Member postings for Tony Zuiderwyk

Ian, thanks for the excellent suggestion to build the arbor in two pieces. It would generate a lot of swarf to make it out of one long lump of material. You are correct on your other point too, it does not have to be full length for the application I have in mind.

I grizzle about the rare spindle taper, but the machine came with 3 arbors (7/8", 1" and 1 1/4", so I really shouldn't complain. I'd like a 22mm dia arbor to fit my gear cutters (of which I have a fair number), and then a little further down the priority list would be an arbor to fit some collets etc. In truth, I can get around all of this on the vertical mill....but you know what it's like...the challenge of making tools to extend the use and range of the machines is strong.

It has been an interesting discussion about these fine old machines and their wartime tapers.

Thank again for your input. Cheers, Tony

Tim, thanks so much for keeping on the case! I agree, the 1AD is a great machine and beats a good many Asian machines I have used. I like your suggestions; the adaptor to take a 30 INT is certainly worth a try; I've noted the BT35 being available (often found on CNC machines), but was unsure if I could get them to fit, so I haven't invested in one to play with. A third alternative is to cut an arbor from a blank of steel....bit of a job, but if you want a full length arbor (and I'd like one to take my 22mm ID gear cutters; they just don't fit on my 7/8 arbor) you may have no choice. I have found a lump of 4140 60mm dia the right length....on the 'to do' list. I'll post up some pictures when I get it done. Cheers, Tony

Finally worked out how to include photos with the post. So, this is the taper on the arbor. I've also included a sketch of the dimensions - these are 'as measured' so will be near but not exact, for example, the angle is most likely to be 16.59, indicating that it is a standard 3.5" in 12" taper.

Interesting to hear about the 1 3/8 taper. Wartime standard, could have easily found its way into a machine in 1949 I suppose.

I'm in Melbourne. The taper on the machine is definitely of the NT (or NMTB if you prefer) form. I gather that a BT taper can fit an NT spindle, with some changes to the draw bar (not a big deal). I was after some positive confirmation from someone who had one of these machines, that the spindle is indeed NT35. I have looked high and low, but have not found any standards listing the dimensions for a NT35 (yes, I can find details for the BT35).

Ideally, I need an arbor for the machine that will take 22mm metric bore milling cutters. I doubt one exists on the planet, so I'll make one. In addition, if I can find a taper shank that will hold an ER collet (say, ER32), I'd be happy to have one; I suspect this will have to be a modified BT35 from the CNC world. (supply/demand seems to put the price of a BT35 much higher than the more common 30's and 40's).

Thanks. Expensive stuff.....BT35 and NT35 seem to exist, but not common. I will have to turn up what I need. Another project on the 'to do' list....or I'll just resort to the Chinese vertical mill for when I use the metric bore tooling (and in particular the involute gear cutters).

Still not 100% sure if that is what A&S built into this mill. I thought perhaps someone in the UK might have some experience with these vintage mills and be able to confirm.

I recently purchased an Adcock & Shipley horizontal milling machine, model 1AD, built in 1949, in Leicester. It has made it all the way to Australia, and despite its age, it is still going strong and I am very happy to have it. My question: the spindle taper looks very much like an American National Standard, but it is too big for an NT30 and too small for a NT40. I measured the taper at 3.5" per foot, which is consistent with the NT series. The small end of the tapered section is 20mm dia, the large end is 35mm, over a distance of 50mm. I have heard that there was a brief period where an NT35 was part of the standards. Could this be a rare example of the 35 before it was discontinued? This is a fine machine and I am lucky enough to have arbors for 7/8, 1 and 1 1/4 inch milling cutters. I've been unsuccessful in finding any other tooling to fit the spindle taper - it looks like I will have to make arbors for my metric bore tooling. Any help or suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tony

There I was reading MEW254 'an emergency repair' and there lurking on the bottom of page 23 - shock, horror, the Vertex HV6 table has errors! I've had my HV6 for many years and mainly use it for cutting gears on the mill. Obviously I have been lucky and haven't needed one of the teeth counts with an error. Cutting gears like this is laborious and an error is costly in time and rework effort. So, let me thank everyone who has contributed to rectifying this. I have dutifully downloaded the PDF and Excel files.

The old saying 'measure twice, cut once' applies. It pays to double check the calculations. It pays to read MEW too!

I will check the OEM table on my HV8 now.

Thanks again, Tony