Show off your tools! (1 Viewer)

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PAToyota said:
No timing light?
;)
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Since you asked, here's an adjustable advance timing light with a Tach dwell meter thrown in for good measure that i forgot i owned, Funny thing is, it's been so long since i set the dwell on a set of points i can't even remember the last time i used that dwell meter,

1725377812676.jpeg
 
cruisermatt said:
@John Young post up some pictures of your new mill, and new gantry, both on my truck at the same time :lol:
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Yessir!
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Here is the new Wells Index mill loaded in @cruisermatt's truck. Wells Index makes or made a mill just slightly heavier and better than the iconic Bridgeport. This one has a 1 hp 3 phase motor, power traverse and 2 axis DRO (not currently working correctly--I suspect the glass slides are just dirty.

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Here is Matt doing the actual lift rigging on this big mill--looking like a real mountain man up there.

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Here is the 13" South Bend being lowered into Golden Boy, our 1991 diesel pickup. Matt and his team did a lot of work on this truck and Matt decided to pull two leaves out of the rear springs. The truck did just fine even with this heavy load in it.

1725490412121.png

And here is the third part of the puzzle, a handmade gantry crane with a 2 ton hoist on it, being carried by Matt's trailer. Without this gantry crane I don't see how we could have unloaded at the other end without renting a forklift. I'm really glad I got this crane. I've been moving things around the garage with it quite a bit. Both the mill and the lathe need work to return them to service and being able to move stuff around by myself has made a huge difference.

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Here we are at the other end doing the unloading at my house with the new garage in Port Orange, Florida.


Oh, and we used Biscuit, our RJ77 to pull the heavy mill into the garage. We all were dead tired by this point and a little apprehensive about pushing this big heavy swinging weight (which we should, in retrospect, have tied off side to side).

Big, big thanks to Matt. He both had the experience to know what the heck he was doing. It was more of a case of my son and I helping Matt than anything else. It was almost a full day of effort involved to bring home this big iron. I'd probably still be working on it if Matt hadn't come to the rescue. I will find a way to pay him back, or at least pay it forward to someone else.
 
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That was a long day
 
As nice as it is at times working alone in peace and quiet, when you need an extra set of hands for any reason ….you just can’t do without the ability to lift, pull or push and your gantry proves it. Had to make one quickly but…Did same thing for my small tractor and drill press 👍

IMG_3144.jpeg
 
Guessing this is about 40 years old. The older I get I’d rather get an older quality tool than a new cheap tool.
IMG_7729.jpeg
 
Here’s some other 40 year old stuff I found cleaning out the garage…. A bit before the Makita and DeWalt portable tool sets…the am/fm radio still works but these batteries are dead and gone 😂

IMG_3385.jpeg
 
there is a big cult out there rebuilding old batteries with new cells... Fun!
 
knuckle47 said:
As nice as it is at times working alone in peace and quiet, when you need an extra set of hands for any reason ….you just can’t do without the ability to lift, pull or push and your gantry proves it. Had to make one quickly but…Did same thing for my small tractor and drill press 👍

View attachment 3718905
Click to expand...

Gantries are great for many things but you need some room to use and store them.

I would absolutely love an over head hoist on a track but you really need to set that up right in the right building if you want to be moving 2,000+lbs around on it.

Cheers
 
aztoyman said:
I've wanted a Bridgeport for a long time but couldn't afford one. So far I've been getting by with this 1948 Rotex I rescued. It's small and completely manual. It's both horizontal and vertical. A fun project. All because I sold a Toyota part to a crotchety guy in his 80's. He lives off grid in the middle of nowhere. It was an adventure just getting it.

View attachment 3710558

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Is that crochety old guy named Jim? Or are there two older fellas who live in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of cool equipment lying around?
 
Just to update a little, I spent the day starting to clean the Wells Index mill. It's actually very nice and the DRO has started working thankfully. Just needed to warm up or something, although I did clean the optical sensors.

The real aggravating thing is that the prior owner had used a grease gun on the zerk fittings meant for lubricating the ways with WAY OIL. Common mistake I understand. It is a zerk fitting so it must be for grease. The Y axis would barely move at all. I partly disassembled, took the jib out and as much grease as I could and ran it back and forth (by hand) alternating between brake cleaner, PB blaster and way oil. Cleaned the wipers and so forth, now it moves pretty much normally. There is some wear on one of the ways but you can still see some of the scrape marks.

On the South Bend lathe I've settled on the strategy of taking off all the easily removable stuff, cleaning and prepping and painting. I have a thing about nice smooth and glossy machine tools, so I got some gap filling bondo (with the microfibers in it) and have been filling and sanding. So the thing will end up looking a bit strange with parts all nicely painted and other parts clean but kinda beat up, but I don't have the time to pull it completely apart at the moment. Heading back to Dubai in a couple of weeks most likely.
 
William74080 said:
thats the size lathe i been looking for. I "accidently" bought a monarche lathe but its way to big for my shop.
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If you happen to come across a Monarch 10EE tool room lathe, my advice would be to jump all over it, The 10EE is a small lathe, but it"s one of the finest tool room lathes ever made, and is still in use by aerospace company's like NASA,
 
William74080 said:
thats the size lathe i been looking for. I "accidently" bought a monarche lathe but its way to big for my shop.
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William74080 said:
picked this up a year ago and still restoring it. 1944 monarche engine lathe with taper attachment. Was a accidental purchase so to speak...View attachment 3720579
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Well if you have the time to travel, and the money in hand , here is a link to a Craig's list ad for a Monarch 10EE tool room lathe located in Prescott AZ,
prescott.craigslist.org

Monarch 10EE lathe - tools - by owner - sale - craigslist

great working lathe
prescott.craigslist.org prescott.craigslist.org
Below is a photo of the lathe that's for sale,
1726089836497.jpeg
 
This arrived today…not as massive or heavy as some of the tools in this thread but… it will be handy when we start rebuilding a few front steering knuckles

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