Saturday, May 25, 2013

New project - "Bin'da" the mill

Well what can I say..
Firstly a bit of an apology for not updating the webpage - plenty of things to blame, but that's that.

Secondly - yes I've picked up another project - Yes I'm aware I have more projects on my list than hours in the day, and time, money and space is always an issue - let's see what I can arrange over the next 12-18 months.

So, what have I been up to?
Cut down a number of trees around the property (ones which posed a danger to structure, fencing, etc)
Done a number of minor repairs in the house and "shed"
Built a woodshed
Filled said woodshed with timber dried and split from the tree feeling
Started various minor projects including a keyway shaper for the lathe, minor doodads, etc
Worked hard on a number of key projects at work (mostly centred around Documentation systems)
Started designing my real shed - the one I hope to build one day

My new project...
Back in January 2013 (this year) I found this milling machine in a skip bin. It is a bridgeport clone, sold by Herless (Melbourne) and seems to carry dates from the mid 1980s.

It took some effort from a number of people, but I was able to get permission to rescue it, got it lifted from the bin, and eventually transported to my house (Photos of that endeavour wil have to wait for now)

Since it's arrival here I've researched the mill as best I can, and commenced cataloging the damage.
Briefly the damage is...
Handles for X and Y axes are damaged
Y screw is broken
X screw is bent
Z handle is missing
electrical circuits are damaged (cables and controls)
nearly every knob from the head is missing
quill controls (handle, fine feed, and clutch) are missing

I have commenced fixing her up (yes the mill is a "She") and named her "Bin'da" based on her being "Binned"

Thanks to a number of people on anumber of forums, I have been able to track down photos and dimensions of some missing pieces and have already commenced making up the missing parts (more articles and photos on that to come as well)

In the meanwhile, hopefully you see the potential in this the same way I do...
Until next time