Thread: Hercus O Mill

Hi Ben,

From the little that I have seen, I don't think many of them have done much real work. So what I think you're looking for is people having done the wrong thing with them such as having pumped the spindle bearings full of grease.

The other thing I would say is to have a good look at the helical gear on the motor and the counter shaft, if that was in poor condition it could be difficult and expensive to replace. Everything else in my opinion could be readily fixed with a bit of engineering skill, also the drive train has quite a few components shared with the 260.

The other thing to think about (particularly when discussing with your missus!) is the accessories. From what I have seen recently, a vertical head could be around $500, a dividing head $500-750, a good vice (of any sort) $200. If you look at the one that is advertised on gumtree for $2,750, and you deduct off the accessories, then you're paying $1500 for the basic machine which isn't to bad even before you start negotiating.

Personally I think it's probably better to pay a bit more for a machine with the accessories, rather than try and buy them later because you'll probably end up paying more if you do that.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply Rick. I'm going to have a look at one tomorrow.

Spoke to the owner on the phone, he got it from a tafe or school approx 20 years ago and pretty much hasn't been used since. I don't think I'll be able to see it running. Should be interesting.

Ben

Hi,

I went out and had a look at the Hercus Mill. Its serial number is OLM279. Is there a register of manufacturer dates that anyone knows of?

It comes with a Dividing head and tailstock (different serial number), vertical head (again different serial number), a couple of horizontal cutters, some collets and other small odds and bods.

The table doesn't have a mark on it, there seems to be little play in the handles (axis's) that I could determine, the horizontal spindle moved freely. Apart from having the vertical head, I couldn't tell you much about its condition. It has the cream paint job and a 1/2 hp 3ph motor (which the current owner broke a wire on and is yet to fix). The insides looked ok, but it's hard to tell if you don't really know what your looking for (and the place was full of stuff so getting in and having a real good look was difficult - I also had the missus and two youngest boys waiting the Tarago!).

I think I will go back next week and have another look by myself. The owner said he's in no rush to sell it and will wait for me to make my mind up.

If anyone has suggestions I'm all ears!

Have a safe and happy New Years!

Ben

Hi Ben,

If the screws appear to have play in them, I wouldn't be overly concerned about that, if you have a lathe, all pretty fixable. What is probably more important is to gauge the wear on the slides. Take a screwdriver and some spanners with you and tighten up the gibs with the table or saddle in the middle position. When you can feel the gib dragging on the slide, then run it out to the extremes of the travel and see how much tighter it gets at the extremes, this will give you a bit of an idea how worn the slides are, also fixable, but a lot more work and expertise needed.

Hi Ben,

I reckon Rick has covered most of it. A mill with accessories is a better proposition, albeit more expensive, than a cheaper bare version. Accessories are thin on the ground with a number of owners looking for them.

If you go back for another look, take a 1/4 or 3/8 drive 5 /16" socket with you to remove the "grease" nipple from the spindle cone pulley. There should be no evidence of grease, it is an oil nipple. A read through the older No. O threads will reveal what can happen when grease is used in place of oil. Seizure and galling of the spindle.

If you purchase the mill it will be worthwhile removing the motor, a simple task, and ensuring that the screws holding the driven fibre gear to it's steel hub are tight.

My mate Bruce "Abratool" has very recently installed nylon seals in his No. O's vertical head. Some of these heads overheat as a result of oil seal lip friction. Hopefully he will start a new thread on this subject. ( I'll prompt him.)

There is not much to these bulletproof (nearly) little machines. You will get frustrated by their limited working capacity at times.

Good luck

Bob.

Hi Rick and AB,
Thanks for your replies. I am going out there next week, so will do as you suggest. It's hard to judge this machine, it has literally not been used for a number of years (the owner says 20 and I'm inclined to believe him). It's covered in that dust/oil grime and stuck in the corner.
I've got a couple of questions you guys may be able to answer. I'm concerned the serial numbers aren't the same but it shouldn't be a problem. Was there a inner arbour for the horizontal cutter? I'm not sure what type of chuck the vertical head will take, a ER32 Collet chuck (MT3)? The machine doesn't come with a vice, would a 100mm or 125mm vice fit?
Its a 3ph so the motor will come out to rewire to Delta (?) so a VFD can be fitted (if purchased).
There's a Hafco VM-1 on Ebay thats competing for my attention, which keeps dropping in price, but I really do like the Hercus.

Cheers Ben

Hello Ben,

My No.O's serial number is OL-8, one of the earliest. The vertical head has no serial number. Whether Hercus later went to the trouble of scraping the head for alignment is something I'm uncertain of though I doubt it given that instructions for fitting a head were provided in the manual. There are two dowels required for alignment and their installation is explained.

The dividing head serial number would only be relevant if it matched the tailstock. There were alignment keys screwed to the bases of the head and tailstock. Matching numbers would ensure alignment.

The vertical head will accommodate 3 Morse tooling as will the horizontal spindle. You need an appropriate drawbars.

The vice supplied with the mill was a 3 inch on a removable swivel base. Larger vices will probable consume too much Z clearance.

The motor on my old mill was a star wound 1/2 hp ASEA. I swapped it for a star/delta wound version of the original and run it via a TECO FM50 vfd.

I don't understand the question about the inner arbor. The machine was supplied with a long 1" diameter 3M horizontal arbor. Short arbors were available to to suit shell end mills and slitting saws.

Hope this helps.

BT

Recently BT Bob reminded me to put up some photos of seals I made for the Hercus Vertical End Mill Head.
Machined them up out of Nylon & press fitted them into the head.
Before that there were no seals as the originals overheated, as can be read on other parts of this forum.
I cleaned out the dirt & muck from the head, & found the tapered roller bearings to be OK.
Also corrected a fault in the lube not reaching the bearings. This was rectified by a light touch with an air grinder.
All working well now & the machine is ready for more end milling work.
Hope this may be of assistance to other Hercus owners.
regards
Bruce

Originally Posted by Abratool

Recently BT Bob reminded me to put up some photos of seals I made for the Hercus Vertical End Mill Head.
Machined them up out of Nylon & press fitted them into the head.
Before that there were no seals as the originals overheated, as can be read on other parts of this forum.
I cleaned out the dirt & muck from the head, & found the tapered roller bearings to be OK.
Also corrected a fault in the lube not reaching the bearings. This was rectified by a light touch with an air grinder.
All working well now & the machine is ready for more end milling work.
Hope this may be of assistance to other Hercus owners.
regards
Bruce

Thank you Bruce.

It would be interesting to hear from other No.O owners in regards to the heat generation in the vertical head, a result of seal lip friction. Prolonged running of mine makes the head unbearably hot. Maybe other heads had different seals fitted?

BT

I heard that excessive heat can sometimes be the result of too much oil in the gearbox. Apparently it's the churning action that generates heat?

Jordan