Horizontal mill?

[Maker]

Going by the horizontal shaft I think it has a 3 morse taper, unless I have the wrong shaft.
To get the vert head off, do I need to undo the thing in the last picture and tap it with a copper hammer like the collet chuck or is it a different procedure?

Getting it off the pallet wont be easy. Maybe you could put some extra blocks under the pallet and use it on that??? Or even bricks under the pallet.

We have thought about buying a few more pallets and some sheets of plywood and decking the whole floor because it's freezing cold concrete that sucks the warmth out of your feet.

 

[oilyneil]

I would look at the shaft above the top pulley from behind, it looks hollow in your photo,so I cant be sure if it should have a drawbar in there or not, if there is I would loosen the 4 bolts mounting the vert head to the mill coloum say 1/4 " and give the drawbar a tap with the mallet again.
If there is no drawbar then loosen the 4 bolts and see of it will wiggle off !
I'm not familiar with the elliot, but it is of the same era as my Senior and seems to share many features,,,
The switch that has been blanked off would be for the seperate powered head (which isn't on your mill).

 

[oilyneil]

Before you get it running under power,please put a decent big stop switch, accessable from the front, you dont want to be leaning past a rotating cutter when its all going wrong,,,,
Never sure why they hid the switches around the side

 

[Maker]

Before you get it running under power,please put a decent no volt release starter on it with a big stop switch, accessable from the front, you dont want to be leaning past a rotating cutter when its all going wrong,,,,
Never sure why they hid the switches around the side

I've got this and dad said there's a box of stop switches at work I can have (they were taken down in an electricians shop because there's no machines there and they gave the wrong impression that pressing it would stop you getting mangled in a light switch or something stupid like that)

 

[oilyneil]

That's the ticket !
My bridgeport has all the switches on the side too,,, that got changed quick as i'm softer than steel.
Love the lightswitch idea though, all our ladders at work have stickers showing someone falling to a tragic untimely death from 2 foot 6,,,,

 

[Maker]

It does have 2 switches down at the front for on & off, probably the 1 thing I didn't take a picture of.
In a box of bits somewhere I've got a buregress gateshead switch thingie, dunno if that will be of any use?

 

[oilyneil]

You can just put a bigger stop knob on the original if you prefer,, I've done that on my lathe so i can knock it off with my knees as i'm being dragged round the chuck,,,

 

[Maker]

I might make some kind of foot switch to turn it off.

Compared to other machines, how safe do you consider a mill. The driver said he used one at collage and apparently it will grab you and not stop. Surely as long as you don't do anything stupid like wear long sleeves or touch the cutter or get your hair near the spindle it's perfectly safe.

 

[Wedg1e]

The missing key on the arbor isn't a problem if it has a nut to clamp all the spacers and cutter... in fact it can save the cutter if you get speed and feed wrong - it'll just spin on the shaft. I've never had a key on my Bridgey and still get the occasional slip.

The snapped-off handle looks to have left a threaded stub in the boss, it should come out easily enough.

You can buy inverters that output 415V three-phase rather than 240V. I use one to power my Boxford lathe and Perrin mill. Not cheap but some hobbies aren't

 

[Wedg1e]

Surely as long as you don't do anything stupid like wear long sleeves or touch the cutter or get your hair near the spindle it's perfectly safe.

Maybe not perfectly You can still drop heavy things on your foot or fingers, cut yourself on swarf, burn yourself on hot bits etc etc...

 

[MattF]

Maybe not perfectly You can still drop heavy things on your foot or fingers, cut yourself on swarf, burn yourself on hot bits etc etc...

Perfectly safe is never achievable, is it. On the subject of burning, it's amazing just how much your forearms and such become desensitised, (either that or one just learns to avoid the flinch reflex), to hot metal/swarf and the like, over time.

Maker, as long as you utilise your gumption and display suitable caution, you'll be as safe as is possible around something which has the ability to maim or kill, which all powered machinery has. You could spend forever and a day worrying about what might happen, but no amount of safety features will ever make up for good old fashioned gumption.

 

[Maker]

The missing key on the arbor isn't a problem if it has a nut to clamp all the spacers and cutter... in fact it can save the cutter if you get speed and feed wrong - it'll just spin on the shaft. I've never had a key on my Bridgey and still get the occasional slip.

