Hi there, I am in the process of bringing a 'scrap' Ajax milling machine back into a usable condition. It came from an engineering works in Yorkshire, having been abused, neglected and abandoned; now replaced with a new CNC machine.
I had started to try to restore an old Bridgeport CNC mill but it was so far gone with so many bits missing, (like no head or table?) that a friend took pity on me and found me this Ajax. The Ajax is significantly heavier than the Bridgeport, weighing around 1,500Kg compared with about 900Kg for the Bridgeport. The Ajax spindle taper is INT40, the Bridgeport CNC being the Bristol Ericson #30 (very similar to INT30). The Ajax also had various spindle taper options.
I have owned a couple of mills in the past but very different from a turret machine, the first was an old belt drive Denbigh horizontal with 4MT spindle followed by a Cincinnati V5 with a 7.5HP main motor, weighing in at about 4,000Kg. I like to be able to make and mend things and that's why I wanted to bring a mill back into my workshop. I am not doing a true restoration, I am simply getting it working so I can use it. The feeds gearbox has been trashed, it will never work again as originally intended. I am not going to get stressed if it's a bit slack, I simply need a simple tool to mill metal that is better than a file or angle grinder.
My main reason for presenting this thread is that I haven't found much info on the Ajax mills and this info may be of interest to others. I can't afford/justify the expense a 'good' working machine so my only way was to buy a scrapper. Its an interesting adventure, a project in it's own right.
I had started to try to restore an old Bridgeport CNC mill but it was so far gone with so many bits missing, (like no head or table?) that a friend took pity on me and found me this Ajax. The Ajax is significantly heavier than the Bridgeport, weighing around 1,500Kg compared with about 900Kg for the Bridgeport. The Ajax spindle taper is INT40, the Bridgeport CNC being the Bristol Ericson #30 (very similar to INT30). The Ajax also had various spindle taper options.
I have owned a couple of mills in the past but very different from a turret machine, the first was an old belt drive Denbigh horizontal with 4MT spindle followed by a Cincinnati V5 with a 7.5HP main motor, weighing in at about 4,000Kg. I like to be able to make and mend things and that's why I wanted to bring a mill back into my workshop. I am not doing a true restoration, I am simply getting it working so I can use it. The feeds gearbox has been trashed, it will never work again as originally intended. I am not going to get stressed if it's a bit slack, I simply need a simple tool to mill metal that is better than a file or angle grinder.
My main reason for presenting this thread is that I haven't found much info on the Ajax mills and this info may be of interest to others. I can't afford/justify the expense a 'good' working machine so my only way was to buy a scrapper. Its an interesting adventure, a project in it's own right.