The Home Machinist!

Choprboy, thanks for the pictures and description! By exposing the hole to the rear, and using a small flashlight, I was able to access the gears well enough to see and oil them. They looked like they hadn't seen oil in quite some time.
John

Can someone who owns one of these mills please explain how to lube the bevel gears that are inside the knee? I followed the instructions in the manual I have, but when I pull back the shield to expose the hole, all I can see is the cross slide feed screw. What am I doing wrong?

I discovered that the back gear box has a drain plug. That will make draining & flushing the it a lot easier; no worries there. The spindle reservoir is a different story. The only usable access is via the filler hole. There is a breather hole as spro suggests, but it's small, about the size of ...

The horizontal spindle hasn't been used in years, so I'm thinking it might be a good idea to drain and flush out the spindle oil reservoir, and also the back-gear box. If possible, I'd like to do it without disassembling everything. I would like to hear from anyone who has tried this, and whether or...

Made a little progress today. I tested the horizontal spindle motor with the VFD, and the motor runs smoothly and responds to the VFD. It was nice to see that. Also, I figured out how to engage the back gear. The bracket that the VFD is mounted on interferes with the movement of the backgear lever, ...

Thanks to everyone for the comments so far. In answer to some of the questions that were raised: 1. Re the model number, I agree that it probably left the factory as a horizontal-only machine, and the vertical head was added later on. I think I read somewhere that the vertical head could be purchase...

For horizontal milling, the vertical head (including ram) is removed from the machine, and replaced with an overarm and outboard support as you mentioned. The arbor is powered by a second motor, which is behind the column. I've attached a picture that shows this. I believe I have all of the necessar...

I've been looking a long time for a milling machine, and finally found this Rockwell 21-120 combo not too far from home. It seems to be in really good shape. The PO used it for hobby/maintenance work. He thought it was originally in a school. The owner previous to him bought it from the school, and ...