The snapped-off handle looks to have left a threaded stub in the boss, it should come out easily enough.

You can buy inverters that output 415V three-phase rather than 240V. I use one to power my Boxford lathe and Perrin mill. Not cheap but some hobbies aren't

I've never seen those, you sure it's not a rotary phase converter? I'd quite like an inverter rather than anything else because I could get the speed between 10 - 3000ish rpm so I could use it to tap or to drill small holes in brass and everything inbetween.

 

[Maker]

Perfectly safe is never achievable, is it.

Maker, as long as you utilise your gumption and display suitable caution, you'll be as safe as is possible around something which has the ability to maim or kill, which all powered machinery has. You could spend forever and a day worrying about what might happen, and no amount of safety features will ever make up for good old fashioned gumption.

Yeah, that's what I meant. I hear quite a lot that tools you feel safe with are the most dangerous because you don't think, you just do. And buffers are dangerous for some reason.

 

[MattF]

Yeah, that's what I meant. I hear quite a lot that tools you feel safe with are the most dangerous because you don't think, you just do. And buffers are dangerous for some reason.

It generally tends to be the complacency which causes most problems. When people work with things frequently, they tend to become a bit blaise regarding just how dangerous things can be. You do of course always have a certain percentage of numbnuts who just should never be allowed near anything sharp or dangerous too. Paranoia can be a useful companion. If you think everything is out to kill you, you tend to retain a certain level of caution.

 

[Maker]

I've just seen this, they look perfect for me but I really don't have £300 to spend on an inverter(I didn't have £500 for the mill)

It generally tends to be the complacency which causes most problems. When people work with things frequently, they tend to become a bit blaise regarding just how dangerous things can be. You do of course always have a certain percentage of numbnuts who just should never be allowed near anything sharp or dangerous too.

That's exactly what I was trying to say. And yes, some of my mates will be made to stand outside if I'm ever in there, you know, the kind that use a drill as a gun.

 

[DanielW]

Don't know what your requirements are on the motor but.....

http://www.machinemanuals.co.uk/default.asp?str=1&cat=Milling Machine Manuals&PageIndex=2

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mitsubish...ial_Automation_Control_ET&hash=item2c90addd50

 

[Maker]

I need to find out if the motor will run on 240 first but thanks for looking.
If it won't run 240 then I might get a single phase 240 volt motor and a three phase 415 volt motor and make up a rotary phase converter. I could even use stepped pulleys to change the frequency of the output and thus the spindle speed.

 

[ukracer]

At he opposite end of the chuck (at the top with the head vertical) there is a bolt, looks about 3/4" on yours, undo this a few turns and give it a tap on the top with a copper mallet or dead blow hammer and it should shock the taper out, once it has dropped undo the bolt all the way while holding the chuck to avoid it dropping on the floor or table! When removing or refitting it, give it a wipe with a lint free cloth, on the taper and up in the head to make sure it will seat properly and not damage the taper.
Looking on here,,
http://www.lathes.co.uk/elliottmillers/page2.html
depending on year it could be 3 morse taper or 30 INT, that should help narrow down the year too.

I dont think the vertical head has a 30INT. I think that was only 3 morse. Its the horizontal that they upgraded.

 

[ukracer]

I've never seen those, you sure it's not a rotary phase converter? I'd quite like an inverter rather than anything else because I could get the speed between 10 - 3000ish rpm so I could use it to tap or to drill small holes in brass and everything inbetween.

You need to read some previous threads / I did some 3 months research on inverters and converters before I got one for my lathe. It can be quite a mine field. I think that your mill wont be as powerful as my lathe so will be cheaper/possible to find a digital solution. I will see if I can find the threads you need. or someone might be able to show us where the links are. ;0

 

[penfold]

I might make some kind of foot switch to turn it off.

Compared to other machines, how safe do you consider a mill. The driver said he used one at collage and apparently it will grab you and not stop. Surely as long as you don't do anything stupid like wear long sleeves or touch the cutter or get your hair near the spindle it's perfectly safe.

There's a few elf'n'safety threads on here, and scary videos on youtube; just avoid loose clothing and gloves and don't put bits of you near rotating things.