I've been a member for a while but, not very active. I just acquired an old Rotex Rm1 mill. It's pretty dirty from sitting in a shed in dusty Arizona. Everything is there, it powers up and I got 5 boxes of tooling so I grabbed it. I'm going to clean it up, replace the wiring, belts and lube it. All I can find online about it is that it's a good one to have as long as it doesn't need parts. Very cool having both horizontal and vertical capability. Anybody here have one? Info to share? My first mill so I have a lot to learn.
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Rotex RM1
- Thread starter aztoyman
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2015
- Messages
- 12,210
Nice find- I have a converted Diamond horizontal mill with a Rotex vertical head. Does yours use the little "Y" style collets?
It's an obsolete type but perfectly usable
-Mark
It's an obsolete type but perfectly usable
-Mark
Thanks for the reply Mark. I was told by the old man I got it from that it had two collet types available when new and it has the "good" ones. He has a bunch of the collets in the boxes of tooling but, I honestly don't know what type they are yet. Probably the YY collets? I have a LOT to learn about it.
I am going to try to find some time to dig through everything tomorrow. I can't see any numbers on the belts so I'll have to measure them and get some ordered. The table is pretty rusty. No pitting though. Fortunately the ways look great after just a wipe down with a rag and WD-40. Feels pretty smooth and tight but, I am a total noob so.........hopefully I got a usable machine.
It hasn't been used in 30 years or so. The seller said he used it for plastics. Molds and casting?? I'm excited to have it. I don't have the room or budget for a Bridgeport. This looks like it will be a good addition to my tools.
I am going to try to find some time to dig through everything tomorrow. I can't see any numbers on the belts so I'll have to measure them and get some ordered. The table is pretty rusty. No pitting though. Fortunately the ways look great after just a wipe down with a rag and WD-40. Feels pretty smooth and tight but, I am a total noob so.........hopefully I got a usable machine.
It hasn't been used in 30 years or so. The seller said he used it for plastics. Molds and casting?? I'm excited to have it. I don't have the room or budget for a Bridgeport. This looks like it will be a good addition to my tools.
Started going through the tooling. I have 6 collets. Marked as Y Type. I have 1/8", 3/16", 1/4", 5/16", 3/8" and 1/2"
When I was doing some searching about this machine I read posts where it said it took YY Collets?
There is a No 34 Jacobs chuck with a 1/2" shaft
A boring tool with no brand on it. 1 1/4" diameter, 1/2" shaft and 5/16" slot for bit. Has a collar that comes loose so it can cam out the bit in increments marked on the body of the tool. I'm VERY new to mill tooling so please forgive me.
Quite a bit of hold down tooling. Only one pair of studs that will thread off the T-nuts. All the rest are forged together. Also have some pretty stout looking hold down clamps in addition to washers. Different shaped forgings. One pair is like a set of rocker arms on an engine. They pivot on a fulcrum and have copper or brass pieces on the clamping end to protect the part being clamped down. Some say Armstrong but, they have a logo with a W inside a diamond. Reminds me of vintage Williams tools. Looks like good quality.
Lots of end mills, reamers, cutters for the horizontal mill and some I don't know what they are for. Looks like American made brands like Niagara. A LOT of HSS hand ground bits and blanks. I see a broach in the mix. Still need to go through it all. Cleaning it up as I go.
My camera is at my daughter's in Phoenix or I'd post pics.
I got the base cabinet stripped of paint. It had a bad paint job peeling off. I saw a tag inside one of the electrical boxes dated August 1948. Not sure when the machine was produced. Serial number is 10363
I can order literature from the UK but does anybody have a parts diagram they can send me?
I wont be able to work on it until next week. I'll try pics with my phone then.
When I was doing some searching about this machine I read posts where it said it took YY Collets?
There is a No 34 Jacobs chuck with a 1/2" shaft
A boring tool with no brand on it. 1 1/4" diameter, 1/2" shaft and 5/16" slot for bit. Has a collar that comes loose so it can cam out the bit in increments marked on the body of the tool. I'm VERY new to mill tooling so please forgive me.
Quite a bit of hold down tooling. Only one pair of studs that will thread off the T-nuts. All the rest are forged together. Also have some pretty stout looking hold down clamps in addition to washers. Different shaped forgings. One pair is like a set of rocker arms on an engine. They pivot on a fulcrum and have copper or brass pieces on the clamping end to protect the part being clamped down. Some say Armstrong but, they have a logo with a W inside a diamond. Reminds me of vintage Williams tools. Looks like good quality.
Lots of end mills, reamers, cutters for the horizontal mill and some I don't know what they are for. Looks like American made brands like Niagara. A LOT of HSS hand ground bits and blanks. I see a broach in the mix. Still need to go through it all. Cleaning it up as I go.
My camera is at my daughter's in Phoenix or I'd post pics.
I got the base cabinet stripped of paint. It had a bad paint job peeling off. I saw a tag inside one of the electrical boxes dated August 1948. Not sure when the machine was produced. Serial number is 10363
I can order literature from the UK but does anybody have a parts diagram they can send me?
I wont be able to work on it until next week. I'll try pics with my phone then.
