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Pantograph mills?

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 12:10 am
by Rockmonton
Hey guys, i've come across an old pantograph mill fairly recently, if it's cheap enough, i'm awful tempted to pick it up, if not for anything more than novelty's sake.

Any ideas what a person could do with something like this?


anyone using one currently?

i can't figure out the brand or any info on what kind of spindle it'd have yet, but i am curious now.

Re: Pantograph mills?

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 1:11 am
by Harold_V
Rockmonton wrote:Any ideas what a person could do with something like this?
Depends a great deal on one's skill level, really. If it's 3 D capable (not all are), it can be used for making injection molds, or even engraving hobs for pressing jewelry or other small items. With a bit of skill, you can even create coining dies. They also serve to engrave panels. They were used extensively for making such tooling prior to EDM and CNC.

Do take note that the work is accomplished by a pattern, or template, and, in order to engrave, one must own font sets. Pantographs reproduce exactly what they are fed, but offer the ability to select a reduction ratio. Patterns are generally made oversized, which helps reduce error in the objects created.

Harold

Re: Pantograph mills?

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 11:36 am
by Russ Hanscom
If it is a Gorton, there is a small user's group in Yahoo groups.

Re: Pantograph mills?

Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 12:25 pm
by Gew. 98
Looks like an Alexander machine, which I believe are all copies of the Deckel brand. I have a 2B model that I've been playing around with, though I lack fonts. I have a PDF manual for an Alexander 2B if anyone is interested.

Regards, Ken

Re: Pantograph mills?

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 10:21 pm
by Rex
that Alexander is a pretty little thing!

Makes the gortons looks positively chunky.

So what drives the spindle?

Re: Pantograph mills?

Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 1:07 pm
by Rosco-P
The money/value is in the font sets. Lots of old pantograpgh mill around with no takers because the sets were sold off. New sets can be purchased, but if the mill your looking at has none, expect to pay several times its worth to tool it up.

Re: Pantograph mills?

Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 1:26 pm
by Rex
Even without the fonts, I think they make a decent milling machine.

Re: Pantograph mills?

Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 3:35 pm
by Rosco-P
Rex, do you have one? Have you ever run one? I haven't, but I've been to shop auctions were the mills sold for scrap or not at all, because they had no font sets. Because of the head configuration, they aren't nearly as rigid as a comparable mill in the same size. I wouldn't want a pantograph mill as my first or only mill in the shop.

Re: Pantograph mills?

Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 3:57 pm
by Rex
I don't have one, but I have looked at a few on the recommendation of Gunner Asch on RCM.
Those pictured in this thread are pretty lightweight, but some of the Gortons are plenty stout enough.

Re: Pantograph mills?

Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 9:36 pm
by spro
While i don't Own a Pantograph mill i just cought this thread. It makes me :( especially when they go to scrap :?) So many things. Why cannot photovoltaic to digital with some stepper motors work just fine? i cannot see this type quality going to waste.
Some of the guys here could present it better than me. These type machines could, absolutey do a piece incremently. They are of the best trued and mated articulations.(without XXXXX)$

Re: Pantograph mills?

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 9:07 am
by Rosco-P
Why are they scrapped? Because we can now do that sort of work with CNC. We can engrave with the proper cutters on a CNC mill or VMC. Have you looked at the Glacern video of a chess piece being made in a CNC lathe? An axillary cutter head comes in from the side and engraves the piece while it's still chucked. Time moves on and we've found another way to perform the same job without having a dedicated machine.
Why are so many turret lathes being scrapped? Perfect machine for some repeat jobs.

Re: Pantograph mills?

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 11:04 am
by spro
Rosco :P You are a logical person. We are not all completely logical. We are, regarding .001+- yet there is certain appreciation which you understand also. No doubt, your intention is to help steer someone away from a boatanchor instead of a real milling machine. One more fancy anchor and a terrible waste 4 there will be a reset.