Hi, ran across one of these on ebay and thought it was cool. SOUTHWESTERN INDUSTRIES-TRAK BED MILL . Looks like it has counterbalance for the Z axis. Six bolts holding the column to the base. These are still in production. Anyway have a good one. Dave

That same basic Taiwanese frame is available in at least (2) versions and sold with about 6 kajillion brand names. It appears to be quite sturdy and it is Z counterbalance weighted. I believe it can be purchased as a machined frame as well. I saw it on the web somewhere, don't remember where though.

add. aka Taiwan BM-1357T Bed Type Mill

Thanks for the info. I thought it looked like a R45 clone- IH mill on steroids and the taiwan origin explains the family resemblance. I like the looks of the design better than the 70 year old bridgeport kneemill designs. Dave

Thanks for the info. I thought it looked like a R45 clone- IH mill on steroids and the taiwan origin explains the family resemblance. I like the looks of the design better than the 70 year old bridgeport kneemill designs. Dave

Interesting the way they mounted a Bridgie-clone head on it though. I wonder how long before that gets tried when someone finds a cheap head on eBay?

Very solid looking mill.

Best,

BW

Looks like one of these
http://www.industrialsurplus.com/photos/078-421_3.jpg
this one's going for $3500 and weighs an equal amount. Yeeow.

Not seeing much in the way of a counter balance though. Power head elevation, power X, one shot lube and Mehanite castings.
Can't be all bad, eh?

http://www.industrialsurplus.com/photos/078-421_4.jpg

I just bought one of those just like the white one with a 3 axis CNC conversion (inop centroid from 1992) 2 days after I sold my IH mill.

For $100 more than I got for my IH...

The IH was working though. New one isn't, but the iron is in great shape.
Z isn't counter balanced, but it has a power assist. The CNC z axis was on the quill, but not anymore. New CNC will be on the column with similiar counter balance to the Trak machine.

servo also makes one just like the southwestern,these are great machines,i was lucky to trip over a great deal on one,$500 bucks cash,all i had to do was remove the motors,boards and control for the guy for spares for his other machine,he was going to scrap it so i got it for a steal,has large ground ball screws,40 taper 7 horse spindle,the y axis is big box ways,very sturdy machine,they come with 1800 oz/in steppers with encoders,since im starting from scratch i picked up electro craft 1100 oz in servos to retrofit on,when i start ill post some pics,the z axis is box ways as well,the x is dovetail,has huge travels,31 x,16 y,16 z

QSIMDO's machine looks like a bench machine miniature of the BM-1357T. Seems to be a good heavy duty design. The blue/white B-1357T is counterweighted in Z-axis and is a full size floor machine.

I don't think I'd readily characterize this as a bench machine...though, I haven't seen your bench ;)

Here's a better pic.
Not mine either, sorry to say. It's at a surplus dealer in CT.

http://www.industrialsurplus.com/photos/078-421.jpg

QSIMDO, Sorry, my mistake. You're right, that is not a bench machine. It appeared to me that the base was a bench. From the latest view I'd say that is the lighter version of the Taiwan bed mill. The version I'm more familiar with weighs 5900 pounds. The round swivel neck is about 8" dia. They are on the Beaver mill site where they now sell Tree Journeyman 425's etc. You can buy CNC ready mills there as well. FYI, I have no connection to them.

I think there are roughly two sizes of this machine, one that is comparable to a Series 1 Bridgeport such as the white one above also for sale here:BedMill (http://www.danieldesigngroup.com/olson/mills_bed.htm)
It weighs about 2270 lbs in non CNC form. Was made by Santec (Taiwan) now imported and by Sharp.
Here's mine when it was dropped off all dirty
http://www.vernadesign.com/millpics/Delivered.jpg
and then after I took off the CNC bits and did a partial cleaning
http://www.vernadesign.com/millpics/Cleaner.jpg

Then there is another variation that is more similar to a Series II B'port, closer to the 5000 lb range. If you check the Southwest Industries site link (http://www.southwesternindustries.com/swi/prod_bedmills1.shtml), there are 3 models, of clearly slightly different make than the Santec, one at 3100 with no Z counter balance, then two larger at 4100 and 4400.


ciao

lino

Ilino, The machine you show is the midrange machine. If you look at the "intermediate Y-axis" bed, it's bolted to a base. The heavy (6,000 lb.) machine is cast as a one piece base that the column is bolted to. That base also has a "protrusion" at the front to extend the Y-axis. So my original guess of 2 sizes was wrong, there are at least 3. I still stick with my kajillion brand names. BTW, SORCHEROR got a hell of a deal, these are tough iron. I,m working on some multi-axis (more than 3) attachments for the 6,000 lb. machines right now. I guess I've beaten this horse enough now. Good luck on those machines.

