Vintage Mill

[Helipilot]

Looked at a Gordon 9C mill today, in mint condition with a ton of tooling. 240v,3 phase, xyz movement on the head with auto feed on the table. weighs 3,860 pounds and the guy wants $600. It was built and used by the government during WW2 and still has all the data plates. I really think I want it but want to check with the brain trust on this forum since I don't know about the Gordon brand. I am familiar with Bridgeport but not Gordon. What do you guys think.

I don't really need a mill but for those small jobs I occasionally do, this would be great.

 

[John in OH]

I love machine tools!! The Gordon name sounds familiar, but I can't recall any details. Is this the type of mill one where the head rotates such that it can be used as either a vertical mill (like a Bridgeport) or used as a horizontal mill? The Van Normans did this and they were great!!

In any case, if it's in decent condition and has adequate tooling, $600 sounds like a most reasonable price. But, what you don't want is a mill with no tooling!! Don't know, but a Gordon may require tapers or sizes that could be very difficult and expensive to find!

 

[zkling]

Are you sure on the make and model? Could it be a Gorton 9J, that is a real common vertical mill? Do you have a picture or the link? Either which if it is in good condition and well tooled the price sounds good. Just have to figure the 3 phase out, but that wouldn't be to challenging.

 

[larry_g]

First of all it is Gorton . Gorton was one of the big players in the machine tool industry last century. As with any machine tool condition and accessories make the price. For $600 I would definitely consider it.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[DocsMachine]

Damn near everything you need to know about Gorton tools: Gorton Machine Archive.

A 9J is a fairly hefty machine, all things considered. It has it's quirks, though, the main one being it'll probably have a B&S taper spindle. It's not impossible to get collets and holders, but it's also nowhere near as common as the ubiquitous R-8 or even a Morse taper.

As always, condition matters. Give it a good looking over, and try it under power if at all possible. If nothing's broken and doesn't have significant wear, $600 is a deal.

Doc.

 

[justanengineer]

+1 on Gortons being dam nice, and some of them extremely interesting, mills.

 

[Helipilot]

Sorry for the mis-spelling. It is a Gorton, 1940's era, has at least 25 tapered collets and a box full of other tooling including bits, mills, etc. I have a line on a rotary converter, about 500 bucks that will run it. Thanks for the link to the Gorton information and thanks for the input guys.

 

[Helipilot]

I did power up the unit and ran it through a couple of passes in some material. No problems, and it has at least 25 collets and tapered inserts as well a large box of end mills, bits, and a lot of other items. Again, thanks for the information.

 

[oldldh]

This says it all!!!

 

[Helipilot]

I will post some for your review. I may have some time to go and get the pics and post them tomorrow.