Rockwell Mill Refurb

[Ben]

Wow Steve!

That mill looks great, you did a fantastic job on it! I like how the head unit is set up with the motor on it as opposed to the other end like the clausing 85xx. Saves a little space.

I was wondering what you used to strip the paint, if it gave off a bunch of fumes and how long it took for it to work. I need to strip green paint off my south bend and I want to strip my mill as well.

Thanks!
Ben

 

[Old Iron]

Ben
The best thing to use is a needle scaler you can get one at H.F. pretty cheap. It won't hurt the cast iron.

Paul

Wow Steve!

That mill looks great, you did a fantastic job on it! I like how the head unit is set up with the motor on it as opposed to the other end like the clausing 85xx. Saves a little space.

I was wondering what you used to strip the paint, if it gave off a bunch of fumes and how long it took for it to work. I need to strip green paint off my south bend and I want to strip my mill as well.

Thanks!
Ben

 

[stevecmo]

I don't suppose he has a twin for your machine he might be looking to part company with?

No, I don't think he's wanting to sell anything unfortunately. I accuse him of starting a museum.

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Wow Steve!

That mill looks great, you did a fantastic job on it! I like how the head unit is set up with the motor on it as opposed to the other end like the clausing 85xx. Saves a little space.

I was wondering what you used to strip the paint, if it gave off a bunch of fumes and how long it took for it to work. I need to strip green paint off my south bend and I want to strip my mill as well.

Thanks!
Ben

Ben,

I used CitriStrip. Probably not the strongest or quickest but seems pretty safe and I think does a good job.

 

[Ben]

Thanks for the quick reply Steve, I will give it a shot!

Ben

No, I don't think he's wanting to sell anything unfortunately. I accuse him of starting a museum.

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Ben,

I used CitriStrip. Probably not the strongest or quickest but seems pretty safe and I think does a good job.

 

[stevecmo]

Absolutely fantastic work. So since this is my first post let me just say that the Rockwell Mills are my favorites. I have a vert that is operational and I use it quite frequently. I just got a horizontal and and vert/horiz combo that I have been salivating over for a long time. Both machines require a good cleanup and a mechanical and electrical going over. I'll try to post a few pics shortly but they are both missing some parts and I don't know as yet how well they run. I am searching for the missing parts but some I know I willl have to make. The vert/horiz was missing the arbor support. I managed to find the original 3" steel support but the casting is another story. If any one has an extra one that they would like to sell please let me know. In the mean time I worked up a drawing for the support bracket and I am having four of them cut out of a piece of 2" thick 6061 Aluminum using a water jet. Once they are cut, I will machine and insert a bronze bearing into the support and I will also machine and install a gits oiler in the side so the bearing can be lubricated during operation. When these things are ready I will also punch in and thread the clamping hole. If anyone out there wants one of them please let me know. I haven't gotten a price trogether yet because I haven't gotten the price for the cutting and stock firmed up as yet. Once I get them in hand and finish up the work I have described I'll have a better idea on the price. Be assured that the price will be very reasonable. Something that I don't understand is how these things go missing as they aren't exactly small and light weight but sadly they do. Enjoy!
Rick

Rick,

Thanks for the kind words.

Are you a member of the Yahoo Rockwell mill group? If not, you should probably join as it is dedicated to these mills. You will probably find folks there that would be interested in the parts you are making. Thanks for offering.

Steve

 

[woodtickgreg]

I would really like to see pics of these mills, I am not familiar with them and now I'm very curious.

 

[stevecmo]

I already asked Harold B but he is getting up there and didn't want to have to look through stacks of the labels to find one for the mill. He has gazillions of parts and I think the job of finding stuff for the mills in somewhat daunting at this point because he has so little of the parts remaining and they are probably burried in teh tons of parts that he has for other machines.

I may have found a source for belts for the horizontal mill. I won't know for sure until next week in the meantime if anyone in the Group has found a source I need four of the buggers. The part number for them is 49-084

rick

Rick,

Ah, so you've found Harold! He is quite a story and quite a source of information and parts......sometimes. I'm afraid when he goes his stash may just go to the curb.

I'm not real familiar with the belts on the horizontals. From Tony's UK site (http://www.lathes.co.uk/rockwellmillers/) they are 8M Gates Polyflex - which I'm not familiar with either. Gates still makes lots of belts, have you checked their site? I don't have the horizontal parts list - is that part number a Rockwell number or a Gates number?

Steve

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I would really like to see pics of these mills, I am not familiar with them and now I'm very curious.

Greg,

The above link will give some info on the different RW mills, including some pic's of a refurbed vertical.

Steve

 

[stevecmo]

Rick,

There is a document in the files section on the yahoo site that addresses all the bearing. It shows what folks have taken out of their machines and what they've put back in. There is a set of duplex bearings in the quill and another set in the pulley. These are ABEC-7 high dollar bearings. Did I say they are expensive......and hard to find? You might get lucky and find them on ebay. Or, you can put lower tolerance, cheaper bearings in. Or you may find that after you clean up your old bearings and get all the hardened grease out of them, that they're in good enough shape to reuse. My guess is that your machines don't have the original bearings in them.

Why do you think you need a new quill? What's wrong with the one you have?

Resurface the table? Why? My table is one of the worst I've ever seen. Put a big old swivel vise on it and you won't see most of the divots. Unless you have a friend in the business, you will spend a lot of money resurfacing your table. Unless it's warped or the tee slots are broken out I would clean it up and move on.

Unless you are wanting museum pieces, make sure you know what you're getting into before spending too much money. It's easy to get sink more money into these old machines than it would cost to buy a better one.

Hope that helps.

Steve

 

[stevecmo]

Hi Steve

At 66 my time costs me nothing. I get a lot of smiles out of doing something like this so kindly let an old man (getting older by the minute) who might have something bad health wise happening to him at least have a little fun in his golden (old age sucks) years. Now where was the link to the posting on the bearings as I think that was my original question along with a beg for other parts that might be lurking out there.

rickhew:

Wow! I'm not quite sure how to take your last paragraph or how to respond.

Let you have a little fun in your golden years??? I'm certainly not stopping you from spending your time and money however you want. You asked for advise and I tried to give the best I could. I'm sorry if it wasn't what you wanted to hear.

Now where's the link to the posting on the bearings as I think that was my original question??? As I said originally, it's in the files section on the RW Yahoo group. But since you seem to be having trouble finding it, here's a direct link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rockwellmillingmachine/files/Rebuilding Notes/

As to your potential health problem, best of luck from a cancer survivor.

Steve

 

[Ben]

Paul, sorry I missed your post previously, but thanks for the tip. Unfortunately I live in a townhouse with a one car garage that has my equipment shoe horned into. SWMBO would kill me if I ran a needle gun there:whistle:.

Ben
The best thing to use is a needle scaler you can get one at H.F. pretty cheap. It won't hurt the cast iron.

Paul