Milling machine and lathe, need info fast.

I have the chance to buy this milling machine and lathe for about $20 each but they are 7 hours away from me and I need to decide soon. Are either any good for the home shop? Condition and details are unknown.
Milling machine is a Sundstrand Milling Machine, Model 00

Lathe is a :Turret Engine Lathe, N03, Model M - 1200

 

Prolly worth $20 each. If you go get them, take a BIG truck or a BIG trailer because they're super heavy. Most of us want a vertical mill before getting that horizonal mill. A turet lathe is handy, but many of them don't have a lead screw to move the carriage. Sometimes a turet lathe is just a 'chucker' without anything to hold tools and move tools except the turet itself.

 

Home shop ?? NO !! For sure 3 phase power and in un-known condition not a chance.

 

the mill looks to be a horizontal mill, not your typical vertical bridgeport.
can't really see anything on your lathe picture.

 

You can run phase converters, I've been using them for years on my home shop equipment.

But those machines are at best clunkers. Is the mill a universal with vertical capability? I'd still p*** on both of them.

Bob

 

I would love that Horizontal for $20.00. That being said it's not the machine of choice.... Hard to set it up and used for very specific machining tasks.... Not a typical Vertical Mill at all...

And Yeah I can't see the lathe very well...

 

They are well worth the price, I would take them if they were close.
But they are not the best for home use. Turret Lathe is made for running production, you could run some home jobs with it, if that was all you had.

horizontal mill not the best for home use. you would have to use a angle plate for a lot of jobs with out enough reach. But again you could run some jobs on it.
Bridgeport type machines are the best for home use.

Also both those machines will most likely be 3 phase machines.

 

I think Sunstrand made mostly special purpose machinery, neither of those would be really useful for general use. IMO

 

neither one of those machines are worth the gas to go get them.
a horz. mill and a turret lathe are about useless for the type of machining you would do building hot rods.

 

I'd have to p***, if you already had a verticle mill and a small lathe then these pieces would would add to your capabilities but since you don't the use for them would be limited. As others have pointed out, these are heavy industrial pieces and they'll need lots of 3phase power, a bunch of room in front and around them, a very good floor to support them and some big equipment to get them into place.

 

You guys are awesome, that is what i needed to know. It is an auction online in Savanna Georgia if anyone is interested. Not worth my trip thanks to everyones info.

 

Should have added the if the tool holding collets are not with the mill they will cost a lot of money.
Lathe could not see it well in picture, but you need a 3 jaw and 4 jaw chuck if you want to do any work on it. Some turret lathes were equipped with just collets only. that will not work for you.

 

There is a reason they're 20 bucks each.

 

flying53gmc........You made the right choice.

 

everybody keeps saying hell yea for only 20 bucks, but who cares if they are only 20 bucks if they are 7 hours away.


btw good call on p***ing.

 

a turret lathe are about useless for the type of machining you would do building hot rods.

Whatutalking about willis?
I got this turret lathe for nothing. $99 later i am making pistons wheel adapters Wire wheel hub cabs add infinitum. Turret lathe is often a very high quality lathe hidden in turret clothing. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=458630&highlight=turret+lathe
Hortizonatal mill is not useless. A creative machinist could get a lot of use out of it.
I never turn down stuff that cheap. The mill in the one pic with the axle i got for $500 with tooling. The turret lathe boring the centre of my casting was free and cost a days flogging or so and 99$ to convert to conventional use. I got both these because other guys said they were useless and no good. I am thankful there are so many thinking that way. It keeps the price of good stuff down.
Don<!-- / message -->

 

why are you even asking this question?
they are worth 20x that in s**** worst case scenario

 

When I began working as a machinist we had Cincinnati Horizontal mills with either Cincinnati or Bridgeport vertical heads that could be put on. Don't know if that mill has a head or if you could hang one on it,but. Now I have a Bridgeport and sure wish I had one of those old Cincinnati's. Heavy and take up a lot of room though. Ran on 440v 3 phase. Hard to get at home. As has been pointed out you can do a lot with a turret lathe after you get used to it. Ours were also 440v. Big and heavy.

