E W HEALD Mach. Works Horz. Mill ???

[JohnEvans]

On the Phoenix craigslist there is a Heald horizontal mill ,my Google fu did not turn up much . Went to have a look and it is tooling less, I did ID the spindle
a B&S #9 . Biggest problem no outboard overarm support!! Anyone ever seen or heard of one of these critters? Made by the Heald grinder people? Looks like
it has a back gear but most speeds are belt changes. 6.5 X 30" table and looks to have a bunch of Z ,didn't measure that.

 

[JohnMartin]

On the Phoenix craigslist there is a Heald horizontal mill ,my Google fu did not turn up much . Went to have a look and it is tooling less, I did ID the spindle
a B&S #9 . Biggest problem no outboard overarm support!! Anyone ever seen or heard of one of these critters? Made by the Heald grinder people? Looks like
it has a back gear but most speeds are belt changes. 6.5 X 30" table and looks to have a bunch of Z ,didn't measure that.

I've got a Heald horizontal just about like that one, except that it has a NMTB #40 spindle.

To the best of my knowledge, no connection with the Heald grinder people.

I have the overarm support with mine, although I've often thought about casting another one to use with arbors with larger pilots. The toughest part would probably be getting the spacing exact when boring the overarm holes, I would think. You could then mount the support on the overarms and use the mill itself to bore the bearing hole, which should get it perfect.

Mine came with two problems, both since fixed:

1. The countershaft runs in plain bronze bearings, which are awkward to lube and therefore probably were not. One end was worn through into the cast iron.

2. The casting on the right hand end of the table, which has the gears for the quick return, was broken due to the table having been cranked too far.

The door on mine says "HEALD MACHINE WORKS" instead of "E. M. HEALD MACHINE WORKS". Not sure if that makes it earlier or later.

Mine does not have the cover for the feed pulleys. If you don't buy it and they end up scrapping it, I'd be interested.

I believe that some of them had a gearbox for the feeds. Mine doesn't, which means that feed direction is dependent on spindle rotation direction. Would be nice to be able to reverse the feed direction on occasion.

It's a good solid mill. It doesn't have the flexibility of a Bridgeport-type vertical mill, but then there is nothing to go out of tram. Pros vs. cons.

I've got some Heald sales literature which I scanned. Let me know if you get it, and I'll see if I can dig it out.

John

 

[JohnEvans]

Well it looks like this thing is going to follow me home. Anyone with any idea what it might weight???
TIA

 

[JohnMartin]

Well it looks like this thing is going to follow me home. Anyone with any idea what it might weight???
TIA

1,800 lbs, give or take a few

 

[JohnEvans]

John: That was my guess also. I think I will see if my Ford Ranger is up to it,have had close to that on it before ,if not got a couple of other optinions
available just hate to impose on people.

 

[JohnMartin]

I moved mine in a standard sized pickup, about 300 miles, Long Island NY to Maine. No problems at all. With the Ranger - I have one now - I'd consider the distance.

One thing. Although the mill is not top heavy, it will put a good bit of the weight up high - and I'm hesitant to rely on the Ranger's tiedown points. When I moved the mill, I disassembled it pretty completely first, and blocked all of the parts in with wooden blocking screwed together. Removed overarms, table, saddle, knee, table drive, doors, column with spindle. The base casting, with motor and drive assembly, was the heaviest part. But nothing that my younger son and I couldn't crib out of the truck and slide down the basement stairs.

Plus, it's a good way to get to know the machine and find any broken or worn parts. And, I cleaned and painted it before putting it back together.

Just to confirm, the Heald literature has the mill at 1,800, a larger table version at 1,950, and a vertical at 2,300.

As I mentioned, I have some Heald sales literature that I also scanned to .jpg and .pcx files. And a parts list, but right now on paper only. The IPL/manual is pretty basic, and does not show every part. If you get the mill and need some of these, PM me with your email address.

John

 

[JohnEvans]

Only got to go about 5 miles, seller has loading equip. If I don't like the way it looks I will go to plan B or C ! Old dog is a bit dirty but all the oil film
has done a good job of rust prevention. I'm a form follows function kinda guy ,pretty does not make it make better parts. Mung off and a good lubing
and it will be put to work when needed. By the way any idea on the time frame these were made? Seems they must be a bit of a rare bird as you seem
to be the only one on this forum that has ever laid hands on one.

 

[JohnMartin]

5 miles should be easy. Lower the saddle onto a block so you don't put all the stress on the elevating screw and you should be fine.

Think there have been a couple of others here, but they are not common.

Don't know the years of production. The literature I have includes a quotation from late 1956 for a 40 taper horizontal, for $2,038. They weren't cheap.

John