What is this horo mill?

[Swiftfingers]

I know this isn't much to go on, but this mill is available near me.
I'm in a machine deadzone(NW Florida), so this is a pretty rare find.
I'm just trying to find out what it is before I drive 6 hrs to pick it up... unfortunately the lady who has it only has one picture(?) and it's currently in a storage unit so she can't get another one right now.
Any hints would be most appreciated!

 

[Martin W]

It looks like a horizonal mill that someone added a vertical head? Kind of has a Wells Index look but could be anything. Check to see what tooling it takes. If it's a weird taper like Brown and Sharpe or 30 NMTB it may cost more to tool it up. It may just be a Morse taper, it's hard to tell until you view it. The table looks good, its not all cut up with apprentice marks. Probably weighs in at 2600 pounds.
Pick the press up while you are there also
Martin
Edit.
The elevating shaft looks funny, maybe just the angle but it looks like its unscrewed from the base.

 

[Swiftfingers]

It looks like a horizonal mill that someone added a vertical head? Kind of has a Wells Index look but could be anything. Check to see what tooling it takes. If it's a weird taper like Brown and Sharpe or 30 NMTB it may cost more to tool it up. It may just be a Morse taper, it's hard to tell until you view it. The table looks good, its not all cut up with apprentice marks. Probably weighs in at 2600 pounds.
Pick the press up while you are there also
Martin
Edit.
The elevating shaft looks funny, maybe just the angle but it looks like its unscrewed from the base.

Thanks for the reply.
I have a J-head that I was planning to mount on this to replace the mystery vert head.
I'll do some research into wells-index horizontal mills to see if anything looks similar.

 

[brino]

@Swiftfingers ,

I went poking around on lathes.co.uk as I like to do while eating lunch.

I didn't see a similar Wells-Index vertical head, but then in the Bridgeport pages I saw this Halco unit that looks similar:

it's the first picture on this page:
http://www.lathes.co.uk/bridgeport/page5.html

Maybe not exact, but very similar.......

Brian

 

[Swiftfingers]

@Swiftfingers ,

I went poking around on lathes.co.uk as I like to do while eating lunch.

I didn't see a similar Wells-Index vertical head, but then in the Bridgeport pages I saw this Halco unit that looks similar:

View attachment 465520


it's the first picture on this page:
http://www.lathes.co.uk/bridgeport/page5.html

Maybe not exact, but very similar.......

Brian

Brian, I agree this could be a Halco vertical head, good find!
I'm really looking more for what the horizontal may be so I can decide if it'll fit within my size constraints.

 

[benmychree]

The mill itself is a Brown & Sharpe, likely a #2 plain.

 

[Swiftfingers]

The mill itself is a Brown & Sharpe, likely a #2 plain.

You may be right about it being a B&S, but I'm leaning towards a #1 or 1 1/2. The #2 has dual overarm supports.
I'll see if I can find some good pictures for comparison.

 

[matthewsx]

Whatever the identity it looks like a project. How cheap is it?

 

[Swiftfingers]

Whatever the identity it looks like a project. How cheap is it?

I agree with your evaluation.
It's way overpriced, but it's been listed for a long time so there may be room to negotiate.

 

[matthewsx]

When a machine has been listed for a long time there's usually a reason, especially in a market with few options. Just one major flaw in the base machine could put it into the scrap metal category, I wouldn't be inclined to pay more than scrap value for something like this where I couldn't run it under power.

If the seller is a family member who inherited it they may have been told it has great value. Often there's no talking someone down when their presumably deceased relative put that into their mind, especially if they are older themselves.

And, remember.... Scrap value assumes you bring it to the scrap yard. The cost of moving something like this can be considerable if you don't know how and don't have the equipment. I might be interested in that machine at the price of "come and get it out of here".

Sorry to say, but having been in the marine industry these things are kinda like old boats. You can easily exceed their actual value by just the act of cleaning them.

If you can get it cheap, and are able to move it cheaply, and are willing and capable to make or source any obsolete parts needed to get/keep it running then it might be a great machine for your shop. As a first machine I'd advise a hard no.

Used Bridgeport/clones are out there and will be much easier to put into working order. RF30's (as you asked about in your other post) are generally available cheap and are much easier to move. Either will get you making parts quicker and will have a decent resale value if you want to upgrade.

Don't buy a pig in a poke.

John