Mill machines and what to get

TOS FNK milling machine for sale

Just found an add for a TOS FNK milling machine with a universal head and power feed for sale for $2500 in the Halifax NS area, phone number 902-452-3012. If anyone is interested I would be willing to assist with inspection / shipping on this end. I have previous experience with machining and understand what to look for and no, I do not know or have not spoken with the seller. Just seen this thread and recognized the brand name and thought someone might be interested. Cheers, Ken Watts.
 
I have set-up 1000's of one off's followed by production runs in cnc manufacturing mostly vmc's and hmc's 4th and 5 axis...all machines (different grades) proved 2 things to me....don't skimp on measuring gear and don't skimp on tooling. If you think 40bucks for a single 1/4 inch 4 flute end mill is expensive or 300bucks for a decent caliper your going to crap your pants when you find out that 700bucks gets you a crappy vise and a decent one is $2000..so if you want quality remember your mill is the least expensive piece of equipment. I don't want to crap on any body's day but this is the most extreme sport in the world with the biggest expence's.......I love it all more then I can ever explain and i encourage people to get into it, but remember its like running a race team...lots of blood sweat tears and MONEY and one wrong turn and it all goes boom. have fun Lee
 
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Well, made the plunge, didn't go with KBC or Busy Bee,
w ww.standard-modern.com/Engine.html, and w ww.standard-modern.com/1340.html. Machine is used, wasn't under power when I inspected it, but the manual controls were smooth, and the bed has not been chewed. Heavier than KBC's closest machine. Hoping for the best, that it won't take too much work to get it making chips.
Its 550/3, so that will have to be dealt with one way or another. Last time I had to deal with this, I remotored and reswitched for 220/1.
 
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tiriaq,

Congradulations for buying a Canadian Made machine. Thouse are great little lathes I love them personally. :)

What vintage is it seeing as its used ??

Dimitri
 
It is reported to be about 25 years old. Institutional use, not industrial, not an old school machine. Original paint is in very good condition. Had been disconnected and in storage for quite some time. Really needs a cleaning end to end. Taper attachment. Has a 3 jaw chuck, but that is it. I have most of the precision tooling I need, tailstock drill chuck, reamer holder, 2 tool post grinders, etc., but will be looking for a 4 jaw chuck, steady rest and a tool post set. A milling attachment would be nice until a mill joins it. Have always used a lantern type tool post with Armstrong holders, maybe will set up with a more modern QC unit. A neighbour is going to move it for me, has the heavy equipment needed. Just moved in his own SB 14". So far, I am within my budget for equipping my shop, so a mill or mill/drill is a real possibility. Actually, I would also like to get a shaper. They can be extremely versatile in a recreational shop.
 
A Shaper is a good machine tool. Once I put together my shop a good lathe and shaper are going to go into it then later a mill. :)

On a lathe you can do alot of milling with some creative set ups. As well as grinding (dont recommend that though bad for the machines ways). The Lathe is the "Universal machine" if you take some time to set it up right. :)

Dimitri
 
Years ago I was involved in manufacturing repro flintlock guns. The barrel blank was received @ 1 3/16" diameter, 36 1/4" long, bore finished, about 9 lbs. I machined them 2/3 tapered round, 1/3 tapered octagon, drilled and threaded for breechplug on a 16" South Bend with an 8' bed. 2 1/2 hours total with the breechplug in. Did the taper octagon milling on the SB, using an indexing jig and barrel holder which I'd designed and made. The finished gun was 2 lbs less than the weight of the barrel blank.
The SB was made in 1932. Could taper the barrel end to end, 36" long, and hold 3-4 thou. external tolerances.
 
