Sheldon Mill

[Tim Clarke]

So, my buddy delivered a Sheldon mill here yesterday, gratis. Looks like it's pretty much all there except the base.

I checked out Tony's archive, and sure enough there's a little info there. Seems like that it was the Vernon mill before Sheldon. Mine looks like the drive may be a little different.

So, anyone have one, and what do you think of it??

Looks like I'll need to rebuild it, so it'll be a long term project.

TC

[gzig5]

I've got one and like it a lot, though I haven't used it too much due to time constraints. Mine is fairly early and has the single slot table. I think there is a manual available for download over on the PM site. Search the Manuals section for Sheldon. Let me know if you can't find it or you need help


Greg

[Greg Menke]

I had one for a while- it the #0 toolroom model IIRC, which featured a 2 speed motor, variable pulley trans in the base and no backgear and no power feed. It was a nicely made little machine but the z axis didn't have the range I needed so I traded it.

The biggest problem was finding arbors, I never did track any down while I had the machine and the old ones were a mess. Somebody sells new BS#9 arbors (imported), I think its Grand Tool IIRC- that name can't be complete but its all I remember.

Take care with the BS#9 taper- at one point an arbor jammed so tightly that a full spindle disassembly was required to set up a jig that would pull hard enough to get it out. No apparent burrs or faults in the respective tapers, our theory was that I socked the drawbar in too tight with a warm spindle and shrunk-fit the arbor into it.

Greg

[laddy]

I have a sheldon/Vernon vertical jig borer that is my milling machine. I have had it for about three years. I like it. Fred

[pcarpenter]

I had one. I scrounged it when it was being pitched, but given that I had another horizontal mill, I gave it to my father. Last I was there, it was still separated in sub-assemblies which we had to do to get it in his enclosed cargo trailer for transport. I had in my head that I might make an R-8 or perhaps NMTB 30 spindle for it, but was later able to find the original BS9 spindle in a 1" size. That's the trouble with these mills, by the way. Reasonably, you may want arbors in 1" and 1-1/4" to accomodate using used cutters that you find. Often the mill will only have one arbor and you could spend as much on another arbor as the mill is worth if you had to buy one new. I would guess that you could machine your own, but they are typically ground to keep them really accurate.

It seems to be a nice machine. I get the impression that Sheldon was no slouch among machine tool makers although they seemed to only have made smaller stuff. I still have a 12" Sheldon shaper and I labored over which mill to give up since the mill and shaper might have made a nice pair. The Sheldon horizontal (the older design like I had) has a very small footprint in spite of being floor-standing. I can't imagine you could mount an Atlas mill on a base of any sort and use up any less space.

I have an electronic copy of at least one manual. It's out there somewhere (maybe the manual section at Practical Machinist). If you don't find it, let me know and I would be happy to email it to you. Little info other than the exploded views, but even that is worth something.

paul

[ttok]

There is a Sheldon Yahoo group which will be a big help to you. John Knox on that group used to work for Sheldon and has helped many people with their machines. They also have manuals on line. A.T.

[Rich Carlstedt]

The mill was originally a Diamond (LA) made during the war (WWII)
then the line was sold to Vernon, who made few changes.
Vernon also had a jig borer, which is a totally different machine from the horizontal mill.
Sheldon bought out the line in the 50's or 60's from what I was told.
Sheldon made big changes to the drive and power feed area's

It is a nice Heavy Duty Mill
I had 2 Diamonds at one time.
Rich

Grand Tool in New Jersey does have #9 arbors
Wholesale Tool of Detroit or Texas, also had a full line at one time

[laddy]

Hey,
The jig borer and mill can be seen here
http://www.lathes.co.uk/vernon/img0.gif
Hope this link works but I don't see a hyperlink.....Help!!!! It is a great machine and very overbuilt. If the lathe is like this you have got a great monster on your hands. good luck with it Fred