W.B. Knight mill/ jig borer

Im in the process of restoring a W.B.Knight milling machine or jig borer. It uses a #10 brown and sharp taper and has power table feeds. The brass tag on the side says thats its a #4 and the serial number is 501. It is powered by a single phase 220 motor and this was never a lineshaft machine. does anyone have any history on this machine? Any idea when it was built? Thanks,

tractorpuller --

W. B. Knight machines -- milling machine / jigborers and rotary tables -- were designed and sold by W. B. Knight, but actually manufactured by John Ramming Machine Company of St. Louis, MO. After Mr. Knight died, John Ramming Machine purchased the designs and rights to the Knight name from his estate, and continued to sell the rotary tables for many years.

John Ramming did keep full records of ALL Knight machines until they closed their doors for the last time, in the last year or so.

To avoid re-hashing, I suggest you do a search of this Practical Machinist website, using "Knight" as Keyword and, if necessary to thin the herd, "John Garner" as the User Name.

John

I have a model 40 Knight Miller I dont if its the same a a #4. It was built in the early 40s. I have a factory manual for it. The manual has size 20 30 and 40 listed. I also have a sale brochure for a shaper head, 90 deg mill head, indexing head and other attachments they made. They are a little rough after 70 years but I could make you a copy of them if you need. Thanks
brian

Knight Mill

I to have a knight mill. It's a #30. I have never heard of a knight mill that wasn't a 20, 30, or 40. Do you have any photos?

Besides the B&S 10 taper spindle, I'm very happy with the machine. I have a manual for the machine, if you need a copy; however, the manual is a bit skimpy in information.

I was told that when Knight mills were being built they were 10 times the cost of a Bridgeport.

I am also looking for a JiG borer Manual

I have a W. B. Knight Jig Borer #1 serial# 916 although it looks like a model 1 1/2.

From what I have been able to figure out this machine was built around 1915. It's absolutely fantastic and I use it practically every day.

What I don't have is a manual. I bought the Jig Borer just after John Ramming closed so I haven't been able to find a manual that way.

Any ideas?

My Dad retired from John Ramming Machine in the spring of 1989 after 23 years there. He machined many of the rotary tables on the big Akuma cnc lathe they bought probably in the mid 70's.

I also worked there for a few months in about 1985. I don't recall any talk about them producing any Jig Bore machines when I was there, or when we talked about his job at home when I was younger.
His mind is not very good any more, but I will ask him the next time we get together and just sit and talk about old times. There is a very slight chance he may know what happened to the records.

On a side note, Dad gave me a ledger that John Ramming Machine threw out when they were cleaning up the office in the early 70's.
It has all the contracts and payroll from the year 1891. Mostly steam engine and boiler contracts. It's pretty frail and I don't know what to do with it, but it's cool to get out and look at it every few years.

Found some W. B. Knight manuals

Found some W. B. Knight manuals for the Jigmaster, no. 60, no 30 and general info. They can be found through the Henry Ford Museum.

email [email protected] to request an order form.


Here is the original message:

Thank you for contacting The Henry Ford. The Henry Ford is accredited by the American Association of Museums, an independent, non-profit, educational

institution. We are not affiliated with Ford Motor Company (FMC) or The Ford Foundation. The materials – objects, documents, business records,

photographs, ephemera, and more - housed within the Benson Ford Research Center (BFRC) contain an open treasury of research, historical expertise and

unparalleled collections documenting significant economic, technological, cultural, and social events of the American experience.

We have 4 trade catalogs in our collection from the W. B. Knight Machinery Company. Please see information below:

Knight jigmaster.
by W. B. Knight Machinery Company.
St. Louis, Mo. : The Company, [ca.1960].
Quantity/Description:
Location: Benson Ford Research Center
Shelving Location: Trade catalog
Call Number: P.B. ca. 1960


Knight no. 60 for jig boring and milling.
by W. B. Knight Machinery Company.
St. Louis, Mo. : The Company, [ca.1955].
Quantity/Description:
Location: Benson Ford Research Center
Shelving Location: Trade catalog
Call Number: P.B. ca. 1955


No. 30 Knight miller.
by W. B. Knight Machinery Company.
St. Louis, Mo. : The Company, [ca.1950].
Location: Benson Ford Research Center
Shelving Location: Trade catalog
Call Number: P.B. ca. 1950


