Millrite vertical mill

[Rustaholic]

Howdy Folks,
I just made a deal for my first mill.
Here is a note from a friend telling me about it.

Details on the mill: Millrite vertical mill. It looks much like a 2/3 scale BridgePort, enough smaller that it could be disassembled and moved to a basement. Not easily carried down the stairs, but winched down on some planks or whatever. Some tooling is included; a 5" vise with swivel base, milling cutter holders (brand new set), 3" boring head, Jacobs chuck. Power feed on the 'X' axis. I heard it run, and it's very quiet, Spindle is R8. It has a 3-phase motor, but a phase converter is included.

Does $1000 seem like a fair price for this mill?
Seems like a good deal to me.
I have two lathes that will be happy to see this mill.

[dly31]

Sounds like something I would buy at that price if I was in the market and it was available to me. Of course condition effects the value a lot and it could be worth quite a bit more or less.

[Rick]

Rustaholic

My first mill was a Millrite, it served me very well for a number of years of hobby work and then starting my business. If its in real good shape I would think $1000 would be a fair price especially if it has a vise and phase converter. I think I paid about the same for mine almost 30 years ago. The only issue that mine had was with the knee screw, it had a lot of backlash, never really looked into it as it just wasn't a big issue and it was still accuate in the up direction.

[SteveM]

OK, so it's R8, comes with some tooling, power feed on one axis, has phase converter AND you can get it into your basement.

$1000?

Unless the ways are in bad shape, sounds like a REAL good deal to me.

Another popular alternative for a basement / home workshop is a Clausing, and it's not as versatile as the Millrite, doesn't have an R8 spindle and would probably cost you 50% more.

For those of you that haven't seen one, here's a picture:


You can read about them here:
http://www.lathes.co.uk/millrite/

Steve

[Fullautomike]

Sounds like a fair deal to me. That also looks like a nice home shop mill. I'd be glad to own one in good shape. Let us know if the deal goes through, and post some pictures.

[samthedog]

I paid a lot more for something similar. I'd jump on that before someone else does.

Paul.

[Rustaholic]

Thank you Folks,
Saturday I will go look at it.
Unless there is a problem it is already mine.

That little write up was done by my friend.
He KNOWS his tools.
If there was anything wrong with it he would not have been telling me about it.

I have a walk out basement so it will be easy to get it in that way.
I am a little concerned about getting it off my trailer and setting on the ground but I will cross that bridge when I get to it.
Alone I unloaded and move my biggest lathe into my basement but a ten foot long lathe is a lot more stable than that mill.

I might just pay to have a loader come pick it off the trailer and set it on my carts outside the door then just roll it in.
I have four 4 wheel carts that are each rated to carry 1000 pounds.

[SteveM]

You don't have to move it all in one piece, If you can pull off the knee, the head and the turrett, you may have it down to manageable pieces.

Just take it slow and be sure that you always think about what happens if something drops, tilts or slides and make sure that nobody is in the way.

Steve

[Rustaholic]

Well,,, It is mine now.
I gave him a deposit.
There must have been a misunderstanding though because it does not come with a phase converter.
It is in very sweet condition.

SteveM
Even if I did take it apart that base would be a beast to move.
After I get my mountain of pallets moved I can have a loader come and pick it off the trailer and set it on two of my 1000 pound capacity carts on the concrete pad outside my basement door.
Then I might be able to wiggle it though the opening or I might have to remove the table.
Without the table it would be easy to roll it inside and right into the corner it will own for a while.
Now to find or build a phase converter.
Which is the best way to go?

[SteveM]

Now to find or build a phase converter.
Which is the best way to go?

First choice: Variable Frequency Drive (VFD).
110v 1ph in, 220v 3ph out, variable speed
Not cheap, but everyone says it's the best way to go.

Second choice: Rotary Phase Converter (RPC).
You can rewire an electric motor to input 1ph and output 2ph.
IIRC, you need to have 220 in.
Not expensive to make yourself and there are lots of plans on the internet, but you have to build it.

Third choice: Static phase converter.
Waveform is not as good as the other choices, but they can be found cheap (mine cost me $5 at a garage sale).

Steve

[Rustaholic]

First choice: Variable Frequency Drive (VFD).
110v 1ph in, 220v 3ph out, variable speed
Not cheap, but everyone says it's the best way to go.

Steve

Is there a good or bad brand?
Website for a good one?
I like the idea of a VFD.
Alan

[SteveM]

Is there a good or bad brand?
Website for a good one?
I like the idea of a VFD.
Alan

Don't know, but I've heard of some good deals off ebay, although caveat emptor.

Steve