 

I have used my horizontal milling machine for doing things on my build. It does not take up much room.

Mine has a $75 phase converter. It also had a heavy duty upright fixture on the table to clamp things to. Shown below in pic.

Total cost was $150 incl the convertor.


Never found a Brigeport under 3K around my area. I can work with this instead.


Make use of what one can afford. Some sort of miller is better than never getting anything I think.

 

You'd be amazed at what collets are available from places like Hardinge. they carry scads of them for real oddball machinery.

Chucks are important too and some are machine-specific, happy hunting. Then you have to consider the condition of the slides, ways, spindle, carriage, etc. If you stick with a common lathe like a Logan, Colchester, South Bend, Clausing, etc you have a better chance of getting parts for it.

Bob

 

Personally, I'd say maybe $200-300 max if he wants it gone that badly. It is probably 220v judging from the size of it. You can convert the phase or get another motor made up for it that runs on single phase. I would p*** on anything that I couldn't slap a DRO on.

Bob

 

Appreciate the advice, Bob

I'm not a machinist by any means, but I recognize the advantages of this mill. I am almost embarr***ed to ask what a "DRO" is? I also have an old Rockwell drill press that I got from our shop that has a dial reostat speed control (400-4250 rpm) so I was thinking about just getting a nice 2-way slide for that rather than messing with the big mill.

...somehow I clicked wrong and deleted the post and picture if anyone else would like to chime in...

 

Mill Rite's are nice, rather smallish vertical mills. A lot of guys don't like them because A) they are a little small and B) they are not Bridgeports. But they are well made machines that can do a lot of work. Home shop use, damn near perfect! Typically, they are in good shape because of A) and B) above.

DRO stands for Digital Read Out. Gives you a digital reading of movement, usually of the spindle. Nice, but not something to be worrying about now. Almost any machine can be rigged to take one.

The Rockwell drill press might be okay, might not. How is the chuck held in the spindle? Ordinary Morse taper - forget it. The lateral forces experienced in vertical milling will loosen the chuck. I tried that one a long time ago. Now if it has a Morse taper with a draw bar, you might be in business, depending on the general strength and condition of the machine. All you'd need are some Morse taper collets. They are not very common, but easily sourced and cheap.

Bill

 

How can I ID the difference Bill? Here's a couple of pictures...and the rpm's go to 4,700 not 4,250.

 

I have had both machines. The mill is a hydraulic powered table for semi-automatic production. It is more fraught with problems than it is worth. Do not buy it. The turret lathe is only as good as the chucks that come with it as they cost more than the machine itself. Most of that age have extremely worn cross slides and capstan slides. It is used as a chucker ie. place a part in the chuck and machine it. Not advisable for turning shafts of more than 12-16 inches which you would have to finish size with a file or disk grinder to maintain size.

 

The Rockwell drill press is pretty good. You could mount an X-Y table on it and do "light" milling. I've seen it done, but you'd be holding endmills in a drill chuck. There are tapered holders that will hold 1/2" and up tools. Still, you'd have chatter to deal with and it's really not that stable to work with. I'm just used to big Bridgeports and other mills.

Bob

 

That Rockwell uses an ordinary Morse taper setup, you can see the cross slot in the spindle to insert the drift to remove the chuck. In general, way to light to do any real milling.

PISS POOR FOR MILLING!!!

Bill

 

Make use of what one can afford. Some sort of miller is better than never getting anything I think
FG put it in a nutshell.
When you have nothing anything is an improvement . When you have everything everyone elses stuff is often junk.
If you have a stout spindle head and a good imagination you can do anything.
Don

 

wow, i can't believe how many say leave it alone. i would think the steel value would be worth the 7 hour drive. $20 each, why does he even bother. better question does he have a way to load and can you haul both in one trip?

 

Good point, its way better than a file, hacksaw and bench vise. Been there, done that! If you're handy with electrics and old machinery, it could be a good deal.

I've turned down free lathes and mills before since I already have one of each. I did pay out $2600 for the Bridgeport and the lathe was a freebie, I still had to do a lot to get the mill up and running, the lathe is still on a pallet waiting to be set up.

Bob