Hardinge bbv2 mini mill

[zeug]

I've never seen such a small milling machine that isn't Chinese junk. Can I call this a knee mill? Sure looks like one. I thought it was interesting and worth sharing here. Found on Craigslist Add

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[TTMotorsports]

I want a mini mill as well but for that amount of money I do have a shop so I would buy a full size mill personally.

 

[macgee]

Thats awesome, the thing is tiny and yes, you can call it a knee mill.

They're awesome mills and they do demand such a price which is a bummer for me but understandable. One of the ultimate US made watchmaker mills. I believe Levin also made one that was similar?

I'm really glad its not close to me.

 

[islandkent]

R8 spindle?
She's a beaut Clark! GREAT find!

 

[Dave455]

Hardinge make absolutely first class machines, and in my opinion the BB2V is the absolute best of it’s class. I would love to own one.

If you want a mill of that size you will always pay a premium. In the U.K. the Centec mills tend to be a popular choice, but they’re a notch up on the BB2V sizewise, and many have been used in a production environment.

The Hardinge is a toolroom machine and that’s often reflected in the condition. I have seen relatively few of these, and hardly ever available for sale.

The price asked is “all the money”, and if I wanted one I might have a bit of a haggle (he doesn’t say how many collets are included, and I’d want to check how well the rebuild has been done) but given the quality, rarity, and the fact that (in the U.K. at least) prices for small mills are soaring, I’d probably pay the man!

 

[matt_i]

It looks great but the lack of a quill is a big limiter. All Z-work has to be done with the knee.

There are beastly forms of the same design in the trees of Cincinnati and Kearney+Trecker and are quite rare, as they suffer from the same issues.

 

[DocsMachine]

R8 spindle?

-No, unfortunately. They take a rare and expensive 2VB collet, basically only ever use on BB2V mills. Which are themselves surprisingly rare. Basically if the machine doesn't come with them, you're looking at paying $200+ each from Hardinge, who have none in stock, but will make them for you.

They're a top-class compact mill, but as noted, the lack of a quill limits home-shop utility.

Doc.

 

[zeug]

Emailed the seller. A few collets and adapters come with it. He seems motivated. Says he's flexible on price. I wasn't looking to buy this mill, but thinking someone here might be interested. He sent a few more pics as well.

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[Maui]

The ad says it has a 5 hp motor, but the motor tag says 1 hp which is much more believable. To be outfitted completely this machine should come with a set of 19 collets. And as someone said above the collets are extremely expensive, so if it doesn’t have a complete set you will have to pony up a lot of $$ to make it complete. I think these same collets were also used on one of their smaller horizontal mills too. It’s a beautiful mill. And they are very hard to find. I wouldn’t be surprised if it sells close to his asking price.

Maui

 

[zeug]

To be outfitted completely this machine should come with a set of 19 collets.

I don't know much about these mini mills, but I would assume you wouldn't use as many collet sizes as a full size mill. Is a 1/2" shank about the limit for something this small?

 

[Rabid Badger]

I'm really glad its not close to me.

It's (reasonably) close to me but I just dropped $10k on a kitchen remodel.

 

[Maui]

I don’t remember what the largest diameter shank is that the collets will accept.

 

[Grant Gunderson]

That machine is beautiful. If it was within reasonable driving distance to me and had a full set of collets , It would be on my shop despite already having a fully restored Bridgeport. For certain jobs that machine is better than a full size mill.

 

[zeug]

Some additional info on the BBV2 at this website.

Looks like maximum collet size was 1/2".

 

[DocsMachine]

With a maximum capacity of 1/2" collets, you only need five of them: 1/8", 3/16", 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2". It'll be very rarely you'll ever find an endmill with an odd shank size.

If I had a chance at something like that but it had no collets, I'd probably do something like grab a Morse Taper 3 or 4 ER-20 or 25 holder. Machine the shank down to 2VB specs, and just use that. With a full set of ER collets, you can old pretty much any size- including drills.

Doc.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

They are neat little mills. I have a BB4, the horizontal version of that mill, which takes a 4c collet. It is in original paint and still has tags and markings from when it was used at Los Alamos. I did pass on a BB2v several years back when the timing was bad. If one popped up local it would be hard to pass up a second time. Same for a Hardinge TM/UM mill though.... Ed.