Just bought a milling machine! It's a sickness

[Tunajoe]

Ok, so I saw an ad on my local craigslist for a supermax milling machine. basically a Bridgeport clone. Called and set up an appointment to go see it.

No auto feed or DRO but for a beginner like me I'm hoping it I can learn on it.
I don't know a darn thing about milling machines but for the $400 I paid for it, I figure I can learn.

I would appreciate any information regarding this brand of mill, good or bad.

Thanks!

 

[Tunajoe]

More pictures.......

 

[Tunajoe]

For some reason I can only post one picture at a time....sorry

 

[Tunajoe]

One more pic....

 

[2oolhound]

You ****! unless it requires a lot of expensive repairs.

 

[Tunajoe]

Thanks!.......
Runs perfect. I just have to pick up a VFD to convert it to single phase. It's currently 3 phase.

 

[A_Pmech]

$400?

You did well!

 

[woody 73]

You did Fantastic, yes you **** I concur with the others well done

 

[383 240z]

Your going to go broke buying tooling for it. Ask me how I know!! Keith

 

[Farleyfan]

$400 He stole it. Great find!

 

[gtermini]

No power feed is a good thing when buying a used mill. It means the table has been run back and forth less times because it had to be done by hand, resulting most of the ime in less wear. Now you can add a feed on your own.

Check the lube system before out right away. Usually they have sucked a bunch of **** and the lines are plugged. It is reasonably simple to pull and clean them and your machine will thank you.

Greyson

 

[Packard V8]

That is beyond "you ****!" I've never, ever seen one in good operating condition for $400.

jack vines

 

[Gert]

That's a nice milling machine. And $400 is not much but like "383 240z" said - tooling will cost you $. But it's an investment in yourself and worth every cent - imagine what you can build in a couple of years. I suggest you ask someone with experience to teach you the basics as it's easier than learning by your own.
Also there's a gentleman on youtube that shows some milling basics:

Oh yea, you ****!

 

[oldtools]

You ****. That is an awesome deal. The metal alone is worth more than $400. Go to their website. Seem like they make high end machineries.

 

[theknurl]

That is beyond "you ****!" I've never, ever seen one in good operating condition for $400.

jack vines

Jack;
how about a good running Index base with a Bridgeport head, power feed, DRO, swivel vise, phase converter and delivered for $800?

the belt on the power feed was missing so it wasn't used

 

[BlindViper]

Jack;
how about a good running Index base with a Bridgeport head, power feed, DRO, swivel vise, phase converter and delivered for $800?

the belt on the power feed was missing so it wasn't used

u **** as well

 

[ddawg16]

That is not a 'you ****' award....that is a 'you **** to the max' award. That is about $2000 worth of milling machine....if not more....are you sure it's not stolen?

I would sell some of my **** to have that in my garage.....great score....

Your going to be just fine with those manual feeds....in fact, your actually better off especially in the learning phase....you will quickly learn about proper feed rates.

 

[LXCam]

Lol, that's gonna be the most expensive $400 you'll ever spend. Start watching useenco site and cl/eBay for stuff. Buy inexpensive cutters for now until you learn what works. And if you're in the IE area, you're more then welcome to come hang out on a weekend as I'm usually making some kind of chips.

 

[Letsgobowhunting]

I had a VFD on my BP and just replaced it with a static phase converter. I like it better as it has more torque than before. Either way it will set you back $100-$200 to get running on single phase. Super max is a good machine.

 

[Gokart]

You shouldn't loss any torque using a vfd as a phase converter, one of the advantages of a vfd is that you have 100% torque at and speed (0-60 hz)

 

[rsanter]

holy ****, I would have driven down there to get that for $400

the bad news is that you are so screwed....you will now want to buy $4000 worth of tooling...a lathe.....more tooling......another lathe......

bob

 

[Steevo]

Congratulations on a great deal and a fine piece of machinery.
Welcome to the world of milling. Now the expensive part starts.

Start watching auctions for end mills, vises, collets, edge finders, indicators, etc.

 

[tool_scrounge]

YCI made pretty nice bridgeport clones. Congratulations!

 

[JoeFin]

Its still just a mild case - there are treatment options for you before you become terminally addicted

Might want to nip it in the bud now before its too late my friend

 

[Tunajoe]

Thanks guys for all the nice comments.
And LXCam, I'm in the Ventura area. So IE is a bit far, but I appreciate the offer!
Here are a few pics of the transport of it. My good buddy and mentor brought over his forklift and offloaded it.

