Mystery Horizontal Bench Mill

spitfire_er · Sep 22, 2020

Picked this thing up yesterday. No idea what it is. Sits about 30" tall, has X, Y, and Z axis. Pulleys look original so maybe 1930's, 40's? Closest thing I could find was a Minton brand, but it looks different. Anybody have any idea's? I have this and my Pratt & Whitney No. 0 Floor model. One will end up staying in my collection. I do have the overhead arm as well. It does have Gits oiler cups on it. The taper appears to be a MT3 give or take. I have not measured anything on it yet.

spitfire_er · Sep 22, 2020

Here's another photo or two.

Kirt · Sep 22, 2020

Lewis?

Lewis kit-built machine tools

Lewis Machine Tool Co. - Publication Reprints - Milling Machine - Blueprints | VintageMachinery.org

spitfire_er · Sep 23, 2020

Looks like that could be the one. I suppose if they were "kits" people would put them together as they please. I noticed mine doesn't have the micrometer dial marked, handles look home made, and a few other things that would make a "kit" machine seem more plausible. The thing that was throwing me off was the Z axis was put on the side on not on the front where most of these normally are.

IrbyJones · Sep 23, 2020

Yes, it's a Lewis kit mill. You can find out more about them here -
[email protected] | Home

And here -
Lewis kit-built machine tools

There are several owners here. Do a search and you'll find some posts about them.

Irby

JST · Sep 23, 2020

Absolutely a Lewis.

They work quite well within their available work envelope. I've run slab mills and largish form tools in mine, but mine has back gears.

That one does not, which limits it's range of work a bit.

SteveM · Sep 29, 2020

I like your approach.

Buy first, ask questions later :-)

Steve

bs1952 · Apr 23, 2023

I am also researching a Mystery Horizontal Bench Mill which i have inherited. I first thought it was a Pootatuck; mostly because I have a drawing set for their No. 1 Bench Milling Machine. I now have come to the conclusion it is probably a Lewis based kit, built by my father in the late 1940s or early 1950s.

JST · Apr 23, 2023

Yeah, that's most of a Lewis, with a LOT of modifications: different countershaft assy, different spindle pulleys, different table lift mechanism, added oilers, lack of overarm clamp handles, etc.

I have digitized prints for the Lewis, if you want.

Jim Christie · Apr 23, 2023

Thanks for sharing your machine pictures .
There have been some other Lewis kit mills featured on this forum in the past that you could try a forum search for if you haven't already.
The large countershaft pulley with the repaired spoke appears to have been salvaged from an older model Atlas Lathe that used this style of pulley on both their horizontal an vertical counter shafts as in the counter shaft either behind or above the main spindle
There may have been other makes of machines that used this same pulley but I'm not aware of them.
See page 3

http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/51/25522.pdf

bs1952 · Apr 23, 2023

JST said:
Yeah, that's most of a Lewis, with a LOT of modifications: different countershaft assy, different spindle pulleys, different table lift mechanism, added oilers, lack of overarm clamp handles, etc.

I have digitized prints for the Lewis, if you want.

I'd love to review the prints. mostly to see if i have other parts that go with this mill laying around..

bs1952 · Apr 23, 2023

Jim Christie said:
Thanks for sharing your machine pictures .
There have been some other Lewis kit mills featured on this forum in the past that you could try a forum search for if you haven't already.
The large countershaft pulley with the repaired spoke appears to have been salvaged from an older model Atlas Lathe that used this style of pulley on both their horizontal an vertical counter shafts as in the counter shaft either behind or above the main spindle
There may have been other makes of machines that used this same pulley but I'm not aware of them.
See page 3

http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/51/25522.pdf

I also have an Atlas lathe. And yes the repaired spoke does go with an Atlas lathe.... i remember when the mill tipped over and cracked the spoke and we (my dad) fixed it. That's one of the reasons i built the table for the mill.
i'm getting older and will have to sell off the machines.... hence my need to research the stuff.

graystoneltd · Jun 6, 2023

I picked up this Lewis mill about 5 years ago from a childhood friend who knew I was into metal machining stuff. It was made by his grandfather at Bryn Mawr college way back before it became a liberal arts haven. Both his grandfather and father were amateur gunsmiths so I believe it saw use in that regard. It features reversible table feed with disengaging stops for the feed as well as a table reverse. It is shown with a Jacobs chuck on the #3 MT spindle, but I have since fitted it with an ER32 collet-3MT adapter. There is a clever secondary speed reducer fitted into the base with the belt going through the center of the base. How it appears it pretty much how it arrived minus grime from sitting for 10-15 years. I also got a pair of homemade dividing heads which were used by his father to cut gears for telescope drives as his father was also an amateur astronomer.

IrbyJones · Jun 6, 2023

JST said:
Yeah, that's most of a Lewis, with a LOT of modifications: different countershaft assy, different spindle pulleys, different table lift mechanism, added oilers, lack of overarm clamp handles, etc.

I have digitized prints for the Lewis, if you want.

And what JST doesn't have (if any) I may have. I used to help Art Volz run the Lewis Machine Tool Group over on the old Yahoo Groups back in the day...

Irby

JST · Jun 6, 2023

I don't recall if I sent the stuff to everyone who wanted it, so if you didn't get it back then, let me know.

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