Knight millers catalog 5-45.
by W.B. Knight Machinery Company.
Saint Louis, Mo., The Company, 1945.
Location: Benson Ford Research Center
Call Number: X.P.B. 1945

If you would like a copy of any of the trade catalog we would need you to complete the attached photocopy order form and return it with payment before

we could move forward.
We accept payment via check or credit card. If you are paying by check, make it out to "The Henry Ford" and mail it to us directly, to the Benson Ford

Research Center, 20900 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn, MI 48124. If paying by credit card, you can fax the info to us at 313-982-6244.
Standard turn-around time for research, from receipt of payment, is two-four weeks.
Thanks again for your inquiry and please let us know if you'd like us to move forward with your inquiry.
Benson Ford Research Center

W.B. Knight

millermachine said:

I have a model 40 Knight Miller I dont if its the same a a #4. It was built in the early 40s. I have a factory manual for it. The manual has size 20 30 and 40 listed. I also have a sale brochure for a shaper head, 90 deg mill head, indexing head and other attachments they made. They are a little rough after 70 years but I could make you a copy of them if you need. Thanks
brian

Click to expand...

I have acquired a W.B. Knight mill/jig bore model #40. According to this post it was made in the 40's. Is that definite? It is in great shape and I never saw a mill before that table (12x 40) turns as well as tilts. I would like more info. It has a 12 B&S taper. Any others I have seen mentioned have smaller B&S tapers. What is really different is the "Sheffer" square threaded nut the fits on end of B&S taper to hold it in machine. Is anyone familiar with 'Sheffer"? Any other info would be of interest

Do you still manual for W.B. Knight mill? I recently got a model #40 and looking for more info
Don

I have acquired a W.B. Knight mill/jig bore model #40

Click to expand...

He has not visited the forum since January. Here is link to his web page - don't know if it leads to any contact anymore or not

http://www.millermachineandfabrication.com/contactus.html

DGC said:

Do you still manual for W.B. Knight mill? I recently got a model #40 and looking for more info
Don

Click to expand...

Do you have a serial number? Metalworking Machinery Serial Number Reference Book says the Knight #40 was made as early as 1937 and ended in 1956.

Thanks for response. I will check for serial number in the morning

I have searched for serial number and all we found was a number stamped on top of head slide (dovetail) #431395...not sure that would be serial number but there are no plates on machine indicating serial number.It has a "Gusher Coolant Pump" on the back...really a premium machine. Do you know if they made many with 12 B&S taper?

DGC said:

I have searched for serial number and all we found was a number stamped on top of head slide (dovetail) #431395...not sure that would be serial number but there are no plates on machine indicating serial number.

Click to expand...

That looks like a valid serial and makes the machine a 1953. The s/n reference should be pretty reliable as Knight Machinery Co provided the data. Unfortunately I don't know any more than that.

You guys got me fired up again.
Just got the John Ramming ledger out of our library/extra bedroom and if anyone is interested, I'll open it it up and post some pictures of it later this week.
It's very fragile and I will have to be very carefull.
As I remember, it's the John Ramming ledger from 1891.

My Dad machined a bunch of the rotary tables in the late 70's and early 80's.
He retired in 1989.

Don

I am gonna jump on this thread cause I am trying to find out info on my new to me #2 WB Knight mill. It is serial number K283. I tried PMing OhioMike, but the inbox is full.

Jon

Cleared it out.

I met Knight once. His comment on the situation was that Bridgeport became the standard and ruined the business for everyone else. John Ramming was originally on what is now the Arch grounds and was mainly in steamboat engine repair.

At the end they were on McCree Ave. I went to the pre auction open house. The building had solid rows of CNC machines on both sides. As I recall, the only manual machines were a beat up Sidney lathe, an equally decrepit BP, and one or two other old machines. I have pictures in my archives if I can find them.

The rotabs I saw had cross slides on top of the rotary table to allow the center of rotation to be centered anywhere on the part. They had a good reputation, but CNC now allows the same function by typing in a few numbers.

Reportedly they made most of their living making parts for Caterpillar and the Chinese underbid for poor parts.

Bill

Just curious if anyone had info on the style but set up , just bought on of these & it has the same set up