Just bought a Kearney & Trecker Model 2D Rotary Head Milling Machine

Bowtie_Finn · Aug 23, 2018

Hey all,

Thought I would share my latest purchase with the other K&T enthusiasts: a machine my Dad and I have been lusting after for as long as we knew it existed, a Kearney & Trecker Model 2D Rotary Head Milling Machine!!! I plan to give it to my Dad for a birthday gift (all be it will kept at my place

)

These machines have always amazed me, in its engineering and how it was designed to easily mimic any geometric shape that can be created with drafting instruments

Picked the machine up from a local dealer here in the DFW (Texas) area. The machine has the (seemingly rare?) B3 taper. Everything seems to work great, except the knee is stuck (probably from sitting for a while (lets hope!). Plan is to do a full restoration on this in our free time (whenever that occurs) - hopefully documenting it here. The dealer told me it is probably a 1952 year model, all though cannot confirm it.

Serial: 6-5575

Came with:
- Univseral Head
- Dividing Head
- Rotary Table
- Set of B3 collets & a few homemade tool holders
*Hope to one day find the Cherrying/Slotting/etc Attachments one day !

Robert R · Aug 24, 2018

Bowtie_Finn said:
Everything seems to work great, except the knee is stuck (probably from sitting for a while (lets hope!).

Do a forum topic search on "stuck knee gib Forrest"

It is possible that the knee gibs have gotten loose and wedged the knee in place. Any attempt to move the knee before extracting the loose gib will make the problem worse.

Robert

ramsay1 · Aug 24, 2018

Nice mill! I have a 1942 model that was originally b3 and now accepts r8 tooling...You have nice attachments for the mill as well and you have the drive bracket for rotab....Some years back I bought on ebay a cherrying attachment and a slotting attachment for almost nothing.. I think the cherrying attachment was 35 dollars mainly because they had no clue as to what they were selling...Not so now.. I think the last cherrying attachment I saw on ebay, they wanted like 350 dollars for it and it was well used.. I got my rotab drive bracket from ebay for 5 dollars plus shipping and it was unused....If you would like more info on this machine try these:

Kearney & Trecker Co. - Publication Reprints | VintageMachinery.org

Kearney Trecker 2D Tool and Die Mill Jan 14, 1955 16mm Film - YouTube

Get yourself some light bodied cutting oil for coolant and your machine will be very happy...Ramsay 1

Hobby Shop · Aug 24, 2018

Nice machine and welcome to the club.

I’d start soaking everything down in PB blaster.
Later on, after you get use to the mill. If by chance you don’t use the rotary table drive bracket, I have a Cherrying attachment I would trade for it.

Andy

M.B. Naegle · Aug 24, 2018

Another one from my dream-shop.

Nice machine!

kd1yt · Aug 24, 2018

Nice!!! These are remarkable. Don't own one, can't justify one, but still yearn for one...

johnoder · Aug 24, 2018

If you look in the left hand column of first link in Post #3 and look for 31 January 2014 you will find op and parts manual placed there by Ramsay1

Lot 5575 is from 1947

First thing to look at on these is the amazing slide assy inside that top cover that manages belt drive. My '68 was slap wore out - probably because people buy such things, put them in service and never maintain things that are out-of-sight

Bowtie_Finn · Aug 24, 2018

ramsay1 said:
Nice mill! I have a 1942 model that was originally b3 and now accepts r8 tooling...You have nice attachments for the mill as well and you have the drive bracket for rotab....Some years back I bought on ebay a cherrying attachment and a slotting attachment for almost nothing.. I think the cherrying attachment was 35 dollars mainly because they had no clue as to what they were selling...Not so now.. I think the last cherrying attachment I saw on ebay,

Wow - That is an awesome eBay find - prices on these old attachments/ etc - have jumped so high I the last number of years - almost makes you want to start up a foundry to make reproductions of them to sell!

BTW - how did you convert it to R8 ?

Bowtie_Finn · Aug 24, 2018

Robert R said:
Do a forum topic search on "stuck knee gib Forrest"

It is possible that the knee gibs have gotten loose and wedged the knee in place. Any attempt to move the knee before extracting the loose gib will make the problem worse.

Robert

Great advice - Thanks!

ramsay1 · Aug 24, 2018

Bowtie_Finn said:
Wow - That is an awesome eBay find - prices on these old attachments/ etc - have jumped so high I the last number of years - almost makes you want to start up a foundry to make reproductions of them to sell!

BTW - how did you convert it to R8 ?

Ebay has gone crazy after the dealers took over.. Yes, I was looking back at some old invoices where in 2009 I bought a 12 inch power driven rotab for 153 dollars and it was pristine with no chowder marks on the table at all.. I think it cost 112 dollars to have it shipped.. It was missing the directional lever though but I found a nice one later.. I saw a 12 inch rotab on ebay recently and they wanted over 1000 dollars for it and it looked like the table had been use for target practice...

