Trident vertical milling machine restoration

On my quest to find a vertical milling machine i will hopefully be having this delivered on saturday .

this is what it should look like...

and this is the machine itself.....

Edited By Mark Prickett 2 on 15/03/2016 16:58:34

Ten minutes with Photoshop should do the trick

MichaelG.

Definitely looks worth the effort, even if you have to do it the hard way, Mark

MichaelG.

That looks a useful machine, what sort of size is it ? Looks a smaller footprint than my Bridgeport but pictures are deceiving.

Nice looking chunk of cast iron that plus timken roller bearings. Some of the old millers about use plain ones = tough to replace.

That one is more like my dream machine if I had real workshop. There have been a few on ebay lately. The type a die sinker might use. I noticed what you have probably paid for yours (well done) while looking for a machine with a name that I hadn't heard of before and liked the look of. - gate jarocin - a pipe dream for me though. Totally OTT too but .............

John

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"The type a die sinker might use" I spent most of my working life as a "Die Miller" The rest working spark erosion machines where the die milling skills where needed to produce the electrodes.

This is the type I mean. A real vert. miller and OTT for home use unless I went into drop forge die sinking.

**LINK**

There has been several machine of this general type and shape of late. Guess it might be down to spark erosion.

I stuck a photo of it here for posterity

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48994619@N08/?

John

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Edited By Ajohnw on 15/03/2016 23:30:33

Edited By Ajohnw on 15/03/2016 23:42:02

Looks like im going to have to strip this to move it as access is a pain to say the least, engine crane , combo van and estate car it is then !

im thinking take the head off, the table and the knee?

how do we think these are all attached?

wish me luck people!

Looks very nice , ive been after a decent mill for years but i have no idea how i would get it into my workshop in the back garden down a narrow path with steps up and down and no driveway..

Its a shame when you can often pick them up very cheap.

I was considering this Arno mill only a few miles from me but the weight put me off!

Edited By mark smith 20 on 18/03/2016 10:02:07

Edited By mark smith 20 on 18/03/2016 10:02:45

Good luck, a nice looking bit of kit, I only found a single entry in my database for Trident gear from June 1958

MADE IN GERMANY '2
SIR,—~—I have recently purchased
second-hand a 6% in. Trident lathe No
22033/17, manufactured by or for
B. Elliot and Co., Willesden. I have
written to this firm for any informa-
tion regarding the lathe--date of
manufacture, spares situation, etc.,
and they have replied that they could
not tell me when it was built and also
that they had no spares.
Perhaps some of your readers may
know something of these machines,
and also whether anyone has any
spare gears for the gearbox in the
headstock pedestal—-they appear to be
module system gears. The shafts are
dimensioned in millimetres which
seems to point to German manu-
facture for B. Elliot, but all threads
are Whitworth! Can anyone help
me, please ‘?

I don't know about post WW2, but before the mid 1930s Whitworth was the normal thread used in German machinery, I found that when working on Lanz Bulldog tractors.

Ian S C

Contact the army or similar and tell them you have a challenge for one of their larger helicopters.

Reminds me of a machine being developed that after it was built couldn't be got out of the building. A director oddly known as Bomber Harris said no problem I will get the army in to remove a section of roof and we will air lift it out. As it turned out the machine couldn't be used in practice so I have no idea what happened to it might still be there. The engineer in charge must have spent 8 years working on it with pretty obvious flaws even with the concept yet was still promoted to a very high position afterwards. One of his designs also set fire to a factory.

John

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There is another interesting universal on ebay. I would wonder about these using plain bearings and it's probably pre ww2

**LINK**

Looks like it may have the end support for the horizontal arbour but if that is what's in the box it might be a bit small.

John

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"Contact the army or similar and tell them you have a challenge for one of their larger helicopters."

Yes, well mmm?!

Story from times past, possibly apocryphal ...

One of our 'sister' S&R flights was based on an ex WW2 airfield which retained the reinforced blast walls of the time. The operational Standby aircraft (Whirlwinds) were parked in these areas and had had rotor start-up problems (blade-sailing) in windy conditions. Local permission was granted to get 'Works and Bricks' to remove the walls. Local Boss had a whizz idea - get the local TA chaps to blow them up as a training exercise - they were obviously good with noise makers and stuff!! Duly arranged and LB asked TA Chief if they wanted aircraft moved during exercise. Not necessary, says TA Chief

Holes drilled in walls, explosives inserted, packing to complete etc. , retire to safe distance, BANG!! ... Wall remains intact, S&R Standby aircraft, now with broken oleo, mucho collapso

It WAS a long time ago and nobody would do such a thing nowadays, would they??

rgds

Bill

well here she is home , took longer than expected and a lot heavier than expected !

without an engine crane we wouldent have moved it at all!

cant find anything wrong with it yet other than a few oil leaks which are easy fixes.

some slight backlash which is to be expected with a machine of this age .

has lots of coats of paint on , in some areas 5mm thick!

does anyone know what colour this would have been from new?

Edited By Mark Prickett 2 on 22/03/2016 20:26:12

Congratulations!

Looks like a good piece of kit to have. If the original pictures of the miller are anything to go by then the table looked in excellent condition. No obvious dings or other damage, so it has been well looked after. Things like slideways etc can always be fettled, but those generation of machines were built to last. As long as no cracks etc then all it should need is some TLC and it will run for another 50 or so years!

Nobody took the Thiel I linked to on. Given space it would tempt me - changing to horizontal isn't a back breaking job. It is on some.

John

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Looks like a very nice bit of kit.

An archeological dig to the bottom of that 5mm of paint might reveal the original color.