Thread: Older horizontal borers

Sorry in advance for asking a question without a proper answer but I have been looking out for a reasonably early horizontal borer over here for 15-20 years, the odd pre-war vertical shows up but nothing of any size or age in the horizontal. I've noticed a few verticals in threads here which have come up in clearance sales etc that seem way older than we would find, do you have belt driven horizontals about over there?
Richard.

Originally Posted by Ruston3w

Sorry in advance for asking a question without a proper answer but I have been looking out for a reasonably early horizontal borer over here for 15-20 years, the odd pre-war vertical shows up but nothing of any size or age in the horizontal. I've noticed a few verticals in threads here which have come up in clearance sales etc that seem way older than we would find, do you have belt driven horizontals about over there?
Richard.

If you mean pre-war nearly all of them in the UK either went to the third world or the melting pot years ago.

Regards Tyrone.

Originally Posted by Ruston3w

Sorry in advance for asking a question without a proper answer but I have been looking out for a reasonably early horizontal borer over here for 15-20 years, the odd pre-war vertical shows up but nothing of any size or age in the horizontal. I've noticed a few verticals in threads here which have come up in clearance sales etc that seem way older than we would find, do you have belt driven horizontals about over there?
Richard.

That we do. For the most part conversions to independent motoring as COULD be back-converted to lineshaft powering. "Never was lineshaft" far the more common.

Still HERE mostly because they have been cheap or free, and can still make chips for those not wealthy or in a hurry!

I cannot imagine a museum so well endowed - tight as resources, space included - must be in the UK - as would justify "importing" one.

Have you tried the former East bloc? They upgraded theirs more recently. Or haven't YET done so and would like to do.

You'll need to look for a machine still IN a shop, "marginal" one, AKA subsistence level. Anything idle or abandoned gets stripped to bare floor, and "at once".

What Ty said. No "OLD" tired Iron gets to loiter for any time at all, anywhere in Europe. No new home? Next stop smelter. No messing about at it.

Small-biz Europe operates out of only about a third to half the space we can typically afford in North America for a similar function, has near-zero idle barns, sheds, or pasture where Old Iron might be parked and ignored.

Here's an example of what's available here. As Thermite says, they are available for not a lot of money but they come with issues. This machine is from 1929. Transportation cost was something like 4x the purchase price.

Just can’t get used to an HBM with the business end on the right hand side of the machine...

I must be getting old.

Getting back to the OP’s question, we had a bunch of medium sized older HBM’s locally at auction 20-30 years ago and none since. Last year a PM member had several medium to large newer HBM’s for sale in the Vancouver area.

L7

Originally Posted by lucky7

Just can’t get used to an HBM with the business end on the right hand side of the machine...

I must be getting old.

Getting back to the OP’s question, we had a bunch of medium sized older HBM’s locally at auction 20-30 years ago and none since. Last year a PM member had several medium to large newer HBM’s for sale in the Vancouver area.

L7

If I remember rightly the guy in Vancouver had a very nice " Kearns " hor bore.

Originally Posted by lucky7

Just can’t get used to an HBM with the business end on the right hand side of the machine...

I must be getting old.

Getting back to the OP’s question, we had a bunch of medium sized older HBM’s locally at auction 20-30 years ago and none since. Last year a PM member had several medium to large newer HBM’s for sale in the Vancouver area.

L7

Not what you mean by business end? The spindle and controls? Last shop I worked that had one was setup like the pics...

Back in 2001 I worked at a small place in Peterborough on a dinky Kearns. Early motorised with about 3'square table. With outer support as well. A few years ago they asked me to help them with a rush job;they had moved out to near Perkins Engines. I said"where's the little Kearns?" They said-oh we scrapped that when we moved! ��

Originally Posted by Tyrone Shoelaces

If I remember rightly the guy in Vancouver had a very nice " Kearns " hor bore.

At least ONE US maker put the head to the operator's left. Galis had four of them in a line, same make. Three 3-inch bar, one five-inch bar.

Damned if I can remember WHOM though.

I wasn't on 'em but for one 3-day rigged deal in 1964 to make it look good a day shift guy with many years seniority wasn't seen to have a lack of any competition at all within the Union rank and file.

Intensive 3-days. Shop steward was the king of that five-inch bar and a good guy, all around. We took it seriously. He just whispered in my ear it was a done deal, we were mainly after protecting our contract right to have a shot at openings, not let the Company go all one-way and bring somone in from outside.

Lucas was probably the US's most prolific maker of left-headed horizontal boring mills, but other makers of left-headed machines that come to mind included Cleveland, Defiance, Ohio (IIRC), and Portage. There were probably others.

And if you wanted to see what they looked like 130 years back, Niles would sell you one like this in 1891

Originally Posted by TedinNorfolk

Back in 2001 I worked at a small place in Peterborough on a dinky Kearns. Early motorised with about 3'square table. With outer support as well. A few years ago they asked me to help them with a rush job;they had moved out to near Perkins Engines. I said"where's the little Kearns?" They said-oh we scrapped that when we moved! ��

I've been involved with the scrapping of a few over the years. I got a sort of perverse pleasure in scrapping them instead of repairing them.

Regards Tyrone.

Originally Posted by marka12161

Here's an example of what's available here. As Thermite says, they are available for not a lot of money but they come with issues. This machine is from 1929. Transportation cost was something like 4x the purchase price.

Talk about back in the day, I ran a G&L that was new in 1964, and appeared to be a twin to this one. Very little changes in 36 years. It had a 3" spindle and the table was a little wider with outriggers.
JH

Originally Posted by James H Clark

Talk about back in the day, I ran a G&L that was new in 1964, and appeared to be a twin to this one. Very little changes in 36 years. It had a 3" spindle and the table was a little wider with outriggers.
JH

This is a Universal Boring Machine Company "Tri-Way". 3 inch spindle about 650 rpm max.

Originally Posted by Tyrone Shoelaces

I've been involved with the scrapping of a few over the years. I got a sort of perverse pleasure in scrapping them instead of repairing them.

Regards Tyrone.

LOL! I started sending my "tired" used cars off directly to the crushers instead of selling them cheaply and being hounded by the new owner with questions!

For four YEARS, the case of the GMC powered "uber" Jeep" I did sell ... for $200!

Fewer than 20,000 miles on the mill, 25 years up on blocks, indoors... for the nearly perfect chassis, still pristine OEM paint.

The silly "comebacks" weren't worth the few extra bucks!

And then?

... it really DID become a source of pleasure as to "DONE with THAT one, once and for all time!"