Thread: Hercus Model 0

Hi everyone, new member here, hoping that someone might be able to help. I recently managed to acquire a Hercus No.0 mill from my son's school. They were practically throwing it out! It was a bit abused as you'd expect, but after a little clean, adjustment and a good oil, it works beautifully. It came with a vertical head which is where my problem lies. Unfortunately the spigot that fits in the spindle nose and it's associated helical gear was lost. I have no idea how I can go about finding a replacement or maybe getting one made. Are there any members out there that can give me any suggestions or advice? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Originally Posted by BigAldo

Hi everyone, new member here, hoping that someone might be able to help. I recently managed to acquire a Hercus No.0 mill from my son's school. They were practically throwing it out! It was a bit abused as you'd expect, but after a little clean, adjustment and a good oil, it works beautifully. It came with a vertical head which is where my problem lies. Unfortunately the spigot that fits in the spindle nose and it's associated helical gear was lost. I have no idea how I can go about finding a replacement or maybe getting one made. Are there any members out there that can give me any suggestions or advice? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

There's a Hercus shop on Ebay where parts get auctioned off from time to time.

Hercus should still have the blueprints for it...Contacting them would be the first point of call...

be aware it will probably be an expensive gear to get cut being a helical bevel..

Hi BigAldo,

Welcome to the Hercus Mill Clan

I spent a good part of last year renovating / cleaning up a Hercus Model 0 mill. If there is something specific you are after, I am happy to photograph, measure, ?? any bits you are interested in.

I too have the vertical head (which is complete) - I could post some photos of how it all goes together to enable you to work out what is missing is you would like?

Rodd.

Wow, thanks for the quick responses guys. I wish Hercus would reply like that. I've e-mailed them twice, with no replies. If your offer still stands Rodd, and it's not too much hassle, a photograph or a drawing of the spigot and helical gear that fits in the spindle nose would be fantastic. And maybe if I'm not pushing my luck, some measurements to go with them as well. I'm beginning to realise that finding these parts from somewhere will be harder than winning the lottery! The only way I'll get this head to work, will be if I get the parts made. Hate to think what that will cost. Anyway, thanks again for the replies.

Hi BigAldo,

I'll have a play on the weekend. I have included two 'canned' photos.

Are these the bits you are interested in?
Rodd

Hi Rodd, it's the first photograph with the gear on the spindle nose. Any info on that would be fantastic. Thanks again for your trouble.

BigAldo,

It should be a 47 tooth helical drive gear that mounts onto the spindle nose.

The spiggot is the easy part. The 3 Morse taper arbor has a 0.749" diameter end that fits the bore of the missing gear. The other end is tapped to accommodate a 1/2" BSW drawbar.

If you cannot obtain a replacement gear from Hercus, you could try HPC Gears in Chesterfield, U.K. www.hpcgears.com. They sell helical gears.

I've purchased a couple of worm gears from them. Their products are of high quality and represent good value when compared with the cost of a locally made, one off gear.

There has been discussion on this forum regarding pressure angles. HPC gears have a 20 degree angle. I have an Hercus Transmission Equipment catalogue dated 1979 and the gears listed within all have same 20 degree angle. Pretty good chance they used the same angle on the vertical head!

Good luck
Bob.

Thanks for the info Bob, I'll give them a look.

Hello Nev, Michael and any other mill owners.

I had said, in a previous post, that I'd been working on a slotting head based on the one Hercus made for the model O mill. Here it is painted and ready to go.

Regards Bob.

Adsolutley awesome, well done

Originally Posted by A. Hudson

Adsolutley awesome, well done

I agree. Great work. When can I expect mine? Seriously, if you ever consider making a couple more I may be interested in one. Price may frighten me though.

Nev

Hello Anorak Bob, Surfin Nev and others,

It is amazing where 6 months can go. I was o/s with work and came back to Christmas, a forced redundancy, damage to Casa MG, child in hospital (who has recovered brilliantly), find new job (which I have) and get back into routine all in that order. Sorry, no time to get on the web and share Hercus milling experiences, I was a bit ...... distracted ??

I love the slotting head Bob, another great job by you. Have you used it is the big question !!!

For myself, the clock is nearing completion with less than twenty components (which is about 4 sub-assemblies) to go, those close to me have given a lot of support to keep making the parts over the past year. The case is the next big item to make. The parts are all in small plastic bags in a briefcase and I am preparing a completion plan with a more experienced clockmaker to get the build order correct. Probably about two months to go. I will post a photo of progress even if it is small plastic bags all over the floor.

The conversion of the motor to star / delta and the use of a single phase in three phase out Variable Speed Drive is the best thing that I could have done to the machine. I have the benefit of soft start and stop, 24V switches, certificate of electrical compliance and the opportunity to put a field potentiometer where I have the switches on the side of the stand. I have the VSD well protected, it is hidden inside the stand where the old electrics were. I will try and put a happy snap of that as well.

The machine is working well as a horizontal machine and "polishing lathe" now that I have my set of ER-32 collets and chuck. Great way to hold things apart from cutters. The vertical head needs a full strip down and, in light of your early comments about overheating, some engineering attention. Just feeling my way around the backlash and slide adjustment issues to know the machine better.

I have also bought the H&F 1/2" imperial clamp set with 3/8" studs, the tee slots on my machine are 11mm neat. The 10mm tee nuts with 8mm studs just looked too flimsy. I have made better tee nuts than in the kit.

Sorry I dropped out for a while guys (and gals),

regards

MG

Hello Michael,

Good to hear from you again. I have a collection of nice Dumont broaches that would be my first choice for cutting a keway. The slotting head does work, I tried it out on a piece of cast iron, but being lazy, I used the cutter I had in the boring bar which is suited to boring not slotting. There was a bit of chatter, most probably because the thing needed sharpening, and you have to feed very slowly. Still, it might come in handy.

I fooled around on the weekend and fitted a Hercus T29 61/2" diameter handwheel in place of the vertical feed hand crank on the mill. I thought that it might provide a more sensitive feel when raising the table. There is hardly any difference. I'm thinking now of a geared fine feed mechanism. The gear part isn't too hard. Coming up with a neat clutch to engage/ disengage the thing is a bit trickier.

I need to discuss with you the intricasies of concentric turning in regards to the dividing head spindle but I must take a couple of photos of my spindle first.

Post some photos of your mill at work and your progress on the clock.

Regards Bob.