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Look what I found.....

Well, if I had the room, I'd get one, see them on auction here all the time, usually REAL cheap, and they don't sell....... :dunno:

h-mill1.jpg h-mill2.jpg h-mill3.jpg

Of these three, I think the most expensive was $300.

If I had the space...... :rolleyes: :D
 
Stuart Ablett said:
Well, if I had the room, I'd get one, see them on auction here all the time, usually REAL cheap, and they don't sell....... :dunno:

View attachment 11402 View attachment 11403 View attachment 11404

Of these three, I think the most expensive was $300.

If I had the space...... :rolleyes: :D
Click to expand...
That 3rd one looks like a Burke, those will fit on a benchtop. The thing about horizontal mills is that from my understanding those were plentiful in the early 20th century, before vertical mills were popular. Much of what can be done on a vertical mill could in theory be done on a horizontal mill, given the proper holding/clamping fixtures. However, it's much easier to secure a piece that will allow you to mill 5 sides on a vertical mill vs the horizontal (4 sides and the top surface). In a horizontal mill you would need a vise that held the material on it's side, so that could be so, and we don't see those type of vises around.

When I found the thread on making cutter heads last night, I was surprised, I hadn't thought about slotting something lengthwise that is round. That may come in handy.

BTW, space wise most are quite big, about 2'x2' minimum footprint, and mine weighs 1200 lb., so they're not light. Not quite as bad as a Bridgeport at about 3500 lb. though.
 
Bad day...they brought my mill, but after they tried to use it as a bowling ball with other freight. Broke the motor off, knocked a piece off one of the pulleys, starter is smashed, some other stuff...

Waiting to talk to the insurance adjuster tomorrow. I did take insurance, but they may only cover my purchase price and shipping. I'm going to try to get a replacement from them.
 
Stu,

It sure does...the vise Tod was eying (Bridgeport 6" Vise) is fine.:rofl:

I still haven't talked to the insurance adjuster, waiting to hear from her.

I'm curious if they'll replace it for me, that's what I would prefer.
 
alan the vice is worth more than the auction was......sorry for your trouble and i hope they make things right.
tod
 
Tod,

I agree on the vise, it's not a bad vise.

As you can imagine, the callback from the person handling the damages is not what I would call prompt.:(

I hope they make it right also, I think it is gonna require another machine.
 
Hey, another chapter in the "Look what I found" Yahoo auctions search.....:rolleyes:

combo1.jpg combo2.jpg combo3.jpg

Yep, a combo machine! Now that would be great for the lack of space I have :thumb:

Rusty, but they say it works, $750 now, and it is about 180 miles away...:dunno:

No money to fool with something like this at the moment either :rolleyes:


Oh well, nice to know they are out there! :D :wave:
 
That's what you need to be looking at - something with a vertical head. ;) A strictly horizontal mill will be agonizingly cumbersome, IMHO.
You'll feel like this :bang: after about the 5th setup with a horizontal.
 
Bruce,

Guess you've never slotted with a vertical mill...:bonkers::bang::doh:

Not that it can't do it, just that it's not the right tool for the job in most cases. I think it really depends on what you want to do with a mill.

One of the big advantages of the horizontal mill, IMO is the fact that they're not as popular and you can find some real deals on them. Vertical mills will go for more in most cases. Stu, that's a project for sure...:eek:
 
Alan, I have cut more slots with a vertical mill than I care to remember (have you seen my clamp rack?).
Sure, a horizontal set up with a slitting saw, or a gang of them is the cats meow (as long as the slot(s) are not blind and go from end to end), but conventional milling like hole patterns, cavity milling, drilling holes, etc. is much more suited to the vertical mill. Again, JMHO ;)

BTW, how did you make out with your damaged mill?
 
Bruce,

I agree that vertical mills have their strengths, and so do horizontal mills, that was my point. It all depends on what you want to do. Slitting on a vertical mill is clumsy, IMO. Also, for cutting slots in machine heads (i.e., planers, jointers, etc...) the horizontal mill is best as well. They're pretty useful for making tools, IMO.

Still putting humpty back together, but the verdict is that he's gonna live a long life! :thumb:
 
Bruce,

And horizontal mills have vertical head attachments also...:p

The one pictured in Stu's post has both, as a case in point. Nichols made a vertical head for their mills, it was an option.

I'll tell 'ya, had I found a Bridgeport with a horizontal head attachment, I'd certainly have bought it for $17. :D

There are a lot of horizontal mills used in toolmaking. Travis mentioned that they use them for planes over at LN, as they do for slotting the backs for the saws. For just saws and planes, it would be worth it to have a horizontal mill for that purpose.

Setting up a vertical mill to cut things like dovetails in brass/steel to make planes if a tedious operation on the vertical mill.

Show us some pics of the tools you've made with your vertical mill before the pic police come by! ;)
 
Bruce,

Plunge base is a tool, IMO, and actually a hard one to do on a horizontal mill, although given the proper clamp, anything is possible.

As I mention though, the horizontal mill does seem like the preferred style to make dovetails in brass/steel for infills, as it is for saw backs, slots in bolt heads, etc...even a decent vertical mill like a Bridgeport can certainly slot, but it can get real chatty quick.

I think it gets down to 6 of 1 and half a dozen of another.

Nice little plunger base, the brass parts add a nice touch to it. Very nicely done though.
 
Alan DuBoff said:
Bruce,

I think it gets down to 6 of 1 and half a dozen of another.
Click to expand...

Yep, I think it’s what you are used to. As I said earlier in this thread, I did spend some time on the old Kerney-Trecker’s & Cincinnati horizontals doing hog work when I worked up at Los Alamos lab. But, 99.8% of my time has been vertical – everything from 5-axis Omnimills, to Sip jig borers, to Bridgeports….it’s how my mind works. I’d be banging my head if I had to make even a semi-tough part on a horizontal. :huh:
 
Bruce Page said:
it’s how my mind works. I’d be banging my head if I had to make even a semi-tough part on a horizontal. :huh:
Click to expand...
That I can certainly understand, but if you think about it, the only difference is that the cutter is turned on it's side. If you turn the work on it's side, you can a similar cut.

This about this cut. A guy that helped me with the fixture for my little mini-mill used a rougher 3 1/8" long end mill that he used to true the ends of a piece of 3" x 3" aluminum...In some cases to do similar. But you could also use a wide cutter on a horizontal to do the same process to the lengths easily, if that makes sense. Where on a vertical mill you would most likely use a fly cutter.

Put the same fly cutter on a collet in the horizontal mill and you can not fly cut the ends of stock. With a basic mill vise, you can accomplish both tasks by using the other tool (i.e., fly cutter vs rougher).

I haven't used the mill yet so really don't have any experience using a horizontal mill. It's a very cool machine though, well built, and post war, but pre 60s. I prefer pre-60s type machines.

Horizontal mills were more common at one point in time. So, in some ways the vertical head in how technology advanced, and it seems more suitable for CNC...You can probably do a lot more on your vertical mill than I can on my horizontal mill, since it's all about tooling and clamping...and I suspect seeing your big 'ol rotary table, you've probably got me beat in the tooling area by a long shot...

My mill has the No. 40 taper, and the same taper is used on Haas CNCs, so that's convenient for used tools. I haven't gotten any yet, still putting humpty together again...

For slotting, it's more difficult to slot, actually, although it does work. I can do it on my little mini-mill, as I could a Bridgeport, using the exact same arbor, saw, and fixture. It works. The Nichols is much better suited for that operation, though.
 
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