a large enough lathe dog for this ....soooooo I fabricated one that worked nicely.:D

make shift lathe dog.jpg
This is my home made lathe dog. a steel ring and a bent carriage bolt with a set screw in the bottom.


turning shaft between centers.jpg
Here , turning the shaft between centers.
new shaft for vertical head.jpg
After milling a key way the length of the shaft, it fits perfectly. I made the shaft three inches longer than the factory shaft so the head can be moved out farther on the overarm for more versatility.

Next item needed is an easy one to make. The eccentric busing for the mounting plate. I turned a piece of 3" diameter CRS to 2.250" diameter leaving a .250 flange the 3"diam. and then bored a 2" hole through it .050" off center.
Burke mill vertical head parts.jpg
Of course , the last piece is the mounting plate. Burke used cast iron , but a chunk of cast iron this size came with a $100 price tag. I decided a $15 piece of 1" thick steel bar stock was a better idea. In the photo, you can see the new shaft in the head, the eccentric bushing ( I will slit the one side before installing) and the mounting plate , so far. I have milled the 90 degree slot for the head to be able to tilt and started the fist hole. As soon as I bore the holes and make the pinch bolt, I will have the machine back to like factory . I Hope to finish this up in the next couple days.

After this is done, I have a D.C. motor and controller to run the power feed with instead of pulleys and belts off the spindle. It will give me infinite settings for feed rates.
 
Those Burkes are very nice mills; industrial quality, well-respected in their day and perfect for HSM needs. (I liked your unique lathe dog, by the way.)

I never felt that my shop was complete until I obtained a horizontal mill. Here's a detailed description of my old German beauty if you haven't already seen it:

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/an-unusual-horizontal-milling-machine-very-long-post.32488/

Those unfamiliar with smaller horizontal mills that are also equipped with a vertical head probably have little appreciation of how beefy these little machines can be ! The fact that the vertical head is supported both inboard and outboard makes them much more rigid than the typical vertical (turret) mill that is half again as large.

The only real drawback is the lack of a quill and that can even be worked around with the head turned horizontal. The rapid-traverse "X" handwheel is used for "Z" travel in this configuration.

P1010883.JPG
 
Those Burkes are very nice mills; industrial quality, well-respected in their day and perfect for HSM needs. (I liked your unique lathe dog, by the way.)

I never felt that my shop was complete until I obtained a horizontal mill. Here's a detailed description of my old German beauty if you haven't already seen it:

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/an-unusual-horizontal-milling-machine-very-long-post.32488/

Those unfamiliar with smaller horizontal mills that are also equipped with a vertical head probably have little appreciation of how beefy these little machines can be ! The fact that the vertical head is supported both inboard and outboard makes them much more rigid than the typical vertical (turret) mill that is half again as large.

The only real drawback is the lack of a quill and that can even be worked around with the head turned horizontal. The rapid-traverse "X" handwheel is used for "Z" travel in this configuration.

View attachment 99351


That is cool. I never thought of using my vertical head that way. thank you for the suggestion.
 
That is cool. I never thought of using my vertical head that way. thank you for the suggestion.

De nada - thank YOU for the interesting post. Everyone likes tool porn :)
 
today I got most of the mounting plate done for the vertical head. I mounted it up to check fit and even ran it for a few minutes. it works great.
vertical head 1.jpg
vertical head 2.jpg
vertical head 3.jpg I still have to slit the top and add the pinch bolt clamp, but that is about it and this mill is back to factory condition. I left the spindle extra long so I can slide the head out if needed for more versatility. It runs nice and smooth. I am going to polish it up, paint it and polish the head up. I will post the finished photos hopefully tomorrow.
 
Well, the vertical head for my Burke mill is finished. I cut the plate and installed a pinch bolt clamp and gave it a coat of paint. The burke is pretty well all fixed up. I still have to mount the motor for the power feeds.
vertical head 10.jpg
vertical head 11.jpg It is so nice to have this mill restored to factory condition and working correctly.
 
Mark,
I also own a Burke #4 with the 20" Universial table and the vertical head, after a few spins around the block I opened the vertical head and noticed no lube for the gears. My question is what are you using for grease in the vertical head?? I've uploaded a photo of mine since the photo it has been updated a little and I made some parts for it and I have another the smaller table for parts. Looking forward to your response.
Thanks and Regards
dgehricke

millingmachine.jpg
 
Mark,
I also own a Burke #4 with the 20" Universial table and the vertical head, after a few spins around the block I opened the vertical head and noticed no lube for the gears. My question is what are you using for grease in the vertical head?? I've uploaded a photo of mine since the photo it has been updated a little and I made some parts for it and I have another the smaller table for parts. Looking forward to your response.
Thanks and Regards
dgehricke
Wow, that little burke is in great condition, even has the swivel table, too cool. I have all the power feed stuff for mine but never reinstalled it. The man I purchased mine from passed away and his son sold it to me. He rebuilt the vertical milling attachment and rebushed it so everything is quite tight. So tight that it has seized up a couple of times after long use, I do run it pretty hard. So I opened her up and turned the shaft on my lathe with some sand paper to give it just a little more clearance and that was all it needed. The grease that was in it was a dark brown stinky grease, smells like gear lube. I have found some spindle lube for lawn mowers that smells like it so I pack it with that, it is kind of a thin grease so I keep her filled real good. The particular grease I use is for exmark commercial lawn mowers. I don't know who makes it or if it is even the right kind, but it works. And I can assure you a commercial mower spindle works under far higher load and rpm than our little burkes.
 
Mark,
I also own a Burke #4 with the 20" Universial table and the vertical head, after a few spins around the block I opened the vertical head and noticed no lube for the gears. My question is what are you using for grease in the vertical head?? I've uploaded a photo of mine since the photo it has been updated a little and I made some parts for it and I have another the smaller table for parts. Looking forward to your response.
Thanks and Regards
dgehricke
Mark,
I also own a Burke #4 with the 20" Universial table and the vertical head, after a few spins around the block I opened the vertical head and noticed no lube for the gears. My question is what are you using for grease in the vertical head?? I've uploaded a photo of mine since the photo it has been updated a little and I made some parts for it and I have another the smaller table for parts. Looking forward to your response.
Thanks and Regards
dgehricke

I filled my vertical head with a high pressure bearing grease. It works great and don't get hot. Your mill looks fantastic.
 
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