-
Scam Alert. Members are reminded to NOT send money to buy anything. Don't buy things remote and have it shipped - go get it yourself, pay in person, and take your equipment with you. Scammers have burned people on this forum. Urgency, secrecy, excuses, selling for friend, newish members, FUD, are RED FLAGS. A video conference call is not adequate assurance. Face to face interactions are required. Please report suspicions to the forum admins. Stay Safe - anyone can get scammed.
Where to get good used mill
- Thread starter Susquatch
- Start date
I was chatting with a friend the other day, lamenting accumulation and how to be leaner. His words of wisdom were, "when you hear yourself start to say 'one day I could such and such with this'....STOP!"
You got me curious, so I looked up ball lead screws. I assume you mean something like the ones in this photo (which is just an example).
While it does look really cool, I guess I'm not keen on trying it without a lot more knowledge, experience, and guidance. I'd also be afraid of having something grab and blow up in my face with so little friction. I'm used to regular lead screws, don't need or want CNC, am ok with some reasonable freeplay, and for my needs normal friction isn't a problem. Perhaps that will mean I'd be missing out on a really good thing, but I wouldn't know I was missing it. As they say, nobody knows what they don't know. Since I've never done it before, I'll have my hands full just taking it apart and getting / making / modifying the right parts to make my old mill work properly so I can use it till I get a better one and then sell it.
Would that be a big mistake?
I was chatting with a friend the other day, lamenting accumulation and how to be leaner. His words of wisdom were, "when you hear yourself start to say 'one day I could such and such with this'....STOP!"
I wouldn't listen to your friend if I were you. One day becomes yesterday before you know it. Goals and dreams are important. You never know what you can do till you try. Last but not least, the small things add up so small goals and someday wanna do's matter too.
I didn't know that's how those things worked
I didn't even know they existed in this format. Reminds me of the recirculation ball system in an automotive steering gear box.
I'm not really looking for projects. I never ever want to wake up with nothing to do so I have a million projects waiting already.
What the heck is it anyway? Or maybe I should say, what was it?
Horizontal mill?
Chicken lights
Forum Pony Express Driver
Friend of mine warned me about finishing a dream
we going way off topic here but the gist of it was the dream gives you a reason to get outta bed
no more dream no more drive
Hi All,
In the process of trying to figure out how to fix the graduation scale on my existing mill, I ran across this device.
http://www.hemingwaykits.com/acatalog/Graduating_Tool.html#aHK_201215
Here it is in action making the marks on an indexed wheel.
I'll probably try to find something already marked, but if I can't find such a thing, this would work great by turning down my old cranks to remove the old marks and adding new ones using this or something like it.
In the process of trying to figure out how to fix the graduation scale on my existing mill, I ran across this device.
http://www.hemingwaykits.com/acatalog/Graduating_Tool.html#aHK_201215
Here it is in action making the marks on an indexed wheel.
I'll probably try to find something already marked, but if I can't find such a thing, this would work great by turning down my old cranks to remove the old marks and adding new ones using this or something like it.
Not sure how I conjured the notion of squashing dreams. Wouldn't want to do that. The notion was, already having 8 lifetimes of projects, to avoiding adding piles of crap to the heap the kids will have to clean out....just because a vivid imagination is able to conceive a possible use for every bit rusty iron encountered 
And not all dreams are good - not that I'm a hoarder (I hope thats true but my wife would be the better judge. its all bloody useful stuff I say!), but that scenario might be a dream to the afflicted and a nightmare to everyone else.
One thing I have experienced is trying to advance on too many workshop dreams and it starts to feel like a burden. One dream at a time I say. Or, well, at least try to keep under 500
And not all dreams are good - not that I'm a hoarder (I hope thats true but my wife would be the better judge. its all bloody useful stuff I say!), but that scenario might be a dream to the afflicted and a nightmare to everyone else. One thing I have experienced is trying to advance on too many workshop dreams and it starts to feel like a burden. One dream at a time I say. Or, well, at least try to keep under 500
Dabbler
ersatz engineer
I have a Hartford mill from Bert. Bert used it lightly for 40 years, and they were very well built in their time. Made in Taiwan. Heavier castings than a BP, but interchangeable parts. I'd say 90% as good as a BP, and much better than machines of Chinese origin (except the top-of-the-line ones.
Not sure how I conjured the notion of squashing dreams. ........... Or, well, at least try to keep under 500
I guess I (and others here) see what others write through our own eyes. No offense was meant and I hope none was taken.
