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Refurbishing Unknown Index Mill

CalebG

Plastic
Joined
Sep 4, 2019
Hi everyone, I've been gaining interest in machining since I started watching Abom79, This Old Tony and AvE years ago. A few weeks ago I saw an Index Mill on eBay and it looked to be in passable condition and at the right price. I just picked it up this last weekend. The only name plate on the mill says "Index Machine & Tool Co Jackson Mich". The seller also didn't have much information on it as he was selling it for his father who has dementia. It appears very similar to an Index Model 40 with a few differences to the knee and base castings, as well as having no quill. I'm thinking its an earlier model. I'm anxious to get my feet wet making some chips, but some maintenance is in order first. Everything on the mill functioned when i got it, but the machine had a lot of play in it. I believe my first goal will just be to take everything apart and clean it. The groves in the ways are packed with grease and the screws covering the oil ports have been painted over. Until a few days ago I had never touched a milling machine, so my main hope for making this post is that someone can point out any boneheaded mistakes I'm making! Having read this forum a fair amount, thanks in advance to anyone reading!s-l1600.jpgs-l1600 (1).jpgs-l1600 (2).jpgIMG_20190904_181003.jpgIMG_20190904_180938.jpg
 
I've contacted Index, they're looking into it. It is a B&S 9 taper. Spindle bore looks a bit rough, but I measured just over a thou of run-out on the side of an endmill holder. I've taken off the table, saddle and knee. Ways look alright. Decent gouge in the left way on top of the knee and another on the left way on the column. The way on the back of the knee also has what looks to be a casting defect in it. I'm guessing this contributed to the gouge in the column, there was allot of gunk in it. The hand wheels had about 90 thou of play on the dials. The lead screws have some wear in them, and the acme thread on the lead nuts is worn so far that it's sharp. I'd like to remake those brass nuts but they're a 7/8-5 acme thread and one is left hand thread. I can't find a tap that size and I don't have a lathe to cut that thread. So I guess I'm just stuck with 90 thou of backlash for now.
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