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Universal Tri Way HBM (3" spindle) for sale or will be scrapped

marka12161

Stainless
Joined
Dec 23, 2016
Location
Oswego, NY USA
About a year ago i took a chance on a small HBM that was being sold via an online auction. Prior to the auction, I had asked the auctioneer some questions over the phone but decided not to place a bid. After the bidding closed, the auctioneer contacted me and basically told me his job was to sell off the shop's inventory and that he would sell me the mill for any reasonable price. We agreed on $500.00. The shop was in Arkansas and i'm in upstate NY so shipping was a bit painful. I took a chance on this machine primarily due to the fact that it fit in my shop. I fully expected it might have a few issues that needed to be addressed. All old machines do. Once i got the machine home, a quick look revealed weld repairs on both the vertical and horizontal feed rod/lead screw trunions. The gearbox cover was also a retrofit as was the lubrication system for the table. I powered the machine up and ran it through its feeds and speeds and they all worked fine. The motor made a hell of a racket but after a bit of investigation, i found the fan was clogged with swarf. The auctioneer had warned me that the rapid traverse did not work and he wasn't lying. I cleaned the machine up a bit and let it sit for the past year. Yesterday i did a bit of a deep dive into the gearbox and there certainly are some badly worn gears and loose bearings in there as well as further evidence of retrofit to both the rapid shift dogs and the spindle feed drive rod. If this machine were in its original configuration i would be tempted to dig into the gearbox and do the needed repairs but it's a significant amount of work. I would rather put that work into a complete and original machine so i've decided to sell or scrap this one. I looked at the scrap price for cast iron ($238/ton) so in theory, at 12500 lbs this thing is worth a bit over $1400 in scrap. In practice, i would likely remove the table and try to sell it as a welding/fixture table, pull off the handles and anything else that might be useful, disassemble the remaining big bits and haul the thing to the scrap yard.

So, if anyone here is interested in this machine, i'd rather see it get used rather than scrapped. I'd let it go for scrap value ($1400). If no one wants it, i'll likely start taking it apart in the March/April time frame.
 

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Well with a shop that clean and neat you may as well keep it, it doesn't look like you plan to use any of your machines any way! :)

On a serious note that's one fine looking shop.

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Oh man, that is just the size HBM I have been on the hunt for. I just wish it was in better shape and not a project.
 
Well with a shop that clean and neat you may as well keep it, it doesn't look like you plan to use any of your machines any way! :)

On a serious note that's one fine looking shop.

Sent from my SM-J737V using Tapatalk

Thanks, it is a great way to spend the bitter cold winters. My wife and i retired from out day jobs last May so i have plenty of time to tinker. Having said that, i've got a long list of projects and given all the work this thing would require i'd be too old to use it by the time i finished it.
 
Oh man, that is just the size HBM I have been on the hunt for. I just wish it was in better shape and not a project.

Yes, it's a great size. I'm going to keep an eye open for a similarly sized replacement. But no more buying something this big sight-unseen. Itd be one thing if it were a small machine but something this size is just too big to be moving around frequently.
 
Condolences….

As a fellow Universal HBM owner I hate to see one given up on.

Pictures of the wreckage might help someone’s decision. Also, did that machine come with the tail stock?


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Condolences….

As a fellow Universal HBM owner I hate to see one given up on.

Pictures of the wreckage might help someone’s decision. Also, did that machine come with the tail stock?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No tail stock on this one. It about kills me to give up on this thing but given the work involved, i need to spend that time on a machine that will be right in the end. Pic of some of the the gear box damage is below.

The stick is pointing to what i think is a a retrofit. The shifter dog to the left of this was modified to cut out the dogs for the rapid traverse. The bearings that this "blank" rides on are toast, probably 1/16 inck of play in them. You can see some of the gear wear above left.
 

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Shame on the HBM. Can't save everything though.

Man, if I'm ever up in NY can I sit in the sunlight and admire your shop? I love that wood strip wall.
 
Shame on the HBM. Can't save everything though.

Man, if I'm ever up in NY can I sit in the sunlight and admire your shop? I love that wood strip wall.


Mark definately has the nicest shop I've ever seen...

It's even more impressive in person...
-Bear
 








 
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