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What can you tell me about Van Norman #12?

what do you want to know?

it's a horizontal/vertical milling machine with no quill. Considerably more rigid than a bridgeport, but no quill. Power feed built in, but good luck finding collets. Not quite enough vertical travel for me, but when do you ever have a machine with ENOUGH vertical travel. I could have three feet, and I'd still find jobs where I need just an inch more.

-Jacob
 
What Jacob says is correct, but let's elaborate a little.

The VN 12 is the next-to smallest machine they made (besides the super rare bench top horizontal mills). It has powerfeed on the X axis only.

Extremely well made and accurate. Rigid as all get out with a meaty sliding ram that makes a Bport look very flimsy by comparison. They also have a nice low speed range, making them well suited to really get with the program when it comes to hogging with a shell mill. They have no quill, but you can slap a small Bridgeport or similar head on the overarm or spindle head and solve that problem, plus add a lot more versatility to the machine.

The real great part is that they are actually a horizontal mill that is capable of doing vertical work. You can lay the spindle head down at any angle from vertical to horizontal and do angled surfaces, slotting, etc... But when it is down horizontal, with the horizontal arbor in place and the overarm and arbor support hooked to the other end is when the VN type machines really shine. You can make slotting passes with a 3/4" wide horizontal cutter that will make anything with an endmill look sick.

Now collets, arbors, and such are not extremely hard to find, but the tooling for this Van Norman C taper is pretty expensive. You cannot go buy Chinese or Pakistani tooling for this machine, so your only option is original VN tooling. Bad news is it is not cheap. Good news is it is VERY good stuff, if expensive. Many arbors and such you can easily make. I have made several things for the VN #6 at work. Also cheapo R-8 tooling can easily be turned down to R-8 if it is not hardened (and that's why it is cheap).

Best part is that these mill sell for nearly nothing. Even with the addition of a Bridgeport head, you can still probably get one up and running, with some tooling for under a grand.
 
What do I want to know about the VN #12? Well there is one for sale locally. I figured I might look into it. Haven't seen it yet. It does come w/ some tooling and arbors. But I haven't seen it. Figured I'd just ask about it here as a first step.

A mill w/o a quill? I don't know, seems pretty undesireable if you ask me. Or tell me more of why I should be interested in this VN more than a Bridgeport, a Wells-Index, an Excello, etc.

I have a millrite, it does fine for 95% of what I do. But have always wanted something a bit more sturdy.

So how do you feed on Z w/ VN#12? Crank the table up? So no power downfeed?

My millrite doesn't have power downfeed. I'd like to have that feature on the next mill I purchase.

Thanks
 
if you masturbate a lot, using the VN#12 will give you the arm strength you desire from moving the damn z axis. I just got married, so I'm going to spend some more time at the mill I think.

It is, simply put, one of the most solid machines I've ever worked on....second only to the big cincinatti vertical mill (HUGE) and the big cincinatti horizontal mills.

Just buy it, then buy a vertical....how much is it listed for?

-Jacob
 
Mark, if you already have a Millrite, and can add the VN 12 to your shop, I can't think of a more PERFECT match. You will find the machines compliment each other very well with both having benefits in different situations. It is the same basic setup I have at work, the only difference being our Millrite is a Grizzly copy and the #6 doesn't have powerfeed on the table like the 12. (I also have that hulking VN 22L on hand when a lot of metal needs to be moved fast, but it was a recent addition).

You will probably find yourself using the Millrite more and more for a drill press and leaning on the VN when possible. The limited spindle clearance is my only big issue with the VNs, but you have that covered with the Millrite. In horizontal mode, the VN has PLENTY of room and once you have the horizontal capability, you will quickly find it faster and easier when doing facing work, long keyways and other open ended slotting work.

As a vertical mill, the VN is not great as far as convenience, but that is a trade for rigidity and sheer hogging power. It does have the advantage of doing vertical or horizontal milling and even horizontal drilling without moving the workpiece. I have used this to great benefit on a couple of porjects. You can mill a slot set up vertical or horizontal, and then drill a PERFECTLY square hole from the side using a horizontal drilling technique. I have timed it, and from full horizontal to full vertical (including stashing the arbor and getting out a collet) it takes about two minutes to swap modes.

Cranking the knee up vs a quill.. yeah, it's a pain for drilling, but when milling on something as light as the Grizzly at work, you better leave the quill all the way up, lock it in place and use the knee for vertical travel anyway. I guess I just got used to that as the #6 is what I cut my teeth on. If you want power downfeed, slap a nice Tree or Bridgeport head on the VN. Of course, if you do that, you may never use the Millrite again.
 
Van Norman #12's or VN 12 as I call them use to
use the old 5C taper in the spindle, and has
since been redesignated 5V. Collets and Arbors
can be gotten at Hardinge who took over the
product line.
The GREAT thing about the VN 12's, if spindle
hight is a problem, unlike BP's, you can also
align the spindle 180 deg's with moore bar in
the head, align to Y axis travel, lock X axis,
tram up yor work, mount a power feed to the
back of the ram and unlock ram, and presto,
you you have an efective cutter (quill travel)
travel of 12"s. The Van Norman #12's are sturdy
& versitile as one's own imagination, and as
far as I'm concerned, the best bang for your
buck. I presently use a simular setup on my
VN 12, mainly for cylinder rebores in old cast
iron crank cases, using an extended boring head.
I commonly have cylinders 3.5" X 6" to bore,
and the VN 12 makes it a breaze.
 
Actually, the taper designation is simply Van Norman C. 5V is the Hardinge designation. Make sure you are LAYING down if you call Hardinge for new collet prices. Last I saw they were $115 a pop. I'd hate to even think what arbors cost.
 
My Dad is looking at buying a big VN 2R5 a local fellow has for sale. Really nice mill (former gov't property), not priced cheaply but it does at least come with a couple grand worth of tooling. :cool:
Mark
 
Van Norman #12's or VN 12 as I call them use to
use the old 5C taper in the spindle, and has
since been redesignated 5V. Collets and Arbors
can be gotten at Hardinge who took over the
product line.
The GREAT thing about the VN 12's, if spindle
hight is a problem, unlike BP's, you can also
align the spindle 180 deg's with moore bar in
the head, align to Y axis travel, lock X axis,
tram up yor work, mount a power feed to the
back of the ram and unlock ram, and presto,
you you have an efective cutter (quill travel)
travel of 12"s. The Van Norman #12's are sturdy
& versitile as one's own imagination, and as
far as I'm concerned, the best bang for your
buck. I presently use a simular setup on my
VN 12, mainly for cylinder rebores in old cast
iron crank cases, using an extended boring head.
I commonly have cylinders 3.5" X 6" to bore,
and the VN 12 makes it a breaze.
I am really sorry to revive an old thread, but this is a really good suggestion. Thank you if you ever see this.

Sent from my S60 using Tapatalk
 








 
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