Bought a lathe. Standard-Modern 1340, 13" swing, 40" centres, 1 3/8" spindle bore, about 1600 lbs, nice size for barrel work. Canadian, mfr. is in Mississauga, currently in production. A fellow CGN told me about it, it was being sold by Crown Assets, at the Warkworth Institute, a federal correctional facility. Just got it moved into the shop Friday, haven't got it under power yet, but it is in really fine condition. Gives the impression that it was only lightly used. Was dirty, and had some rust from bad storage. The rust cleaned off, no pitting, just staining. The ways are perfect, no nicks or dings, no wear detectable with a straightedge. Not much tooling; a 3 jaw chuck, couple of dogs, micrometer carriage stop, and taper atachment. No toolpost, toolholders or 4 jaw chuck. Spindle nose is D1-4, so a chuck will be no problem. Its 3 phase, I'm planning on getting a rotary convertor, rather than remotoring. The lathe has a very slick motor control system, would be a shame to lose it.
 
tiriaq said:
Bought a lathe. Standard-Modern 1340, 13" swing, 40" centres, 1 3/8" spindle bore, about 1600 lbs, nice size for barrel work. Canadian, mfr. is in Mississauga, currently in production. A fellow CGN told me about it, it was being sold by Crown Assets, at the Warkworth Institute, a federal correctional facility. Just got it moved into the shop Friday, haven't got it under power yet, but it is in really fine condition. Gives the impression that it was only lightly used. Was dirty, and had some rust from bad storage. The rust cleaned off, no pitting, just staining. The ways are perfect, no nicks or dings, no wear detectable with a straightedge. Not much tooling; a 3 jaw chuck, couple of dogs, micrometer carriage stop, and taper atachment. No toolpost, toolholders or 4 jaw chuck. Spindle nose is D1-4, so a chuck will be no problem. Its 3 phase, I'm planning on getting a rotary convertor, rather than remotoring. The lathe has a very slick motor control system, would be a shame to lose it.
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Great!:cheers:
 
Lathe is now in the shop, levelled in two axes, Picking up tooling and accessories; live and dead centres, wrenches, adapter sleeves for my existing 2MT tooling. Only larger items needed are a are tool post system, 4 jaw with D1-4 mount, and a steady would be nice. Made a spider to support barrels which extend through the spindle, at the outside end. No power on yet. I'd rather not remotor. Am climbing the learning curve about 3 phase rotary convertors. Not going to be cheap, but should do the jub,
 
Tiraq, get VFD instead of a rotary phase converter. It is quieter, more economical to run, and you can vary the rpm of your lathe with the VFD.

The 13" Standard M odern is an ideal gunsmithing lathe.
 
I'd get a Rotory Phase converter just so you can keep the speed selections the same as what came from the company and not play around with electronic do-dads. ;)

Dimitri
 
Dimitri said:
Get a Lathe first would be my answer.

There is pretty much nothing that can be made on a mill that with some thinking you wont be able to do on a lathe. :)

Dimitri
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I can only fully agree with you, as he will at first do only "tinkering"
anyway, progress very fast , and adding a Vertical Mill later on.
What he can learn on the lathe, milling included, will come him very handy.
 
Dimitri said:
I'd get a Rotory Phase converter just so you can keep the speed selections the same as what came from the company and not play around with electronic do-dads. ;)

Dimitri
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?????? set the frequency drive at 60 hz and you have the factory speeds, set it at 30 hz and the speeds are 1/2 of normal, set it at 90 hz and they are 1 1/2 times normal.
 
Well, the Standard-Modern 1340 is under power. Finally ended up remotoring to 240/single phase. The cost to use either a convertor or VFD was just too high. A 240/single to 240/3 phase rotary convertor, plus a 240v. to 600v. step up transformer was going to cost $2500 - $3000, four times the cost of remotoring. VFD was $1500, 240/single to 240/3 phase, and the manufacturer specifically recommended against a step up transformer, so I would have had to remotor with a 240/3 phase motor. That would not have made sense. So, I bought a 3hp. 240v. single phase motor, same frame size as the original 575v. 3 phase motor. It went right in, no problems mounting it. The original switch was rated to 250v. 3 hp. single, so reswitching was not necessary. The new motor is the same rpm, spindle speeds are not affected. I learned a lot about the 3 phase conversion process during my research.
 
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