Just hauled home my Index vertical knee mill...

Salem Straub

Salem Straub

Joined
Oct 20, 2008
Messages
5,547
Finally I got it paid off and trailered up to my house. Now it sits in my driveway awaiting the backhoe to pick it into my shop.
It's an Index model 645, probably from the 60's. Much like a series 1 Bridgeport, but a few hundred lbs. heavier in the castings.
It's got a 1 shot oiler system and power feed table and quill. Table is 9x48".

I will post pics soon, as I put it in the shop and hook it up to the VFD and such.

WooHoo! Man I wanted a knee mill so bad...
 
Great addition to your shop. Theres little you won't be able to fabricate now. Looking forward to seeing it set up.
 
love having mine iven if its not the tightest thing out there still miles better then the HF mini. im slowing tuning it up but i am still able to use it between tweaks
 
Patrice, I'm totally doing the dance of joy... although I'm tired and dirty after today.
I got it moved into the shop, with the help of a neighbor and his backhoe. The machine, with the pallet under it, slid under the doorframe with no more than 1/2" to spare.

DSC05815.JPG


The machine swelled considerably in size as soon as it entered the shop- the hole where the mill/drill sat was a bit inadequte for the Index. So, the whole shop is going to get some re-arranging.

DSC05816.JPG


The spindle motor as well as the power feed are three phase. So, tomorrow I'm getting some power cord to run to it from the VFD, and the power feed motor will be run separately on a Phase-a-matic converter so that varying the spindle motor frequency won't affect the power feed speeds.

I basically had to destroy the pallet out from under the mill, then lower it with the pallet jack onto cribbing. Tomorrow I'll walk it down with a pinch bar.

DSC05817.JPG


Here's some of the features before steel wool and penetrating oil etc...

DSC05818.JPG


DSC05819.JPG


DSC05820.JPG


I put about 2 hours in this evening with wool and spray oil, then way oil, now everything moves nice and smooth and easy, yet tight.

Can't wait to power it up! Anyone got some old Browne & Sharpe #9 taper tooling lying around not getting used? I'm looking to buy...
Also, it's missing the quill power feed micrometer stop assembly... not a big deal for me, but I'd like to find or make the parts eventually.

Stay tuned, more to come.
 
Last edited:
Thanks Sam, I'll probably be buying that very collet set from that site... and you are also correct about the chuck, although I'll probably go keyless.

The machine did come with a collet chuck- a universal double taper collet chuck, with a lot of odd sized collets. I might hang onto it for a while in case I come across more of those collets used on fleabay etc. they are not that common now, either.

Alternately I could send the spindle to Wells Index and have them regrind it to R8 for $250 plus shipping and $80 for a new drawbar. To be determined.
 
Looks great Salem. Thanks for the pics. Looking forward to seeing more.

I'd go with the R8 option myself, easier and cheaper in the long run I would think.
 
If the rest of the machine is worth having, I'd probably do the R8 option too.

It gives you so many options.
 
im putting my BP in the c0orner to save space might be a good option for you also. you still get to use 99% of the ram and table travle that way and it cuts down on lost space in the rest of the shop
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top