Hello all,
I purchased a 1920 Becker Model B Mill at the end of last year and have since begun restoring it. I figured I would try and post some pictures of my progress. I have rebuilt the heads of a couple Bridgeport clones before, but this is my first complete machine rebuild.
According to the gentleman I purchased this machine from, it spent it's life at the Coleman truck plant in Denver. This machine was originally a flat belt machine, and at some point it was converted to use a Ford truck transmission and an electric motor.
When the conversion was made they scrapped the entire back casting supporting the lower drive pulleys along with the upper pulleys used to change the belt from vertical to horizontal. I am fairly certain of this given the existence of the top pulley, and bolt holes where the original drive pulleys were mounted. Based on patents I have found it appears that the original drive pulley contained an integral planetary two speed shift mechanism.
Based on other pieces that were still mounted, it appears that the novel feed rate mechanism was scrapped as well. This mechanism allowed for continuously variable feed rates of all three axes by using a shaft driven by compressing a wheel between the two rear mounted pulleys used for changing the belt direction.
I am going to take this opportunity to reverse engineer and recast the missing pieces of the machine. It will also be scraped and given a new coat of paint. It may take a couple years, but I like old machines and I hope that I'm just the right amount of crazy to get it done. I'm going to make some YouTube videos too showing my process/progress and hopefully learn some processes along the way (Hopefully).
I purchased a 1920 Becker Model B Mill at the end of last year and have since begun restoring it. I figured I would try and post some pictures of my progress. I have rebuilt the heads of a couple Bridgeport clones before, but this is my first complete machine rebuild.
According to the gentleman I purchased this machine from, it spent it's life at the Coleman truck plant in Denver. This machine was originally a flat belt machine, and at some point it was converted to use a Ford truck transmission and an electric motor.
When the conversion was made they scrapped the entire back casting supporting the lower drive pulleys along with the upper pulleys used to change the belt from vertical to horizontal. I am fairly certain of this given the existence of the top pulley, and bolt holes where the original drive pulleys were mounted. Based on patents I have found it appears that the original drive pulley contained an integral planetary two speed shift mechanism.
Based on other pieces that were still mounted, it appears that the novel feed rate mechanism was scrapped as well. This mechanism allowed for continuously variable feed rates of all three axes by using a shaft driven by compressing a wheel between the two rear mounted pulleys used for changing the belt direction.
I am going to take this opportunity to reverse engineer and recast the missing pieces of the machine. It will also be scraped and given a new coat of paint. It may take a couple years, but I like old machines and I hope that I'm just the right amount of crazy to get it done. I'm going to make some YouTube videos too showing my process/progress and hopefully learn some processes along the way (Hopefully).