The funny thing is, the machine shop owner only paid $250 for it. They make oil rig equipment and the shop was chocked full of very large lathes. They had 2 older mills.
They said they didn't use the one I bought and had no room to store it.
I believe it too.
As I said, there wasn't a square inch of room in the shop.

 

[Tunajoe]

Anyone know where the best prices are for a VFD? Ebay?

 

[WWIIjeep]

Anyone know where the best prices are for a VFD? Ebay?

I'd suggest considering reliability and good technical support over best price (read the reviews):

http://www.automationdirect.com/adc...z-_460_-z-_575_VAC)/GS2-22P0?showReviews=true

They may even have some of the better available prices.

Another brand to consider if you don't like that one is TECO.

FWIW, in case you didn't see my post in your other Supermax thread, since I posted it late, I've had a Supermax variable speed model (Bridgeport 2J equivalent) for a long time and have been very happy with it, despite having paid a LOT more than you did for yours.

 

[Letsgobowhunting]

You shouldn't loss any torque using a vfd as a phase converter, one of the advantages of a vfd is that you have 100% torque at and speed (0-60 hz)

Not the case here. I have a step pulley J head and I hade to change the belt to keep the rpm in the range or I could stall the machine. It was an old VFD which may have contributed to the situation too. The static phase converter is simple to hook up. I did have to have the motor changed from 480 over to 240. That was simple and cost me a box of donuts.

 

[Letsgobowhunting]

It looks like it came with a slotting attachment on the back of the ram and a vise too. If that's the case you could sell the slotting head and have little to now money invested.

 

[JoeFin]

You might also consider building a RPC to generate your 3rd leg. Cheaper then a descent VFD and can be sized to run multiple machines.

Folks over at PM forum have some of the best info for them I've seen

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/transformers-phase-converters-vfd/

 

[WWIIjeep]

It was an old VFD which may have contributed to the situation too. The static phase converter is simple to hook up. I did have to have the motor changed from 480 over to 240.

Sounds like something was wrong with your VFD, age or programming or otherwise. VFDs are capable of providing power conversion with practically no loss. Static phase converters are, at best, 60% efficient, or barely more than half the rated horsepower.

It looks like it came with a slotting attachment on the back of the ram and a vise too. If that's the case you could sell the slotting head and have little to now money invested.

The photo of the Supermax with the OEM Bridgeport vise and slotting head is mine, not the OP's, and they came off the Bridgeport BRJ I had before I bought the Supermax.

 

[gyromike]

$400?

Yep. You ****.

I use a SuperMax mill at my part time job, except it's variable speed (+ Newall DRO and powerfeed).

SuperMax still supports the older machines too. I had to do some work on ours and was able to get all the parts I needed and was helped by an older gentleman there who worked mostly on the older manual equipment. I'll see if I can dig up his info in case you need something.

 

[Tunajoe]

I'd suggest considering reliability and good technical support over best price (read the reviews):

http://www.automationdirect.com/adc...z-_460_-z-_575_VAC)/GS2-22P0?showReviews=true

They may even have some of the better available prices.

Another brand to consider if you don't like that one is TECO.

FWIW, in case you didn't see my post in your other Supermax thread, since I posted it late, I've had a Supermax variable speed model (Bridgeport 2J equivalent) for a long time and have been very happy with it, despite having paid a LOT more than you did for yours.

What year is your Supermax WWJeep?
Have you had any luck obtaining an owner's manual?
I have to rewire mine to 220v and when I got home, I found a wiring harness inside the base.

$400?

Yep. You ****.

I use a SuperMax mill at my part time job, except it's variable speed (+ Newall DRO and powerfeed).

SuperMax still supports the older machines too. I had to do some work on ours and was able to get all the parts I needed and was helped by an older gentleman there who worked mostly on the older manual equipment. I'll see if I can dig up his info in case you need something.

That would be great! I'd love to have any info you could come across.
Thank you!

 

[Letsgobowhunting]

Rewiring to 220/240 is easy. The wires are numbered and you have to switch which onew they go to. I didn't do mine but it is easy to do. PM would be the place to go for instructions.

 

[WWIIjeep]

What year is your Supermax WWJeep?

1983

Have you had any luck obtaining an owner's manual?

I had the original owner's manual and parts list that came with it, but it got lost in one of the four moves the machine has made in the past thirty years, so if gyromike has some contact information for service and parts, I'd like to know too.

I have to rewire mine to 220v and when I got home, I found a wiring harness inside the base.

I don't recall any wiring in the base. The wiring you'll need to change is in the junction box on the motor itself, and there should be a wiring diagram right on the motor plate showing the connections for different voltages.