The old mill/drill vs small knee mill dilemma!

[danlb]

I wish you good luck. I own a slightly older version. The base might be a challenge. It's 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick cast iron. Mine measures 25 deep, 18 wide and 44 inches up to the bottom of the turret. I moved mine intact, but I cheated by having two friends help. Mine is in a two car garage, so I did not have to disassemble anything to get it in.

Dan

[ammcoman2]

I have the same one - about 15years old. It has a Shooting Star DRO and there has been not a single problem using it so far. When we moved to our current house I separated the base from the column to get it down the basement stairs which the movers did with much grunting. I did all the other items.

It appears that the motor is 3 phase much like mine. I got a Teco-Westinghouse VFD and haven't looked back since.

Enjoy.

Geoff

[BCRider]

That's pretty well the same thing I got from Busy Bee a few years ago on sale for $3200. Yours looks darn near in new condition so for our part of the world I'd say you made out well.

No DRO's so I can't recommend anything for you. Sorry on that.

Did you get anything with it or is it just the basic machine?

[dian]

i like the stout goose neck. these are hard to come by.

[Robg]

A quick fyi, I’m in Alberta Canada and have had the Busy Bee mill for 6 - 8 years now and have been quite pleased with it. I thought about a larger used machine but have limited space for my machines & the question of how beat the used machine might be. Belt changes are a hassle but am thinking about fitting a 220 3 phase motor with a VFD. I have the motor but haven’t gotten around to the rest. I just leave it at one speed which generally works well. Mine doesn’t have a reverse which would be very nice. The best thing you can do for any mill is put on a digital readout at least on the X & Y axis which I did (also Z on mine). It runs nice and quiet.

[gellfex]

It appears that the motor is 3 phase much like mine. I got a Teco-Westinghouse VFD and haven't looked back since.

I thought it looked 3-Ph but I'm not expert. Lucky if it is! I've had a VFD for years on mine, in fact just changed it to one easier to externally wire. It was like $130 for a 2hp and super easy to wire. Top 3 mods are power feed, VFD and DRO. I just have a DRO on my quill. Here you can see the simple caliper holder I made for a quill DRO, and the handy controls for the drive. I did not choose to put the speed pot on the front of the mill.

[mattthemuppet]

congrats, you'll have a lot of fun with that!

[140mower]

Well, did you manage it down the stairs? Or did it manage you down the stairs? Inquiring minds want to know...... LOL

[Pfowler67]

Well, it's in the shop ok, still in pieces, but it's in!

Took the heavy beast apart into four pieces; column/base, head, table and knee - all came apart very easily to my relief. Rented a 4foot mechanical 'Genie' fork lift to lift the column and base into the van, then out again and onto a wooden sled I made to get it down the steps. The steps here are wooden sleepers set into the hill at the front of our place. Thankfully, the sled had enough friction on the steps to prevent a total toboggan-like disaster, so we could quite easily slide it without any worry at all. Phew! Then we used the lift again at the bottom to dolly the machine inside and through all the doorways. It now rests in the four pieces in my shop while I source some nice way oil and am able to spend a bit of time cleaning and reassembling. Then I'll get round to installing a 3axis DRO. I will leave the machine in its single phase state for now I think, then maybe one day I will think about a VFD. No plans yet though.

I'm so happy I found this machine. It really does seem to have not been used very much at all. A very lucky find indeed.

[Pfowler67]

PS, It's a KBC machine, made in 1994.

[nickel-city-fab]

Wow -- looks like you did good! Congrats!

[danlb]

Looks like you did it just right. Good luck with the re-assembly. I'd love to hear how it goes.

Dan

[Doozer]

Pfowler-

Wow, I'd say you did very good ! ! !
You are going to love it.
May I recommend a 5" Kurt vise ?
The 5" seems the perfect size for these mills.
Happy for you.

-Doozer

[Pfowler67]

Thanks! I'll definitely be sure to let you all know how the rebuild goes. Nice way oil and adjustable feet are on their way!

[old mart]

What a beaut, as the Aussies would say, I would say what a nice machine, congratulations, but i'm a limey.