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If you had a choice, which mill would it be?
I already have the Arboga, and there's a possibility of buying a Hercus. The Hercus is a universal unit, and looks to have most of the tooling including the vertical and horizontal heads.
What's a fair price for a Hercus in good nick?
Ken
You might be in contention for this late model No.O
.http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HERCUS-NU...item2c5c8d5f1f
If not the final price will be a fair indicator. Ken, a while back, one sold for around 3 large. It may be mentioned in one of the old mill threads in the Hercus area.
If you augment the Arboga with a little Hercus, you gain a horizontal mill. If you the Arboga off and buy a Hercus, you can share the frustration that the rest of us have in owning a mill lacking clearance.
BT
AB,
Upwards of $3000 eh, that's Bridgeport territory. That would be way out of my budget.
Had a bit of a squize through old Hercus mill posts, but couldn't nail a price.
At least with the Arboga, I don't have a headroom problem, and it's fully paid for.
Ken
I remember thinking I should repaint mine and tip it overboard. Mine was in better nick. You must be nearly there with the Arboga, why side track yourself with another acquisition.
BT
Hi Ken,
I'd grab it.
I think you have to have at least 2 or 3 more on-going projects, it's obvious that getting the Arboga going is proving to be unsufficiently challenging.
Plus with a couple of more machines on the go, just think of all the tooling you could be buying. :rolleyes:
... sorry, i couldn't resist..
Regards
Ray
You would have the advantage of only requiring 3 Morse tooling. Get it Ken. They are pretty small, your neighbours most probably won't even notice it in their garage.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RayG
:haha2:
Dave
For a minute there, I thought you blokes were having a go at me.......nah.
Since using Hercus lathes at Tech school, then buying one some years on, I've become a Hercus fan.
I would just like to add the Hercus No.0 mill to the stable so I can use up the Hercus green paint that's left in the tin.
Seriously, I was just dreamin.
Ken
Just a friendly little dig, and maybe a little push along to get that Arboga fired up.Quote:
Originally Posted by neksmerj
Regards
Ray
Ah. So you've finished painting the AR. Why aren't you using it?
I have around 350mm clearance and find that limiting with MT shank drill bits, by the time you add the vice height and the job there is not much left if any.Quote:
Originally Posted by Anorak Bob
So if you guys are doing it with less than this you must be struggling.
Dave
We are Dave. I would be well and truly stumped if I didn't have my Waldown drill.
AB,
What is it that limits lowering the table further. Is it the casting that sits under the table? It looks to be fairly substantial.
Since the table sits on a jack screw, can some of the side wall, of the casting supporting the table, be cut down to increase spindle to table clearance, or is it the jack screw?
I have not seen a Hercus No.0 mill, so I'm just plucking feathers out of the sky.
(Cleaned that up a bit)
The Arboga, and Hercus lathe projects, are going nowhere until a shed is built.
It's a race to get there before the sunset of my life.
Kenneffff
Ken
Like most column mills Ken, the solution is a riser block. However in the case of the Hercus the vertical dovetail goes down much further than some other similar machines. That means a riser block isn't just a perfectly parallel block, it's one that must also have an appropriately matched dovetail as well. Not an easy task to splice one in.
Have a look at this example. Sadly I haven't been able to find any more information on how the person achieved the results.
http://www.lathes.co.uk/hercus/page4.html
Pete
I don't reckon that it would be too difficult. Say you fabricated a box-like riser, you could machine a dovetail from cast iron and key and bolt it in place. Plenty of opportunity to utilize those freshly acquired scraping skills. Extending the screw is another matter.
BT