My new logan 11x36 and my van norman #12 Mill

I just joined the site hopefully to get help and parts for my machines. I purchased both these machines from a estate with tons of tooling so of this tooling is for a larger logan lathe a steady rest a turrent attachment and misc other items. I have smaller chucks and face plates. Its a long list ill post as i sort all this out and hopefully some of you fellowers can id alot of what came with this find. Ive completed the cleanning and painting of the lathe its all done encluding a complete rewiring job lol
the mill is a number 12 van norman but configured like no number 12 ive seen on the net so far its different in that the motor is on the back side of the base behind the tank resivoir its def a factory set up because the casings where made for the set up ill post pic asap till then ty and i look forward to ur input . The mill came from the redstone arsenal al. Wil

Hey Wil, your #12 is the "other" way they installed the motor. Not as common as the overhead motor, but there are several around. I have the overhead setup on mine.

I'm about halfway between Cullman and Birmingham on Hwy 79.

thanks for the feed back like i said i just picked these things up and im just about finished redoing the mill im looking for a sprial gear tool is a attacchment that turns the shaft or gear to make the sprial i have a old book thats details alot on the how to but onlt some of the tooling that does this maybe u can fill me in on what im missing or if some one on here knows where i can get this tooling Wil

Whoa - I have a friend out here in Oregon who also has both a VN#12 and a Logan of about that same size. Crazy coincidence (or maybe not)!

wilpenny, spiral gears are made on gear generators, not old milling machines like ours.

You would need a universal dividing head with compound gearing to the table for starters, but you'll need a universal mil, too. That's one where the table can swivel on the knee. YOu need that so that you can set the cutter at an angle to match the spiral on the gear so it doesn't cut sideways (think about that and it'll come to you). Some of the larger VN mills had optional universal tables, but not the 12.

If you managed to get the equipment to make a spiral gear on your VN, it would not work very well at high speeds or high loads, as the changing gear tooth form will not be actually correct. A spiral gear, like a bevel gear, has teeth that are bigger on one end and smaller on the other, but they are the same shape at each end. To make a tooth with a milling machine, you use a cutter that literally cuts away everything that doesn't look like a tooth. If you get one that is the right size and shape for the big end, the small end will not be right and vice versa. Only a generator can make this shape, which it does by running the gear blank against a cutter shaped like a mating gear. They are spun at the same ratio as if they were engaged gears. It's wild stuff.

Now, if you mean a HELICAL gear, where the gear is the same diameter at both ends, but has the teeth wrapping around a long cylinder, that's doable, but you'll still need the universal mill to get the angle on the cutter, and a geared dividing head to produce the twist as the table moves lengthwise.

Mine is located on the base like yours....I've seen only one other......now make that two!

Dave

Mcandrew1894 said:

Mine is located on the base like yours....I've seen only one other......now make that two!

Dave

Click to expand...

I have seen or heard of probably a dozen of them. I have heard a story that they were for low-headroom applications for the military (like submarines). Not sure if that is true or not.
Andy

mike i meant the Helical aplacation im thinking fluting rifle barrels with the mill thats just one of the things i plan on doing just thought that the gear drive wold make it a bit easier to do or i could set up a jig to turn the barrel as the table moves and use a inclined plain ty for ur imput Mike im still tring to figure out all the tooling that came with it . i finished the cleanning and painting and its quite a site now lol grey and accented with yellow handle and a red belt covers lol handles are red centers i need to figure out how i can post them on here from my phone camra my reg went south lol Wil

Inclined plane will work fine for a slow helix. You'll still need to set up at an angle, but you could build your jig to swivel and solve that problem.

The #6 I had at the museum had orange handles, belt guard and tool tray. The handles were actually orange from the factory, so I just had t go back that way. It was a later model, though. The war finish machines were just all gray to get them out fast. My 12 here at home is a 1942 model with the war finish.

Mike this being from the arsenal its grey with the oval tag stating redstone arsenal ser# lol i just kinda went with what i thought was a good color mix if u like mike u can write me on my yahoo addie id like to talk with u on the phone over this machine and the turrent fixture i have i beleave its for a logan but its all here Wil