Scuffy
Aluminum
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2007
- Location
- Shores of Lake Erie
Hi all! I'm back with another unique machine to add to my collection. These things seem to have a way of finding me when I least need them- just ask my wife!
I recently came across a Fray 10R All Angle milling machine just a short drive away. For the price of $300 I couldn't pass it up. Over all it seems to be in decent order. Everything seems tight and works as it should as far as the manual controls go. Honestly though? She's a bit.... ugly. Table and most wheels, the bright work, is rusty. Doesn't seem to be too deep and should be something that can be cleaned up in time. Annnnd it doesn't have a motor. Sometime in the last few years the 220v motor was removed by a prior owner. I'm not that worried because after I read that the mounting plate tended to be a weak point on these... the idea of using a DC treadmill motor struck me as a decent experiment to proceed with. We shall see.
The tipping point in my decision regarding grabbing this up was the fact that I found out, from the prior owner, that this was from the Ravenna Arsenal or Camp James A. Garfield. Definitely sealed the deal. I've been looking for a piece of war related machinery! The arsenal was first put into operation in August of 1941 and officially opened in 1942. Fray made milling machines from the late 1930's into the early 1950's. So I'm assuming that this machine was purchased new for the installation.
At any rate. Between Mother Natures tirades with rain and cold weather and m work schedule... I have yet to get this machine off the trailer I picked it up on. It's currently sitting under a heavy tarp at home while I'm stuck in a company provided dorm 100 miles away. UGH! Soon pictures will follow. I planned on trying to keep up with a thread of my attempt at restoration.
Before I am lucky enough to get that far I did manage to sneak a few pictures under the tarp because I have my first question! Does anyone happen to know what the heck this plate translates to? I believe it has to deal with it being owned and operated at the arsenal for a period of time. Aside from that I am drawing a blank.
The U.S.A is pretty obvious but as far as the rest of the codified stamping doesn't seem to be be something talked about on the interwebs. I've tried searching for different combinations of the code but nothing comes up. My Google-fu shouldn't be that bad!
Secondly- is there any way to learn more about my machines history? Other searches of the web don't yield a whole lot. The lathes.co.uk site seems to have the most info on them. There don't seem to be any manuals, production run numbers/serial numbers etc. available.
I recently came across a Fray 10R All Angle milling machine just a short drive away. For the price of $300 I couldn't pass it up. Over all it seems to be in decent order. Everything seems tight and works as it should as far as the manual controls go. Honestly though? She's a bit.... ugly. Table and most wheels, the bright work, is rusty. Doesn't seem to be too deep and should be something that can be cleaned up in time. Annnnd it doesn't have a motor. Sometime in the last few years the 220v motor was removed by a prior owner. I'm not that worried because after I read that the mounting plate tended to be a weak point on these... the idea of using a DC treadmill motor struck me as a decent experiment to proceed with. We shall see.
The tipping point in my decision regarding grabbing this up was the fact that I found out, from the prior owner, that this was from the Ravenna Arsenal or Camp James A. Garfield. Definitely sealed the deal. I've been looking for a piece of war related machinery! The arsenal was first put into operation in August of 1941 and officially opened in 1942. Fray made milling machines from the late 1930's into the early 1950's. So I'm assuming that this machine was purchased new for the installation.
At any rate. Between Mother Natures tirades with rain and cold weather and m work schedule... I have yet to get this machine off the trailer I picked it up on. It's currently sitting under a heavy tarp at home while I'm stuck in a company provided dorm 100 miles away. UGH! Soon pictures will follow. I planned on trying to keep up with a thread of my attempt at restoration.
Before I am lucky enough to get that far I did manage to sneak a few pictures under the tarp because I have my first question! Does anyone happen to know what the heck this plate translates to? I believe it has to deal with it being owned and operated at the arsenal for a period of time. Aside from that I am drawing a blank.
The U.S.A is pretty obvious but as far as the rest of the codified stamping doesn't seem to be be something talked about on the interwebs. I've tried searching for different combinations of the code but nothing comes up. My Google-fu shouldn't be that bad!
Secondly- is there any way to learn more about my machines history? Other searches of the web don't yield a whole lot. The lathes.co.uk site seems to have the most info on them. There don't seem to be any manuals, production run numbers/serial numbers etc. available.