Hard data for the Nicholsheads and other curious sorts...

A 1962 "toolroom" Nichols, complete, with 5-speed pulleys, 1HP 350RPM motor, T-slot ring, overarm and arbor support, weighs 1,180 pounds.



I'd heard closer to 1,500, with some people saying as much as 2,000. It's got some thick castings, for sure, but it's nice to have a real number, not just a guess.

Also, for those thinking about picking up a horizontal, but don't have the room for a big Van Norman or Kerney & Trecker...



... The Nichols is just 53" to the top of the casting. Not quite a full 60" even at the top of the control box.

Doc.

Doc, that is interesting to know. I have often wondered what the bare collum weighs did you happen to weigh that?

Thank you.

James

Hi James,

When I scrapped that older one we parted out my sense (thru feel of the shop crane) was the column accounted for more or less half the weight. That machine had one of the older style bases, probably still fairly close though.

Nice looking machine Doc!

Regards,

Greg

Hi back at ya Greg, The reason I'm curious about the collum weight is that I have had to move it several times in the past couple of years using a furniture Dolley and it was almost more than I could handle.

Especially tipping it I would have to throw my weight against it really hard to get it over then it got kinda scary trying to keep it balanced.

So half the weight would be about 590#. That sounds about right by the way it felt moving it.

Thank you

James

james robert said:

I have often wondered what the bare collum weighs did you happen to weigh that?

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-Sorry, I could have done so if I'd thought about it when I was assembling the machine, but I didn't.

And actually, the only reason I have the lift set up right now, is I'm making a base/riser for the whole thing. I've been using it up to now set up on some old 4x4 blocks (actually 3-1/2" high.) That helped some, but was still a bit short, so I'm making an 8" steel base with adjustable feet, since no part of my floor is very level.



I did, however, move the individual parts around, and I actually had separated the upper column from the base. By a rough guess, I'd say the two main parts of the body are somewhere in the 300-lb range apiece, which is pretty close to Greg's estimation.

Doc.

Thats a good looking riser block for the base!

On the Nichols, what was the reason behind the spindle being able to go up and down, and having a knee to go up and down? Wouldnt it have been just as useful, easier to build it with just 1 or the other, not both?

Tyler

Yeah that riser block is brilliant.... my neck likes the look of that!

bb

Doc, What is the logo behind the base riser that looks like it says Anonight?

Nice work on the base riser by the way.

Thank you.

James

regcabdak said:

On the Nichols, what was the reason behind the spindle being able to go up and down, and having a knee to go up and down? Wouldnt it have been just as useful, easier to build it with just 1 or the other, not both?

Click to expand...

-The Nichols, along with at least one or more predecessors, was primarily designed as a production mill. Most of them don't even have table handwheels, and the X-axis is operated by a rack-and-pinion lever.

So the average process was: Put the workpiece in the vise, lower the head, pull the table lever to complete the cut, raise the head, return the table to the starting point, repeat ad nauseum.

Later versions semi-automated the process with timers and air cylinders- almost all the Nichols you'll find on eBay are set up this way. A factory would have rows of them, each doing a single cut- whereas today, of course, a CNC can do all the cuts in one setup.

Mine is a 'toolroom' version, which is somewhat rare. It has full-sized handwheels with resettable dials and the wider table, but still has the rack-and-pinion for the lever.

Doc, What is the logo behind the base riser that looks like it says Anonight?

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-That's an empty box of "Midnight" paintballs. 2,000 to a case. It's holding parts to my brake lathe at the moment.

Doc.

Someday when I track down a source of parts I'm going to get the pneumatic feed thing going on my Nichols- seals and slide valve are shot. Its pretty nice- a hydraulic cylinder opposes the air piston for a slow & controlled cutting stroke and includes a check valve for a fast return. Travel limit adjustments control the length of stroke. The whole assy fits on the front of the table, and drives the table pinion. Just trip the lever, the table feeds and returns to idle. I fantasize that it'll sort-of approximate the convenience of a power feed.

Only thing it won't do is move the head out of the way for the return so the cutter clears the work piece.

Greg

On the power feed, I'm actually thinking very strongly on the idea of adapting a Servo-type power feed to the righthand end of the table.

It should be as simple as replacing the big iron table end with a plate, appropriately drilled and bored for a thrust bearing, and modding the PF feed gear to key to the stub end of the shaft.

There's no obvious reason that shouldn't work (that I can see, anyway) and an import Servo clone is only about $200. Get one with a rapid feed button, and a little clever wiring with the stop buttons and rapid button would get you basically the same function.

I've got a few projects in the works that'll involve long slots or other cuts (12"-14" or more) and a nice smooth, consistent power-fed cut should help the surface finish.

Doc.

Nichols Base

regcabdak said:

Thats a good looking riser block for the base!

On the Nichols, what was the reason behind the spindle being able to go up and down, and having a knee to go up and down? Wouldnt it have been just as useful, easier to build it with just 1 or the other, not both?

Tyler

Click to expand...

Ditto, That's first class work and welding there, Doc! I'll assume (yeah, never assume) that you used pipe quarters for the corners, or else you have an amazing set of rolls or a press and dies. I just got in my 30 inch table for my 1944 Nichols. This should bring the machine very close to the later "Toolroom" model, with the exception of the locking (vernier?) handwheels. I locked the head solid on my machine, since the unit came without the motor bracket (the "claw") and I had to arrange for a fixed belt drive. I have posted pictures of this set up before on this Forum. I have also always been a little leary of crashing as opposed to cutting when levering the head up and down. The Nichols is a great sized mill for a home shop, not too big and heavy and yet large enough for most projects...

Yeah, the corners are sectioned pipe. The corners of the mill base are pretty close to a 3" radius, so I just had the metals supply shop cut me a section of 6" pipe, eight inches long to match the 8" channel. After that, it was an easy job to slit it into quarters with a plasma cutter. The top pieces are just more scrap cut to shape and welded in.

On the head- I saw the pics, how did you "lock" the head into place? On mine, the locking lever is essentially useless- at best it adds a little drag.

Originally I was thinking I wouldn't use the head movement much, and considered making a thick plate (like 1/2" steel) that bolted to the top of the column underneath the switchbox mount, and also to the bolt holes on top of the head. (Mine has something like five, possibly for a long-gone ram assembly.)

Another option I considered, and might be perfect for your setup, is to replace the hand lever and rack with a nut, handwheel and leadscrew arrangement. The way I figured it, was to replace the hand lever "ring"- with the gear teeth on it- with a similarly-sized "D" shaped piece. The flat of the D would face where the gear teeth used to go.

The flat end would then be drilled and tapped for something like a 3/4"-5 or 10tpi ACME thread, which would run down from the top of the head, in the channel the rack used to sit in. At the top would be some arrangement of bracket, dials and handwheel.

That way you'd still have the extra Z-travel of the head, and a little less wear-and-tear on the knee screw.

I figured it might be an interesting option, but by the time I'd thought of it, I'd long since assembled the head and spindle, and it wasn't an interesting enough mod to bother taking it all back apart for.

Doc.

Hi octane,

I have the motor mount arm (part #49, "Bracket-Motor-Timken Bearing Head) from the Nichols we parted out a while back (this one was pre-WW2, the rounded base w/ coolant pump hole on the side). I do not have the head elevation segment however.

I have all the parts for the sliding pivot assy- not sure they will interchange between all revs of the mill. I believe I also have the motor clamp- but will have to search for it.

Yours for the cost of shippingif you're interested.

Regards,

Greg