I'm going to wander down there again today and get some brand names from some of these items.
Again, from what I have gathered so far, that mill sounds like something to steer clear from unless really cheap.
A local electrician here tells me that use of a phase converter such as the one shown will result in a 10-15% cut in motor horsepower.
From: GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com [mailto:GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Monday, March 11, 2019 10:55 PM
To: GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [GrizHFMinimill] Newbie w/questions
One item I missed was what is in a little white molded plastic tray where there is a 1 foot rule at the top, something at the bottom that looks something like a protractor (because it is a protractor), a sort of right angle and 45 degree item at the left with a bubble level in it, and a V shaped part at the right that is used for marking the center of round things. This is called a "combination square set" and is one of the basic tools in any machinist's tool box. If you don't already have one, you might try to get it.
Combination sets are a good example of price ranges and quality.
On Amazon:
$ 17.99 is lowest cost set (that's amazingly low) and the reviews are 2 1/2 stars out of 5.
$123.71 is the highest with 4 out of 5 stars in the reviews.
At Travers Tool, the highest price is a Starrett model at $339.99. That's a very high quality brand.
Chuck K.
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: trainliker ckinzer@att.net [GrizHFMinimill]
Sent: Monday, March 11, 2019 8:40 PM
To: GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [GrizHFMinimill] Newbie w/questions
Oops. Correction, where I said "Taiwan or Italy" I meant "Taiwan or India". A lot that comes from India is pretty good for the price.
Chuck K.
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From: trainliker ckinzer@att.net [GrizHFMinimill]
Sent: Monday, March 11, 2019 8:37 PM
To: GrizHFMinimill@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [GrizHFMinimill] Newbie w/questions
If you need to go single phase, besides getting a converter already mentioned, you may just be able to get another motor. Machines tend to use fairly standard motor sizes with standard mounting methods.
The mill has a power feed for the table that looks like an aftermarket add-on – that's a very nice addition. Good looking and properly sized vise shows in one of the photos AND it is a "Kurt" (I think I mistakingly recommended "Kurta" previously). Also it looks like a small tilting vise is there.
For the other equipment, it looks like a very good grinder on the floor stand – Baldor is a good brand. Hard to tell the size, but I think larger than the common 6 inch wheels. Maybe it is 8 inch. But they also make larger than that, too.
The band saw is the typical smallish variety but usually just fine for home shops and occasional use. If doing metal work, these are extremely handy. The blade speed is much slower than in a wood bandsaw. The usual imported ones are a bit cheesy, but work. Don't know about the Delta. There's a good chance it takes a 64 1/ 2 inch blade which I think is pretty standard. Best to get a medium to high quality "bi-metal" blade.
One pretty serious air compressor and one smaller one. This (as in the nice grinder) must be from an estate where somebody actually did some things fairly seriously
And then there are some other grinder machines that are the sort for grinding chisels and such but also very useful for lathe tool bits, or a tool bit to go into a fly cutter. Although a regular grinder is really all you need.
I see there is a parallel set there and arguably it goes with the milling machine because that's what they are used with. They are the things wrapped in the oiled paper in the red molded case. Don't know the brand. Virtually all such tooling is available as made in China which can is usually the lowest quality. Taiwan or Italy, a bit better quality. Or the U.S. or European nations which can be very high quality. Price differential can be perhaps 2 to 1 up to maybe 10 to 1. A home shop can usually get by on the lower priced items. But for drills and taps and end mills and such, it can be better to get higher quality items.
The box with all the little rectangular pieces of metal of all sizes is a gage block set. This is used for checking tools and also sometimes for making set ups. It looks very old and perhaps not in good condition. When in good condition, the surfaces are so flat that you "wring" blocks together and they stick from the molecular attraction. Most amateur machinists don't have a set, but they can be a "nice to have".
The photo just previous to the gage blocks is a machinist level. It is vastly more precise than a regular level. Used for leveling machines. There is often much debate about that, especially with things like stubby little mini-lathes.. But for most machines, and especially larger ones, castings are usually designed stronger in the direction that is supposed to be perpendicular to gravitational pull – so the machine should be set up to respect that. (You will always get the "but machines on board a ship can't stay level" which is true. But that can't be helped and does NOT mean leveling is otherwise unimportant..)
Pretty interesting mix of stuff. It looks like the main focus was woodworking, but then there are the machinist tools, the mill, and the welders. The absence of a metal lathe seems conspicuous because is usually the most basic machine tool to start with.
Chuck K..
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Posted by: "David Schwandt" <finsruskw@iowatelecom.net>
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