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So Cal Mill alert!

J

J. MacDonald

Joined
Jun 8, 2000
Messages
3,140
Hey guys,

Being the inveterate tool junkie I am, I was looking over Craig's List and found this Index mill in the Temple City area for only $650.00! It's an old mill, but I've seen one of these before and they would be perfect for a home/knifemaker shop. They're about 2/3 the size of a Bridgeport and a lot more rigid than any of the table to mill/drills. Last I knew, Wells-Index is still around and providing parts for these machines. I've got no connection to the seller:

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/tls/217178867.html
 
J , any idea what type taper the spindle is ? Is the power feed just on the X axis ? I know its not yours but thought you might know a bit about these. Looks like a pretty good deal for a knifemaker , 220 single phase makes for an easy hook up too.Nice tub of tooling .And the price is right for sure . Amazing how many different outfits made machine tools years ago eh ? Anyone know if Bridgeport was the originater of the knee type mill ? Just curious , I got the same sickness as you J when it comes to stuff like that. I'm pretty sure Higgy is afficted with the same bug too :) , in fact I'm sure he is ;)
 
J. MacDonald said:
Hey guys,

Being the inveterate tool junkie I am, I was looking over Craig's List and found this Index mill in the Temple City area for only $650.00! It's an old mill, but I've seen one of these before and they would be perfect for a home/knifemaker shop. They're about 2/3 the size of a Bridgeport and a lot more rigid than any of the table to mill/drills. Last I knew, Wells-Index is still around and providing parts for these machines. I've got no connection to the seller:

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/tls/217178867.html
Click to expand...

Blessed are the mechanical ones! Yer a man after me own heart, John!

Yup, I think Well's Index has been around a long time, like 60+ years IIRC.
 
David Wesner said:
J , any idea what type taper the spindle is ? Is the power feed just on the X axis ? I know its not yours but thought you might know a bit about these. Looks like a pretty good deal for a knifemaker , 220 single phase makes for an easy hook up too.Nice tub of tooling .And the price is right for sure . Amazing how many different outfits made machine tools years ago eh ? Anyone know if Bridgeport was the originater of the knee type mill ? Just curious , I got the same sickness as you J when it comes to stuff like that. I'm pretty sure Higgy is afficted with the same bug too :) , in fact I'm sure he is ;)
Click to expand...

Oh yes, and what a persistent bug it is! ;)

I'm thinking the older Wells-Index machines were all MT#2 spindle taper, but you know after looking at the box o' junk in the pic, I see a drill chuck with a 1/2" shaft on it. It is real common practice for machinists to have a setup like that to slide into a 1/2" R-8 collet, so if I were to make an educated guess, I would say that might be the spindle taper. However, if that machine can me had for $650, and its otherwise in fine shape, it would serve anyone quite well in any spindle taper size. That said, I am certain that Wells-Index could supply you with a new spindle in any format you want... even the newer ER-styles! :D

Dang, I'm getting wood talking about machinery. :eek:
 
Yes, the power feed is on the X axis. The last one of these I saw was at an estate sale close to my house. I ended up helping the old lady who's husband had owned it sell it to a guy off www.practicalmachinist.com in FLA. If I remember correctly, it was not an MT2 spindle, but a B&S #2 (Brown & Sharp). I believe you can send the spindle in to Index and have it reground to R8 for a couple hundred bucks as B&S collets aren't nearly as common as R8.
 
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