What's new
What's new

Passing worn machine for good working

Shawn_Laughlin

Aluminum
Joined
Mar 28, 2019
I’ve searched and couldn’t really find anything for my specific questions/worries.

I’m looking for a mill for my garage and looking on eBay some of them that are quite old still have scrape marks and look good but anyone can throw some scrape marks on them and spruce it up to make it look good but cut worse than my Chinese mill. I’m new to this and I know the obvious signs but what are people doing to to work/worn out machines to pass them off as good?
 
I’ve searched and couldn’t really find anything for my specific questions/worries.

I’m looking for a mill for my garage and looking on eBay some of them that are quite old still have scrape marks and look good but anyone can throw some scrape marks on them and spruce it up to make it look good but cut worse than my Chinese mill. I’m new to this and I know the obvious signs but what are people doing to to work/worn out machines to pass them off as good?

.
i would look for damaged shear pins, bent keys and keyways, and collision or crash marks. also lack of lubrication damage is hard to see.
.
wear on the ways is minor compared to collision or crash damage, overloads and lack of lubrication. some plastic lube lines get cracked and leak and oil never reaches spots. that damage can be hard to see. lead screw and nut damage also hard to see it. or bearing damage often hard to detect it
 
I’m new to this and I know the obvious signs but what are people doing to to work/worn out machines to pass them off as good?

A coat of paint and polishing all the brite bits does wonders, ohh shiney, it must be good:rolleyes5:. I look for the rusty machines, just enough rust to scare off most buyers, but not so bad it can't be cleaned, then deal with whatever other problems I find.
 
Take a short (~4") precision level with you when you check out machines, it can be used on lathe ways to find localized wear. Even if the bed is twisted due to improper leveling, a true bed will give a uniform deviation of the bubble as you slide the level along, but localized wear will cause a more rapid or uneven reading.

It can also be used on other slides, to look for uneven response as a cross slide or compound is moved.
 
I have seen sine machines with fake scraping, but generally it looks fake, at least if you have done or seen real scraping. Usually the fake seems to look like it was done with a screwdriver blade. Sometimes it looks better, but still has not got the "random but intentional" look of the real thing. A few scrape marks is not scraping... Nice new flaking on top of worn and scored ways is another goodie.

Other than that, yes, nice shiny new paint and polish, on a machine with scored ways.... Yeah, THAT is sure nice looking.... NOT.......

Totally agree on buying dirty machines.... it's a funny thing, old oil looks pretty much like rust, so people shy away. And they shy away from dirty also. I'd rather have old oil than rusty ways, but if the rust is not in bad places rust does not scare me off..
 
One sure sign that a mill is worn is the x-axis gib sticking out the right side. A mill with little wear the gib will be almost flush on the left side. It is also easy to pull the gib out to see if it has been shimmed. On the same lines, push and pull on the saddle, a worn machine will have excess movement. Take a mag base and indicator to detect where the slop is coming from. Daryl
 
And take your level too...check the rocking when the knee is elevated /lowered.....often the knee is elevated over dirt and rust,and has so much wear as to make the machine unusable,unless the jibs are tightened solid.....I always get a good idea of machine condition by the y axis slides.....often scored and dry ,and dinged by tool and work dropping.......always lift the covers ,they often hide a multitude of nastyness,such as running unlubed.....
 
Shawn,

Where are you located here in Texas?

If interested, I have a older BP clone here that has decent ways on it. Just needs a little TLC to get it back to running. It's noway of being a perfect mill, does have a few things that will require fixing. I bought it with the intention of repairing it and putting it to good use. My health has gotten in the way. Send me a PM if you like. The price is very reasonable. Ken
 
I’m so sorry I do this every single time,I start a thread and gets busy and forget all about it,while good folks like yourselves are taking the time to help me out. I haven’t even read through the comments yet but am now.
 
Great info guys. The fake scraping is something I am worried about. Another is and I completely understand,that the new paint and shiny surfaces doesn’t mean it’s good bc I work for a company that likes to do that with the machines we have when people come to look at the shop,they like to paint everything grey. They paint the grease and all and don’t even bother taping the floor to not make it look so obvious lol. And I agree that a dirty machine is probably better. I’ve always thought of it as, a grimy looking machine is grimy bc of everything that is stuck to the oil that’s preseving the bare surfaces and generally covering the whole machine. But here is where I worry about buying a machine that’s dirty is a lot that I’ve looked at you can tel have been photoshopped to look like they have been indoors out of the weather but really have been through no telling what,floods,hurricanes,tornadoes or anything bring it had sat outside for no telling how long and this is the biggest kicker,I’m not going to be able to drive or fly out to Ohio or Florida or even Arkansas which isn’t that far and will be depending on someone to do the inspecting for me. Who that person will be I have no clue. I really would like a machine that I can start milling as soon as it’s powered on,cleaned up and oiled. I don’t want to have to have parts sent out to be machined and don’t want to have to try to find parts for it. Am I asking for too much? Eventually I want to go cnc so I thought about just doing that. I was looking at a Supermax but I have no experience with cnc at all. I’m in over my head in the sense that I don’t know a single person that had any knowledge about Machining.
 
You definitely not going to find anything used that would be ready to go here in TEXAS. UNLESS you buy new.

As I said above, I have one here that needs a little cleaning and oiling and the table put back on and be ready to hook up to electricity and go. I even have a spare VFD here I can supply if you like. The only item missing is the power feed unit for the table. You can buy them for around $150 all day long on eBay.

BTW-Where in Texas are you located?

Ken
 








 
Back
Top