First vertical mills - When?

Jeff_G · Jan 3, 2006

When did vertical mills first come into common use, and who made them? Was Bridgeport first? Was the ability to manufacture end mills at reasonable cost a key factor in their introduction? I have a ~1911 Rockford horizontal with a vertical attachment, so I guess there must have been a gradual transition.

Just curious,
Jeff Greenblatt

johnoder · Jan 3, 2006

Jeff:

Bridgeport was post WW2 I think. B&S shows vertical mills in their 1917 catalog and B&S vertical mills are shown in Rose's 1901 Modern Machine Shop Practice. Pratt & Whitney has vertical spindle profilling mills in there too. Cincinnati has vertical mills in their 1913 catalog and had #4 vertical mills weighing close to 10,000 lbs by 1918. Becker was an early maker of vertical mills.

John

Jeff_G · Jan 3, 2006

Thanks, John. You have, once again, earned that 5-star rating.

Asquith · Jan 3, 2006

I don’t suppose anyone knows for sure.

I was looking at the history, but then I noticed your proviso about coming into COMMON use. Anyway, here’s some stuff that I found:-

Nasmyth was cutting keyways and slots for cotters with a vertical spindle machine, using a simple form of end mill in 1847. He subsequently made similar machines ‘in considerable numbers’.
Howe designed a profile milling machine with vertical spindles for Robbins & Lawrence c.1848.
Sharp Stewart were selling vertical mills in the mid 1850s.
In about 1874 Huré of Paris were making modern-looking milling machines with a swivelling head featuring both a horizontal and a vertical spindle.

northernsinger · Jan 4, 2006

I thought the Bridgeport was developed throughout the 1930's and the original sales were before WW II. It was this model, as we all know, that changed machining habits to the vertical mill.

Vertical mills are shown in my 1911 B & S catalog.

Northernsinger

Stu Miller · Jan 4, 2006

Josua Rose showed this Warner and Swazey vertical mill in the 1888 edition of Modern Machine Shop Practice. He refers to it as a vertical mill or die sinker.

Looks like a precurser of the knee style mill to me.

Stu Miller

Milacron · Jan 4, 2006

The first complete Bridgeport mill was unveiled in 1938, but before that they made the heads for retrofit to other's horizontal mills. Bridgeport serial no. 1 is on display at the American Precision Museum in VT.

There were many vertical mills long before Bridgeport, but Bridgeport may have been the first with the head that tilted in two planes.

Asquith · Jan 4, 2006

Tilting head mills were made by Huré in 1894, using the arrangement they still use today, with the swivelling occuring on a 45 degree plane, if you see what I mean, to give any angle you could wish for.
Van Norman also brought out a swivelling head in 1894, but I don’t have any details.

No doubt we’ll find that swivelling heads were around 50 years earlier…..

johnoder · Jan 4, 2006

Looks like a precurser of the knee style mill to me.

I think Mr. Brown later of B&S brought out the horizontal knee mill in 1859.

John

Peter S · Jan 6, 2006

My copy of "A History of Machine Tools 1700-1910" by W. Steeds arrived yesterday, a very nice book. (small gloat

)

I was just browsing through it tonight, and there on page 104 is a illustration of "J. Saget's swivelling-head milling machine c. 1885. Patent No. 6702-1885 (I think that is a British patent?). J. Saget came from Puteaux (not sure where that is).

This machine is very much like a Bridgeport - the head swivels and tilts. It is quite a modern looking machine in other aspects of its construction too.
The drive to the vertical head is via shaft inside the ram, and bevel gears which transmit the drive to the head allowing drive at any angle.

Sorry, no scanner, I will try and scan it one day when I get near one.

Asquith mentioned the Hure swivelling head machine of 1896 - it is interesting to see this identical "Huron" concept still being used 109 years later.

[ 01-06-2006, 06:18 PM: Message edited by: Peter S ]

olddude · Jan 6, 2006

Don't know if it qualifies but a British company manufactured a vertical milling attachment for lathes in the 20's.

Peter S · Jan 18, 2006

Here is the miling machine I mentioned above, for your interest.

railfancwb · Jan 18, 2006

Interesting drawing, Peter. I like the idea that the table lift is centered under the head. The counterweight to keep the table tight against the table lift is also neat.

Charles

Nutter · Jan 22, 2006

While not as old as some that have been mentioned, Gorton was selling complete vertical mills while Bridgeport was still only making heads. You can see some of the Gorton sales literature here: http://gorton-machine.org:8080/

Peter S · Feb 7, 2010

As mentioned in one of the old posts above, here is an image of the 1870's Hure milling machine combining both horizontal and vertical spindles. The head of the machine is turned on its spigoted base to bring either spindle into use. (A History of Machine Tools 1700-1910 by W. Steeds)

The same belt is used for either head. A clutch is used to start or stop the machine. The work table can be swivelled.

As far as I know this company is still in business.

Joe in NH · Feb 7, 2010

"Accuracy for Seventy Years" by Pratt & Whitney mentions a die sinker made about 1865.

Analogus to the Warner-Swasey machine mentioned earlier.

http://www.prattandwhitney.com/pdfs/pratt_whitney_history_book2.pdf

Page 8.

Joe

shaperhaven · Feb 9, 2010

A friend of mine that I work with has a 1906 B&S vertical mill. Shaperhaven

Milacron · Feb 9, 2010

shaperhaven said:
A friend of mine that I work with has a 1906 B&S vertical mill. Shaperhaven

We need pictures to believe you

RACookPE1978 · Jan 19, 2019

Stu Miller said:
Josua Rose showed this Warner and Swazey vertical mill in the 1888 edition of Modern Machine Shop Practice. He refers to it as a vertical mill or die sinker.

Looks like a precurser of the knee style mill to me.

Stu Miller

I have that model Warner & Swasey vertical die sinker mill in the garage.
Working order, though the lower bearing runs a bit warm when run for several hours. A previous owner removed the overhead drive pulleys and axles, added a electric motor on the back. Other than that is is missing two gibb screws.

Robert Lang · Jan 21, 2019

RACookPE1978 said:
I have that model Warner & Swasey vertical die sinker mill in the garage.
Working order, though the lower bearing runs a bit warm when run for several hours. A previous owner removed the overhead drive pulleys and axles, added a electric motor on the back. Other than that is is missing two gibb screws.

Post some pictures of it.
I have always wanted one of those.

Rob

First vertical mills - When?

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