Sharp mk2 by Town Bent Engineering

I know some of you have Sharp mk2 milling machines made by Town Bent Engineering.

Having cleaned and got my new purchase running, I now want to set it up and test it.

It appears to me that the only way of locking the head in its vertical position is by knocking its tapered pin in to lock the head to the body and then clamping up the split body clamps onto the main support shaft. On mine the tapered pin has a depth nut and a black knob on it which on the right hand side of the head.

Am I right in thinking that once that tapered pin is home the head is set and trammed to the table.

I can see no other ways of locking head.

I ask as my milling table seems to have a small lean to the right of vertical.

Help please!

Roger.

I would put a test indicator in the vertical spindle and check it in 4 positions to make sure it is true to the bed.

I’’;f you have one, use a parallel on the mill bed rather than run it across the tee slots or you might ruin the test indicator.

I don’t have one of these mills but suggest the locking not is actually used to extract the taper pin.

Please ignore the funny start to that sentence. I do check but iPad and spell checker combine to mess it up.

As David says, the nut is used to extract the taper pin. I gently tap mine home. The tram can be adjusted if necessary with shims at the column split. I've had a small piece in mine for the last thirty years.

HTH,

Rod

Edited By Roderick Jenkins on 18/03/2022 18:36:02

Thanks for your reply.

I have done the dti check that's how I know the bed isn't true to the vertical head.

Unlike other mills, the sharp mk2 doesn't have an adjustable system with locking bolts.

It just has this locating pin system.

Hence my request for help from other Sharp Mk2 users.

I don't want to touch the bed until I know the head locking system is correct.

Roger.

Thanks Rod.

I didn't think of that shim idea.

So in short - the tapered pin does locate the head and stop it moving.

I looks to me as if the table has been badly stoned as it has low spots in places and high stops in others.

Your shim idea wouldn't sort that out but would improve the over all level.

Thanks

Roger

Roger how do you know that your table has a small lean to the right of vertical, do you really mean that when you fox the vertical head in position with the tapered dowel it doesn’t tram square. Why don’t you tap the head square with the table and re-ream the taper pin hole, it will then be true.

As the mill has a round tube that the head rotates on. I would suggest that you could add a loose clamp to the round tube. The collar could be bored to fit the round tube, use a split collar if you don’t want to dismantle the mill.

The collar should be round with two legs going down like an inverted U with the curved part of the U as the collar. Each leg should be drilled and tapped through so it rests on the left and right of the column. To use, unlock the U clamp so it does not stop the head tube from rotating.

Tilt the head to approximately the required angle and lock the collar on the head tube. Now using the adjusting screws you can set the angle by using a test indicator on a sine bar.

To reset the head, loosen the U clamp and straighten the head up. Lock the clamp and you can now adjust the side screws to set the head into position. Fit the pin, job done. With the U clamp left in place it will also stop the head slipping while milling. For belt and braces, make two clamps and put one each end of the round tube.

I know this might seem complicated but this is the way I would do it if I had one of these mills. It would also suit a Tom senior light vertical.

There are several photos on lathes.co.uK including a nice full colour one showing the head without any guards on.

I know this is off topic from the original post but it is a solution that would work to set the head true.

I hope someone finds it useful?

Hello Roger,

Here's another method I favour to tram a vertical head mill.

You do need a lathe faceplate, or the catch plate that you can mount on the nose. Lower the quill to make the faceplate contact the table and you should then be able to check the tram in two directions at once without the difficulties of peering round the back of the DTI.

Can't reach the table? Bolt two angle plates together so that the upper one forms a 'roof' rather like a bus shelter

Quick and easy and I think a great deal better than the devices that hold two DTIs on the ends of a beam

Regards Brian

I've been considering one of these myself for the occasional, light model engineering work I’d require of it.
The size and interoperability with my existing Myford tooling are the main appeals, given it gets favourable reports by owners.

The one I’m considering at the moment is a Mk2 (I haven’t really heard any mention of the Mk1 though to be honest!) However some picture have a front and rear greasing nipple on the side for the bearings on the horizontal shaft whereas some photos show a single, central nipple. Does anyone happen to know if these differences signify earlier or later versions - perhaps the earlier or Mk1 models had a single nipple whilst the Mk2 had a pair? Logic would suggest a greasing point on each bearing would be an improvement which was made?

Rod - I'd be very interested to see some more photos of yours, including the 3-axis DRO if you ever get the time? That must make a decent machine into a real little gem.

Kind regards

Darren

Plenty of pictures and info on Lathes UK website. Never seen a mark 1 but have heard that they were a total disaster, the mark 2 however is a beautiful little mill, options included cabinet stand, power feed with three selectable feed speeds and a slotting head. Only minus point is that there is no quill downfeed, all drilling has to be done by winding up the knee. I have no idea how many were made but not very many appear on the second hand market.

Cheers Baz. Yes, Tony's site was my first port of call.

In fact, although there's no mention of the differences regarding the horizontal shaft lubrication, there are pictures of both types on there. I'd be interested to know if Mk2 owners all have the twin lubrication points on their machines. Perhaps it is a differentiator after all!

They do seem fairly few and far between - there are precious few images outside of the lathes.co.uk site and only 2 videos of them that I've managed to find.

Edited By Darren Elmslie on 10/01/2023 21:27:31

Here's a random selection of photos of the mill taken from my various albums. I bought mine new from Town Bent and included the slotter and power feed. I have changed the drive to VFD with 2 pulley speeds which eliminates the rather noisy intermediate pulley. The DRO was fitted a few years ago and I had to sacrifice the stops on the X axis to fit the scale. Any more details that you need let me know and I'll take some more relevant photos.

Cheers,

Rod

Brilliant, Cheers Rod, much obliged. Looks as though yours also has the fore-and-aft grease points.

Like the work light additions you've made to it

Darren.

Just just come in from the workshop and remembered your post so had a look at my Sharp mk2 number 616, it has two nipples on the horizontal spindle. If Rod’s was the first and mine the last going by serial numbers they must have made at least 100 !

Thanks for checking Baz!

Interesting. I'm beginning to suspect it was the Mk1s which had the single nipple for the horizontal spindle. I'm pretty sure the only picture I've seen of that type is on the lathes.co.uk site - none anywhere else so they're certainly the rarer type of what's a fairly rare machine to start with

I've dropped Tony a line to see if he can shed any light. If I hear anything useful I'll pop it in the thread.

Hi Baz,

Do you use oil or grease? I just give a few pumps of oil from my Myford gun. I don't recall any sophisticated route for getting grease into the bearings.

Regards,

Rod

I have a vague recollection that the Sharp machine was originally available as a set of castings.

Rod

Darren if you look on Myford-lathes.com site under milling machines, half way down the page you will see a re- painted example with only one nipple, possibly a mark 1

Rod, it’s funny you say that, I also seem to remember something about them being casting sets, to be honest they are very basic construction, ideal for a model engineer to make. I know they used to sell a rotary table as a kit of castings. Will whip a nipple out tomorrow and see what’s behind it, grease or oil, I have never lubricated it since I purchased it. It used to belong to a deceased Basingstoke club member and when he died found its way to Home and Workshop, I purchased it from Steve Holder at an Ally Pally exhibition, the horizontal had never been used, all gunged up in that preserving grease, strangely since I have had it I have never used the vertical head, it has been permanently set up as a horizontal mill