Latest restoration aid ?

[Mike K]

I picked up this old Parkson Milling machine , made in Yorkshire , circa 1939 to late 40's . The ID tag on it " Dept. of Supply " Maybe a wartime import ?

It came with a dividing head and milling vice . The rust is only surface and will clean off easily ,

[David Herbert]

Nice find and good to have the dividing head with it. If you are into old machine tools try looking at www.lathes.co.uk . I have no connection to the guy who runs it but it is a great resorce though his main focus is lathes. He was primarily a model engineer but got interested in the huge variety of pre war machine tools that still surface from time to time.

David

[Mike K]

hi David

I am no machinist but I get buy .

Yes Tony@lathes.uk is a great web site ..he must be a fanatic to have done all of that research.

I cleaned up the old Parkson a bit . It has power feeds on XYZ axis and a suds pump too . A clutch as well . A bargain price !

[T Creighton]

Hi Mike,
You have sure got it cleaned up nicely. Do you have a good 3 phase supply to run it.
It looks a bit like the one we had at in our high school workshop.
Those days are long gone.
The school would get outside work to do as not many had a milling machine in town. Good practice for us boys under expert supervision.
Cheers, Terry

[Mike K]

Ah high school metalwork shop..don't remind me .

No 3 phase here , the dairy farms use 2 phase 480Volts around here .

The easy way out , is to buy a cheap VFD on EBAY . The VFD devices convert single phase 240v to 3 phase 240V . You just have to wire the 3 phase motor in delta mode, in order to maximise the power output . The most popular brand VFD is HUANYANG ... the VFD has a microprocessor inside and you can program them to do just about anything , ramp up/down , vary the motor speed and much more . 3 phase motors , run smoother, are simple and reliable.