My bride and sometimes my kids and my friends are always trying to tell me to throw everything of mine out. "Why do you keep all this junk?" "What the heck do you need this for?" "When are you ever gunna need this?" etc etc. Well, I don't see it that way at all. Most of my "junk" is expensive raw materials (bar stock, plate stock, sheet metal, thick pipe, fasteners, tubing, connectors, wire, tie wrap, valves, connectors, and lots of pieces of equipment containing that stuff) that I could never afford to buy new. But nobody around here ever complains when I use that stuff to fix their "junk".......
Then there are all the projects.....
An old plow that just needs a little repair before I sell it or give it away or sprayer that needs some repair.
An invention that needs a little more work or research before I give the idea away to some young guy who needs a good start. (My dumb ideas put a lot of groceries on my family's table over the years.)
A hundred "fun" projects that I do just for the pure enjoyment or the challenge or the education or the dream or even to help someone else find their dream.
Ya, I might wish my shop was a little neater once in a while. But usually I recognize that a neat tidy clean empty shop is someone else's dream, not mine.
As an aside, many years ago I managed the construction and fitup of a fortune 500 office tower. In designing the office space, I learned from Steelcase research that there are two kinds of people: Filers and Pilers. Both are necessary and equally valuable employees. If you try to turn either one into the other you will destroy their productivity and happiness. Instead, give each what they need, get out of their way, and watch them both soar. Pilers need shelves, filers need drawers. Shelves are just as easily hidden as drawers when needed. It was a valuable lesson in life that I never forgot.
When I die, I know that my family will fight over my stuff, or sell it, or drag it to the dump. But I won't know or care what goes where or what they say about it or me when that time comes. I buried my dad, and my wife's dad and a few other guys who were all the same as I am. I love them just as much after I helped clean out their stuff as I did when they helped me collect some of mine. In fact, the memories that were evoked as I cleaned up their stuff were incredible.
If you put me in your will, I'll gladly go to your place with some buddies and happily get rid of anything your family doesn't want to deal with. (Insert huge happy grin here.....)
Last edited:
none whatsoever, just yappin' and poking fun at myself.
Thread Update:
Over the weekend, I bought a mill.
It's a Hartford Model 2S built in 1979. 8 speeds from 80 to 2720. R8 Spindle. In great condition (or at least appears to be).
I will have to convert it to 220 and get a MT3 to R8 so I can use my existing tooling.
Basically, I'm a VERY HAPPY CAMPER right now. I did a google search on the quality of busy bee mills, found a discussion about that on this forum, poked around a bit to get a feel for what the forum is like, joined based on what I saw, created my very first post and exchanged thoughts with you members about where to look and what to look for, and ended up owning what I hope will be a terrific full blown mill - way beyond the table top machine I had initially resigned myself to. Wow! What an experience!
I'll create new posts as appropriate about fixing up my old mill-drill to sell and getting the Hartford ready to use because this thread is about where to find one. But I didn't want to end this thread without expressing a huge THANK YOU to all the other members who posted on this thread and helped me find a better machine than I would have found on my own. More importantly, thanks for helping to get me going on a whole new adventure!
THANK YOU ALL!
And a special Thank You to @Dabbler for giving me the assurances I needed and the courage to actually pull the trigger!
Here is a photo of my new (to me) toy.
Over the weekend, I bought a mill.
It's a Hartford Model 2S built in 1979. 8 speeds from 80 to 2720. R8 Spindle. In great condition (or at least appears to be).
I will have to convert it to 220 and get a MT3 to R8 so I can use my existing tooling.
Basically, I'm a VERY HAPPY CAMPER right now. I did a google search on the quality of busy bee mills, found a discussion about that on this forum, poked around a bit to get a feel for what the forum is like, joined based on what I saw, created my very first post and exchanged thoughts with you members about where to look and what to look for, and ended up owning what I hope will be a terrific full blown mill - way beyond the table top machine I had initially resigned myself to. Wow! What an experience!
I'll create new posts as appropriate about fixing up my old mill-drill to sell and getting the Hartford ready to use because this thread is about where to find one. But I didn't want to end this thread without expressing a huge THANK YOU to all the other members who posted on this thread and helped me find a better machine than I would have found on my own. More importantly, thanks for helping to get me going on a whole new adventure!
THANK YOU ALL!
And a special Thank You to @Dabbler for giving me the assurances I needed and the courage to actually pull the trigger!
Here is a photo of my new (to me) toy.
