Harrison Vertical Milling Machine

[Trevanion]

So I had a brainwave and I tipped the mill back slightly so that all the gungy oil accumulated at the back and then I used a cheap wet/dry vacuum to suck all the scum out.

I then disposed of it in a safe and responsible manner.

I managed to get it to run perfectly fine off the Teco/DrivesDirect Digital Convertor and then moved the mill to where it's going to live for the foreseeable future, I'll get it all wired up properly in due course. Does anyone have a recommendation for an oil can/gun for use with oil points on this? Mine just gets oil everywhere except into the point, obviously I need one with a finer nozzle or something.

 

[Trevanion]

So, the mill's all wired in proper now and I've been using it a little bit just to get familiar with it. Something I did do was I bought a cartridge of Shell Alvania 3 (or the modern equivalent Gadus such and such) and I gave the milling head nipples one shot each, and one shot each on the feeder motor nipples. One thing that is noticeable after running the mill for a while is that the head does get rather hot to the touch, not to the point where you can't keep your hand on it but fairly close to it, so I'm not sure if there's now too much grease and it's causing friction in the bearing as it churns, I did have grease dribbling out of the top and bottom of the head once it warmed up after giving it a shot.

Otherwise, the mill seems to run very well but I do have a little concern for one of the gears in the speed selection gearbox, specifically the 80/578rpm gear as when you engage that one it is noticeably louder than the rest.

I've been experimenting trying to get oil into the oil points, I bought a cheap oil can and threaded the end of the nozzle to fit a home-made doodad but so far nothing I've tried works, I get a pump of the can which creates hydraulic pressure at the oil point and once you remove the nozzle oil just goes everywhere except into the point.

 

[Fastdruid]

The vertical head on mine does get a bit warm. As does a friends.

 

[Mark Davison]

As does mine

 

[Carl Wilson]

If you are interested I converted my mill motors both to delta by rewiring the star point. Lovely machine you have.

 

[Trevanion]

If you are interested I converted my mill motors both to delta by rewiring the star point. Lovely machine you have.

Thanks, It's working well off the digital convertor but the motors are a fair bit noisier with a high-pitched whine than when they were run off a true three-phase supply from a generator.

I still need to get around to getting a suitable oil gun for the oil nipples.

 

[GOLDTHORN]

I bought this little Harrison Vertical Milling Machine a couple of weeks ago, supposedly out of Pembrokeshire college when they axed off the practical engineering department. It appears to have very few miles on it as everything seems to operate smoothly with no discernable slop anywhere.

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Done a little looking around on the forum and while there are a few posts on these they don't seem to be as common as the standalone horizontal or the combined horizontal/vertical machines. I just need to get it powered up properly, it runs off my 3-phase diesel generator fine (inconvenient for the mill, costs about £8 an hour to run! As well as having to run an extension lead from outside to the mill) but it really does not like running on an old Motorun Convertor (which is what the guy was running it off, his was much smaller, but mine is situated about 15m away from the mill which probably doesn't help), the motor makes hell of a racket and cuts out after a few seconds. I've got a DrivesDirect Digital Convertor but I'm not sure how much that will like running the main motor, feed motor, and suds pump at once though the combined power of all three is less than 2kw. DrivesDirect reckon it will run it but said I would be best changing the coils in the contactors for 240v ones and running them off a separate supply, the only issue with that is the contactors are long obsolete Danfoss contactors which the coils aren't replaceable, so it seems I'll have to replace the contactors with new ones fitted with 240v coils which will be a pain-in-the-neck exercise. Open to alternative suggestions on that.

One thing I've tried my best to find is a manual for the machine, I can get one from Lathes.co.uk, but paying £42 for a photocopy seems a bit excessive, I can find cheaper horizontal mill manuals but that doesn't help me much. I was wondering if anyone had a spare they would sell or a PDF? I may just have to open my wallet for the photocopy.

Hi . I have the opportunity to buy a Harrison horizontal mill that is missing a few parts . Does any one know if the drawings for these machines have survived and if so their whereabouts ?

I have called Harrison up in Heckmondwike and they say they have no drawings or any parts for these machines . Also LATHES UK has no knowledge .

I can`t believe that it appears these machines were made up to about 1980 or maybe even a bit later, that the drawings would have have just been thrown away, especially with the requirement for spares for all the possibly thousands of machines out in the field .

Any suggestions would be much appreciated .

MARK
BRIDGNORTH

 

[Martin-Sy]

Welcome to the forum Mark!
What parts are you missing?
Do you have a lathe? (& is it a CVA ????)

 

[Carl Wilson]

Hello, I have a Harrison horizontal mill with vertical attachment. Been doing a Resto for a few years now, slowly but surely...

I'm not aware of any drawings for the parts in the machine. I've had to make a few parts but that has primarily involved measuring/extrapolating dimensions from broken bits. I have a thread running on here about my Resto and a YouTube channel if you are interested.

You can sometimes pick up 2nd hand or new old stock bits on eBay or the second hand machine sales places. I was lucky enough recently to get a pristine NOS y axis lead screw and nut.

 

[GOLDTHORN]

Hi Guys. Thanks for your comments so far .

Yes , I agree it would be easier if one had a few drawings to work with ! but as it is a fairly simple machine it would not be too difficult to reverse engineer the missing parts .
As a start can anybody tell me what is the outer diameter of the motor pully - and also the diameter of the x axis table screw hand wheel ?
At least I can make a start with some bits I can buy on e - bay .

I will call Harrison / 600 Group up in Heckmondwike And see If I can find someone who might remember the milling machines . The person I did speak to was a relatively newcomer in the spares dept , so it might have been easier to say there was nothing without further ado .

MARK
BRIDGNORTH

 

[Agroshield]

As a start can anybody tell me what is the outer diameter of the motor pully - and also the diameter of the x axis table screw hand wheel?

A photo of the machine would allow you to scale the handwheel size based on other known parts.

The spindle speeds and the motor speed would allow you to calculate the pulley diameter. The belt length/specification would narrow down the possibilities. Pulleys are not available in a continuous range of sizes - more likely half inch increments so that also puts limits on the possibilities.

With these old machines, you have to be a bit of a detective or find a kind person who has the same machine and will indulge your questions. Google images can be a good source of photos from various angles.

Your expectation of drawings being available is unrealistic. Pick the most well-known lathe in the hobby community - a Myford. Try to find drawings for that.

 

[Smallfry]

A photo of the machine would allow you to scale the handwheel size based on other known parts.

The spindle speeds and the motor speed would allow you to calculate the pulley diameter. The belt length/specification would narrow down the possibilities. Pulleys are not available in a continuous range of sizes - more likely half inch increments so that also puts limits on the possibilities.

With these old machines, you have to be a bit of a detective or find a kind person who has the same machine and will indulge your questions. Google images can be a good source of photos from various angles.

Your expectation of drawings being available is unrealistic. Pick the most well-known lathe in the hobby community - a Myford. Try to find drawings for that.

Same with my Marlow vertical. No info. Company long gone.

 

[Martin-Sy]

The lower nut in this picture is the taper dowel pin

 

[Tim Riome]

The lower nut in this picture is the taper dowel pin

Thanks. Clearly need to eat and sleep