Thread: Making a vertical lathe - and very large bowls

No bending over or straining, just crank the tool down.

1914 Niles Vertical Boring Mill

I want one of them .... that is awesome!!!!!!!!!


Dave the turning cowboy

turning wood into art

Originally Posted by DaveTTC

I want one of them .... that is awesome!!!!!!!!!

Dave, You'll need a few lengths of rope and a couple of mates to help you load it into your ute. Might also pay to put a bit of extra air in the rear tyres.

Alan...

DaveTTC,

Niles VBM Thread, you have to join to see the photos:

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...photos-294807/

Here is your chance, from the same thread with the photos:

There was a similar sized boring mill laying in pieces in a warehouse where the company I worked for rented space. It came out to the Harnischfeger Corporation in Milwaukee. It was purchased by the University of Wisconsin when they were bidding on the Super Collider Project that eventually went to Texas. Finding they had no use for it they sold it at an auction. The buyer thought he was going to make a killing by selling it for scrap. Over the years he hired several companies to cut it up, but all of them failed. He finally had a consultant come in to determine what had to be done to break it into small enough parts to send it to the foundry.

The consultant determined the castings were so thick the cheapest way to break it up was to use directional explosives. However the cost of disassembling it and breaking it apart was going to exceed the scrap value. The last I saw it was 8 years ago still laying in the warehouse. The owner had defaulted on the storage payments so it became property of the moving and storage company that owned the building. As far as I know it's still sitting there taking up acres of space because it's going to be more expensive to dispose of than it is to leave it set.

BUT!!:

I'm sure if it's still there you could have it for the asking. Keep in mind however it took a long reach 100 ton crane to get the pieces off the trucks it took to bring it to the warehouse. The trucks were also specialty trucks normally used in the foundry business. The tractors had 3 drive axles. while the trailers each had between 4 and 6 axles under them depending on the size of the part(s) they were carrying. Don't forget to apply for the oversize/overweight permits, and make arrangements for the guide vehicles before you go to pick it up.

AND!!:

Was offered a HBM with a 12ft square table several years ago for free. Scrap company had been given it and it wasn't worth hauling back to scrap. All I had to do was go get it... and prepare a foundation for it, and a building it would fit in, and provide electrical service, dis-assembly/assembly crews, big crane rental, and the aforementioned monster tractor trailer rigs with escorts to move it, then reverse to put it wherever I wanted it. Figure $300,000 for a good start.

what a travesty to see something like that considered for scrap


Dave the turning cowboy

turning wood into art

Hi. I looked at your thread and a few replies. I am an engineer and a woodworker. Having been in woodworking for many years and now playing with CNC routers and lathes I can understand where you are at.

In all honesty I can see the advantage of a slow speed spindle using a small router for your cutter instead of conventional lathe work using chisels against rotating timber for your cut. If it was me, I would be setting a small router on linear rails with hand rotated screws able to move up/down and in/out to create your finished product. Then you can rotate your workpiece at a slow speed and still get a great finish.

But if you are looking at rotating heavy large pieces of timber, DONT mess around with little baby tiny bearings. Also remember to research the difference between roller and ball bearings due to what they are to be used for. Keen to see how you get on.

Originally Posted by Boydage

Hi. I looked at your thread and a few replies. I am an engineer and a woodworker. Having been in woodworking for many years and now playing with CNC routers and lathes I can understand where you are at.

In all honesty I can see the advantage of a slow speed spindle using a small router for your cutter instead of conventional lathe work using chisels against rotating timber for your cut. If it was me, I would be setting a small router on linear rails with hand rotated screws able to move up/down and in/out to create your finished product. Then you can rotate your workpiece at a slow speed and still get a great finish.

me thinks a regular CNC would be a lot easier to set up and control if working horizontally