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I Forge Iron

Nichols mill


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I recently came across this funky horizontal mill. Yet another project. I did buy a collet set for it, but have yet to put power to the little guy. It is a " hand miller" in that the x axis is controlled through a rack gear rather than a screw. I have never used one of these and may just convert to screw feed (there are instructions in the manual and on several user groups online) no real question on it though if anyone has experience with one I would be curious to hear thoughts on the rack feed vs screw feed. 

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Wow. Looks like about 600# of iron, et al.  Not many folks have a home shop application for a horizontal machine, although, if I had the space, I could find projects for it... 

Having a bit of brain fade:  Is the x axis the left to right horizontal axis? I see that hole on the left through which the the feed screw shaft would normally exit...

I will wager that the rack probably gives good feedback whilst pushing material through a wheel cutter - I cherish the thought of it.  Hope it satisfies.

Oh, and what type of collets?

Robert Taylor

 

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Er-32 collets. Cat 40 tools fit the nmtb 40 spindle, which is convenient since cnc machines are pretty common now. There are lots of surplus tool holders on the market. I had to fabricate a drawbar as this machine uses an oddball arbor with 7/16 rather than 5/8 threads. They were originally sold with one of each.

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