Thread: Van norman 12 restoration

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

Oh, and BTW, I wasn't dazzled by flaking and scraping once the parts were removed, but we'll see once I clean the gunk off. Also, I managed to drop the gib for the table and crack it clean in half It looks like I may be able to epoxy it back together and bolt back into place.....

Having already had an imperfect day, treat yerself to a spot-clean with that bristle brush to clear a random area of that gunk. You'll either grin at a nice 'as original' finsih, or find it less so .... and be less worried about the gib as a major player.

As to the gib itself? Neither epoxy nor welding.

The pieces need to be kept from floating about, but they do not HAVE to be in tension whilst in-use.

Give a thought to simply implementing a means to insure they can be positioned correctly, smooth the broken ends, and operate with a 'two piece' gib.

Bill

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

... I'm going to try and steal a few hours to get the major assemblies hoisted off and secured to pallets. I'll take pics at that point.

My main worry at this point is clearing the bed of the moving truck. I've moved stuff like this before so I'm not too intimidated, but if my shop crane can't clear the truck bed, then I'm screwed. Hoping not to lay the column on its side, but that may be the only way to get this sucker high enough...plus I need to be able to get the mill back out of the truck...and lower is always better.

Steve,

I helped move a VN12, with ram in place (low mounted motor), using a small trailer and unloaded it using a 2-ton engine hoist and a pallet jack. We completely dismantled another using the same engine hoist and pallet jack. If your "shop hoist" is a typical engine hoist, the problem that you may run into is that the legs of the hoist are too close together at the ram end to straddle the base of the mill. The base is 22" wide and 29-1/4" deep and almost 3" thick. An engine hoist that was modified so that it could straddle the base would make the job of dismantling one pretty quick. With the right hoist or an overhead chain hoist you could pull the motor, ram, table and saddle in pretty short order. I wouldn't think it would be necessary to go farther than that.

I see that you've already wrestled the table off. I hope you didn't damage the leadscrew. You must be a young fella to try to lift something like that by yourself and brute force...

Your problem with the ram may be that the gib is jamming it.

If you let me know what you have to work with and how far you want to strip it I can probably save you a lot of grief, having learned a thing or two the hard way.

As far a loading it goes, call a local towing company and see that they would charge to have a wrecker put it on the truck for you. $50 will usually get-er-done.

Cal

Originally Posted by thermite

Give a thought to simply implementing a means to insure they can be positioned correctly, smooth the broken ends, and operate with a 'two piece' gib.

Bill

Because the gib literally cracked right through the middle bolt hole, there are two other holes per "piece" that can be used to keep it in place....so you're probably right...epoxy etc may just make it worse.

CAL-

We moved this one off the trailer in one piece, so I got a feel for how top-heavy they can be. Since I'm moving, I'm gonna break it down into moveable pieces and put it on the moving truck. I kind of needed to do this anyway in order to clean/paint the mill.

No damage to the leadscrew, I laid the table down on its side

I will definitely take a look at that gib....you're probably right about it binding the ram. This time I won't drop it

Ok, so I managed to finally get the ram off. Like an idiot, I wasn't looking on the underside and didn't see the screws which held the gib....which was exactly what was holding things in place. I got the ram cozy on a skid of its own, and made a bigger pallet for the main column. Just gonna tip it on its side (with help) and lash it down. Here's some pics:

I also did a bit more cleaning of the critical surfaces, just to see the wear. They don't look too great in my opinion. There's scoring, nicks, and zero scraping present...but I wonder if they came scraped in the first place. I'll let everyone else chime in, though.

It's been used, but I'll bet a dollar to a donut it's at least as accurate as a brand new Bport copy. Again, put it together and see what it does, THEN decide if it needs reworking. Chances are it'll do anything you need for ordinary machine shop work.

I've heard of people just lightly running a very fine whetstone and oil over the surface....maybe I'll do that to knock down some of the burrs, then commence the rest of the cleanup. Scraping in general doesn't intimidate me, it's the dovetails that look like they could be a problem.

With it torn down like this you can make some basic assessments. Bear in mind I am not an expert. Take a good straight edge like a machinists square , and lay it across the bearing surfaces. Look for rocking, if you see a gap stick a feeler gauge in there and get some idea how much of a groove is worn. Also check to see how much lip there is between where the gib rides (original surface) and the wear areas.

I would not recommend a stone on the surfaces, , one, you don't want abrasives in the iron, and two, you don't know how flat the stone is.

Steve. I went through a VN12 rebuild a couple of years ago, the search only brings up threads from about a year ago- maybe someone can pitch in with how to get earlier results. I had to do a bunch of work on it and with the kind help of members here managed to arrive at a solid useable machine.

Steve, I purchaced a used South Bend lathe with ways worn below the scraping, it's been great for 45 years.

Just curious, how is this repair going, anyway?

Looking at the masking tape, it appears to have been on long enough to be better bonded to the machine than the old paint.... Soak the tape in Kroil and let it sit - the tape will probably come off in very tiny chunks.

Originally Posted by stoneaxe

Just curious, how is this repair going, anyway?

Funny you should ask.....I'm pretty deep into refurbishing a Sheldon lathe right now and I keep looking over at this mill wondering what I'm going to do with it.

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

Funny you should ask.....I'm pretty deep into refurbishing a Sheldon lathe right now and I keep looking over at this mill wondering what I'm going to do with it.

Old Iron Disease can take a path similar to the 'Lady who swallowed a spider' ... one NEEDS one machine tool to restore the next... lathe to make parts for the mills, mill to make parts for the lathe....

....do you have your shaper yet?



Bill

Way too much truth in that post, Bill. That's how I ended up with a full machine and welding shop at home.

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

Funny you should ask.....I'm pretty deep into refurbishing a Sheldon lathe right now and I keep looking over at this mill wondering what I'm going to do with it.

Keep it warm and dry so it doesn't catch cold or get wet. It will wait for you. It really is not too large of a project. Just cleaning lube and assembly with out mods means the mill is together again and running. Do component repair later.
A Harley in a basket of parts is still worth something. A machine in a pile is .......... sometimes just scrap when it sets too long.
John

And don't sell it. That VN12 and the Sheldon will be a perfect pair for each other.

Originally Posted by Mike C.

And don't sell it. That VN12 and the Sheldon will be a perfect pair for each other.

I agree. I think I've got the same pair, a VN12 and a 10" Sheldon.

Scott

Man...HGR has a nice VN12 for sale now.....I got envious at first, then I realized mine is just as complete, only covered in crappy white primer.