Churchhill NB 6x18 surface grinder

Visiting one of my local shops and talking with the owner on a little walk around I stumbled across a Churchill NB. It hasn't been in service for 10 years. The owner bought it from the previous owner in a foreclosure situation. He said he used to run the machine and said it had a pretty decent finish and ran very well. It is set up for 575 V. The present owner doesn't have that voltage in his shop and the only reason he bought it was for Price and he like the look of the old machine. He was hoping one day to give it a rehab, but 10 years has passed and it's still sitting in the corner of the shop gathering dust. It still has its original paint job and it is missing the coolant tank/pump. Otherwise it seems like it's pretty much there. My first guess is it is probably about a 40s to 50s era. So here are my questions,

Is it really worth going after?
Is anybody running one, and/or have any dirty papers on it?
Is there any known inherited problems with the machine?

The owner doesn't actually have it for sale, he kind of just wishes, it would go to a good home. He knows me well enough that, I'll give this old girl second chance, that he wished he had the voltage and the time for.

Any and all comments welcome.
Thanks Matt

I had one and liked it
Only thing that gave trouble was the elderly electrics
As you would expect
Regret selling it tbh

" Churchill " made bullet proof machines. I haven't worked on the small machines but the bigger machines were excellent.


Regards Tyrone.

Hey Tyrone can you please give me some info on how the spindle bushes gets lubrication.

sapanshri said:

Hey Tyrone can you please give me some info on how the spindle bushes gets lubrication.

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Which Churchill machine have you got in mind ? They made dozens of different types ranging from the small surface grinders like the NB to huge roll grinders and everything in between

Regards Tyrone.

1099 - CHURCHILL NB SURFACE GRINDER (450X150) - YouTube

Here is a video of my machine...After some searching i think it is the model says NB surface grinder.

it has a 18x8 inch bed and comes with an eclipse make magnetic chuck.

I am having issues resolving the main spindle lubrication system. It has journal bearings, basically PB bushes with precision ground spindle. the PB bushes has micro holes for lube oil circulation.

Hey Matt

I have a similar machine...I am not able to workout the lubrication of Journal bearings. it has a reservoir which i guess should feed the lube oil to the spindle bearings but somehow the system is not working.

Sorry, I can't be of much help. I've never worked on one of those. Most shops I worked at that had small surface grinders had the " Jones & Shipman " machines along with the odd " Elliot " machine. The " Churchill " surface grinders I worked on were the much bigger OSB and OSD type machines.

Somewhere on the column/head of the machine will be a sump and an oil pump providing lubrication to the spindle. All the machines I worked on had sight glasses where you could see the flow of oil going to the bearings. You didn't start up the spindle until you could see oil flowing into the sight glass.

They are pretty sensitive to oil viscosity. I've had spindle problems in the past were people used the wrong oil.

There is still a company in Manchester that uses the old " Churchill " name. I think they bought up the rights to the spares parts etc. Maybe they can help you ?

Regards Tyrone

Thanks Tyrone the churchill is up and running....great finish and no taper...awesome machine.

Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Sorry, I can't be of much help. I've never worked on one of those. Most shops I worked at that had small surface grinders had the " Jones & Shipman " machines along with the odd " Elliot " machine. The " Churchill " surface grinders I worked on were the much bigger OSB and OSD type machines.

Somewhere on the column/head of the machine will be a sump and an oil pump providing lubrication to the spindle. All the machines I worked on had sight glasses where you could see the flow of oil going to the bearings. You didn't start up the spindle until you could see oil flowing into the sight glass.

They are pretty sensitive to oil viscosity. I've had spindle problems in the past were people used the wrong oil.

There is still a company in Manchester that uses the old " Churchill " name. I think they bought up the rights to the spares parts etc. Maybe they can help you ?

Regards Tyrone

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