You guys that are converting your big square column mills please share the fun with us with some pics and commentary if you have time. Im working on some mods on a R45 clone and will post some pics and stuff this weekend. Thanks, Dave

Quite a few of these big bed mills running around when you start looking for them. Millstar makes one. Acer has a real slick looking one, one for sale on eBay at the moment: 320099679035. There are the Southwestern and the Servos on eBay, as well as one called a "Silber Hegener".

Interesting mills. Looks like the cost at least $25K new. They're being sold as "does everything a Bridgeport will but can hold a lot more on the table."

I agree, one would make a heck of a conversion project. Please do post photos!

Best,

BW

BW, As mentioned above, they are available "CNC Ready" with ballscrews. I assume that means the buyer will supply his own control, drives, motors etc. Sorta like a conversion without the dreaded converting eh.

Richard, I'd love to learn more about these. Any information, brand names, links, or otherwise you could contribute would be great. I agree with the fellow that said I just like their look better than a Bridgeport.

Best,

BW

Bob, Check into the Beaver mill site, they are the new Tree Journeyman sellers. I just typed "beaver bed mill" on Google if I remember right. I'll look up a few more when I get time, shouldn't take too long.
add.info: try www.beavercnc.com click on oem
Dick Zastrow

BW, Here's a few more.
MILLPORT RHINO
SERVO
SOUTHWEST INDUSTRIES
HH ROBERTS-TOPWELL-MILLSTAR
I'm Still looking.

BW, Your public profile says you are in CA. You might want to contact Manford USA. www.manford-usa.com They are a Taiwan OEM with an office in LA. I bet you could negotiate a carcass equipped to your degree of completion for a pretty reasonable price. It could be included with other machines from Taiwan to their USA location for some low shipping charges. Just a thought.

Here's another CNC ready example of a Santec/Sharp on the 'Bay
Santec BedMill (http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-SHARP-SANTEC-RB-310-CNC-READY-BED-MILL-EXCELLENT_W0QQitemZ110072243853QQihZ001QQcategoryZ12584QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem)

It's the "Big Boy" model.

Of the Santec/Sharp type, there appears to be a RB-10 model, like mine (shown in the pics a few posts up), and the RB-310 which is substantially larger as shown in the auction link above.

ciao

lino

BW, Here's a few more:
America Machine Tools
Sharp Sharp appears to be a heavier and more expensive machine. Probably worth the extra money if you need the extra capacity. I see a lot of these (not necc. the Sharps) are using Centroid controls. I have no experience with Centroid but I gather NC is "unhappy" with them.

Thanks for all the extra info. I just got back into town and will take a look!

Cheers,

BW

never buy southwest industry, if at all possible. we have 2 mills purchased new 2yrs and 3yrs ago, and a trak lathe 3yrs old baught new. all garbage. no hard chrome on any of the ways, all are only teflon coated. both mills have been re lapped already. and the lathe has flood coolant and nothing can keep the coolant out of the electronics and the belt drive assembly. orderd a belt from swi for our lathe over $100 with shipping and found the same one in mcmaster car for $25. the lathe is down atleast twice a month

Good luck on those machines

BobWarfield, I see you made it back home. Still interested in the bed mills? Did you ever approach any vendors on "CNC ready" machines?

Richard, its on my back burner. I love those mills, and was thinking just this morning to shelve any thoughts of a knee mill in favor of one. However, I need to finish CNC converting the machines I have--a lathe and 2 IH mills. I have also decided I need a bigger lathe for certain projects, so that will be the first "big" machine I pick up.

I have my eye on Mori Seikis and their clones. They seem to combine some of the best attributes of precision ala Monarch/Hardinge with a lot more capacity.

A big bed mill will follow all that, but at my pace, it'll be a year or two out!

Best,

BW

This is a cool thread about bed mill machines that weigh 2500 pounds. Its been bounced through all the forums and now its in the bench top mini mill forum. How about if the (Knee Mill forum) goes back to being the (Vertical Mill )forum and stuff like this fit in there just great. Thanks, Dave

How about "Bed Mill" or "Vertical Bed Mill" ? These aren't really bench mills though some could be if the bench is REALLY BUILT. I made that mistake earlier and stand corrected.