The spindle had been altered to R8 when I bought it.. That along with the fact that all five motors had been changed to 240 volt single phase sweetened the deal quite a bit...

I did have a problem with it in the quill feed section .. There is a little "ducking key" that changes feed rates and it was broken.. K&T wanted 500 dollars for it and it is about the size of the average shirt button.. I managed to get the drawing of it though and made one ...

Good machine.. It will run circles around a Bridgeport as far as metal removal goes.. Just keep cutting oil on the endmill and it will keep cutting...Happy milling; Ramsay 1

PaulO_UK · Aug 25, 2018

Congratulations. I got my 2D last year. It wasn't advertised with a cherrying attachment, but when I collected it the seller pulled it out and said "I think this goes with it as well, would you like it?". I was also very lucky that mine came with a full set of collets and closing nuts.

Sorry to ask the obvious, but have you checked that the Z axis lock has not been applied heavily by a gorrila?

I and several others have uploaded a lot of documentation and drawings for the 2D to the Vintage Machinery website.

PaulO_UK · Aug 25, 2018

ramsay1 said:
I managed to get the drawing of it though and made one ...

Can I ask where you got the drawing from? My machine came with a few drawings, that I presume the original owner requested from K&T. Quite a few other drawings have been uploaded to Vintage Machinery.org, I was wondering if anyone had a completed archive of drawings, or if they were lost with K&T.

ramsay1 · Aug 25, 2018

PaulO_UK said:
Can I ask where you got the drawing from? My machine came with a few drawings, that I presume the original owner requested from K&T. Quite a few other drawings have been uploaded to Vintage Machinery.org, I was wondering if anyone had a completed archive of drawings, or if they were lost with K&T.

I got the drawings from a former K&T employee.. I have drawings of the "ducking key" and also of the trip dogs for the periphery of the rotary head...Ramsay 1

PaulO_UK · Aug 25, 2018

Do you know if he has other drawings? I'm guessing he must if he had those very specific items that you wanted. Luckily my ducking key is ok and I have the trip dogs.

ramsay1 · Aug 25, 2018

PaulO_UK said:
Do you know if he has other drawings? I'm guessing he must if he had those very specific items that you wanted. Luckily my ducking key is ok and I have the trip dogs.

He was working at Gidding and Lewis, the outfit that bought out what was left of Kearney and Trecker... Giddings and Lewis was located in Fond Du Lac Wisconsin last contact I had but that was years ago.. You could contact them .. Ramsay 1

Bowtie_Finn · Aug 26, 2018

ramsay1 said:
The spindle had been altered to R8 when I bought it.. That along with the fact that all five motors had been changed to 240 volt single phase sweetened the deal quite a bit...

Dang, that is awesome - you might have of the most coolest Model Ds I've heard of !

Bowtie_Finn · Aug 26, 2018

ramsay1 said:
Ebay has gone crazy after the dealers took over.. Yes, I was looking back at some old invoices where in 2009 I bought a 12 inch power driven rotab for 153 dollars and it was pristine with no chowder marks on the table at all.. I think it cost 112 dollars to have it shipped.. It was missing the directional lever though but I found a nice one later.. I saw a 12 inch rotab on ebay recently and they wanted over 1000 dollars for it and it looked like the table had been use for target practice...

Ya - the prices on eBay are insane for K&T Attachments - they have dividing heads for 1800$ - that is more then a good lot of actual K&T mills go for used

Bowtie_Finn · Aug 26, 2018

PaulO_UK said:
Congratulations. I got my 2D last year. It wasn't advertised with a cherrying attachment, but when I collected it the seller pulled it out and said "I think this goes with it as well, would you like it?". I was also very lucky that mine came with a full set of collets and closing nuts.

Sorry to ask the obvious, but have you checked that the Z axis lock has not been applied heavily by a gorrila?

Thanks !!! YA - the lock was free open :cryin:

but truthfully I have been so busy at work, I was only able to spend 10 - 20 minutes looking over the machine, so I could have been looking at the wrong lock :sulk:

I have never used or seen one of these machines in real life prior to buying, so I am real green to them!

Bowtie_Finn · Aug 26, 2018

Was able to look-up the serial numbers on Vintage Machinery - looks like this machine is a August, 1947 model!!!

ramsay1 · Aug 26, 2018

Bowtie_Finn said:
Ya - the prices on eBay are insane for K&T Attachments - they have dividing heads for 1800$ - that is more then a good lot of actual K&T mills go for used

Yes I paid 325 for my model H dividing head which I thought was high at the time but it was really nice... Some that should probably be in the scrap are for sale there now for four times that much.. Ridiculous.. Ramsay 1

Just bought a Kearney & Trecker Model 2D Rotary Head Milling Machine

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