A milling machine you don't see everyday.

[marvelshooter]

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I thought I would share a couple of pictures of the bench top mill I picked up to play with. It is a Servo model 7230 made in the USA. It has X, Y and Z travels of about 5" and quill travel of an inch and a half. For reference the vise is 3" wide.

[craig61a]

Nice.

[akajun]

Didn't know servo made small mills, I know they made sensitive drills and xy table sensitive drills

[jhalcott]

looks like one I had in the Navy. a hogging cut was less than 1/8 "

[AbitNutz]

The only thing better than owning a milling machine is owning a milling machine with a machinist chained to it to do your bidding. Most people dream of hitting the lottery and buying a private island. Me? I dream of buying a machine shop full of machines and machinists...

[Ballistics in Scotland]

The tame machinists sound a bit like having a staff to fulfil certain marital responsibilities. But the machine shop, yes. A lot of people will tell you to get a larger machine, which will do the small jobs and more. But a machine like this is infinitely better than no milling machine at all, for plenty of work which is priceless for the amateur gunsmith. I've got a Chinese mini-mill, a little larger but not, I think, more robust, and in the hands of an amateur, who can afford to take his time, it is amazing what it has accomplish.

[John Taylor]

The only thing better than owning a milling machine is owning a milling machine with a machinist chained to it to do your bidding. Most people dream of hitting the lottery and buying a private island. Me? I dream of buying a machine shop full of machines and machinists...
What's it worth to you? I may want to retire someday. You may need to find a machinist to run things.

[Bent Ramrod]

Be careful what you wish for, Abitnutz. A friend of mine owns a tool and die shop full of employees and says he occasionally has to come out of his office, pick up a job on the floor and do it, just to remind himself what he really is.

The rest of the time, he's sitting at a desk doing OSHA, EPA, IRS, SSA, Workmens' Comp, and other Federal, State and Local alphabet soup paperwork.

As Ballistics says, a small mill is infinitely better than no mill. Even a lathe milling attachment gets the job done much quicker than drilling and filing.

[Walla2]

Way cool.

[RogerDat]

Excellent addition to your shop. Did you set up a lawn chair to just sit and admire it, maybe let some friends come over and pull up chairs and admire it with you? That would be what I would have done! At least up until the point they all figured out a "little job" they had for me on it. :-)

[marvelshooter]

There is no lawn chair but I do enjoy showing it to everybody I can. It is very well made and as long as you're not in a hurry it is very capable. And yes it sure beats a hacksaw and file.

[AbitNutz]

Be careful what you wish for, Abitnutz. A friend of mine owns a tool and die shop full of employees and says he occasionally has to come out of his office, pick up a job on the floor and do it, just to remind himself what he really is.

The rest of the time, he's sitting at a desk doing OSHA, EPA, IRS, SSA, Workmens' Comp, and other Federal, State and Local alphabet soup paperwork.

As Ballistics says, a small mill is infinitely better than no mill. Even a lathe milling attachment gets the job done much quicker than drilling and filing.

I should have made the "Lottery" part more clear. This way the machine shop wouldn't have to make a profit, all it would have to do is do make what I want...Hmm...starts dreaming...

"Oh head metal person. Please whip me up a Mauser action with 3-lugs on the front.

Yes, of course I want to keep the claw extractor.

Oh and I want the lugs to be interrupted like a Newton or a Ross. Here, let me just scribble what I sorta want on this here whiteboard.

Yes, of course, you can use one of the Haas's or even a Mazak if you like and don't be afraid to put anybody else to work.

Yes, by the weekend would be fine.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I really wanted one of these back in the 90's when I first started my shop, but then I got to use a Servo Drill Press and found out that the capacity is quite limited. They are the ship for drilling small holes, and by small I mean all the way down to under .010.

The head on their mill is same as the drill press, and it runs really fast, like up to 30K RPMs. The mill just has 3 axis positioning so you can precisely locate things under the spindle. You also kind of need a microscope attached to it so you can see what you are doing. This is also common place on little lathes.

It takes either a Collet up to 1/8" or a 1/8" Albrect Keyless Chuck. I think the Mill uses Levin Collets. The drill presses just have the chuck.

If you are doing small things and need to drill small holes in precise places these machines are great. As a Second Op machine to support a Levin Lathe also great.

I have seen a guy who had his entire machine shop in a 6x12 foot enclosed trailer and he made a very good living going directly to his customers shops where he set up and made very small parts for them when those parts were just too small for even a Hardinge Lathe to produce easily.

A big part for this guy was 3/16" on dia. Think watch parts here, and then you get the idea.

Servo makes good stuff but they are more known for their Power Feed Units for Bridgeport's, which are absolutely the best.

Still the little mill is a pretty cool piece of machinery.

Randy

[No Blue]

Servo calls it a drill press, not a mill. How much did you pay for that?

[broomhandle]

Hi Fellows,

I'm a retired Tool & Die maker. I bought a small lathe it "will" do most projects I want to do. As mentioned above I'm limited to the amount of cut I can take & over all size of the cut on the project has been a issue!

"BUT" it's a struggle! The small center hole is always a issue, more set-up time & the slow manual gear changing really slows a normal job into a extended project!

"IF" I were to buy any machine I would go for a full size unit (lathe or milling machine) in a heart beat! Here in GA. we don't see many used machines as in the north east!

Good luck,
broom

[Green Frog]

Space is a big limiting factor for many hobbyists so it seems like prices of machine tools become almost inversely proportional to size with the big stuff going almost at scrap prices. BUT, as others have mentioned, hobby gunsmiths reach a point of diminishing returns (and capabilities) so smaller isn't always better. A real gunsmith's lathe is a little unusual in that the hole through the headstock should be relatively large but bed length "only" needs to be 30" or so. As for the mill, the biggest one you can fit in and afford will probably not be too big... but flexibility and versatility (along with the user's skill and imagination) are vital!

Froggie

[dverna]

I have seen some remarkable work accomplished on a Myford 7. A smaller machine will take more time and maybe more skill but it is capable of going most of what we need.

Don Verna

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I have seen some remarkable work accomplished on a Myford 7. A smaller machine will take more time and maybe more skill but it is capable of going most of what we need.

Don Verna

Ah yes, I've got mine - as Jeff Cooper used to say in the years before he got Steyr to manufacture his Scout rifle. It is the Super 7, which has a gearbox instead of greasy change wheels, except that I bought an after-market pair of gears to let it cut metric pitches. It beats me why they didn't make the headstock bore ⅝in. instead of slightly smaller, for there is plenty of metal. There is certainly no way it could be made to accommodate a barrel, but mine is the 31in. extra long version. It was originally owned by a repairer of musical instruments, in order to accommodate bassoon, so it has never been overstrained.

[BigEyeBob]

Ah yes, I've got mine - as Jeff Cooper used to say in the years before he got Steyr to manufacture his Scout rifle. It is the Super 7, which has a gearbox instead of greasy change wheels, except that I bought an after-market pair of gears to let it cut metric pitches. It beats me why they didn't make the headstock bore ⅝in. instead of slightly smaller, for there is plenty of metal. There is certainly no way it could be made to accommodate a barrel, but mine is the 31in. extra long version. It was originally owned by a repairer of musical instruments, in order to accommodate bassoon, so it has never been overstrained.

Ive had a Myford Super 7 for around 20 years ,I bought it at an auction rather cheaply ,it came with the universal milling attacment, and vice , dividing head an the no1 & No 2 dividing plates, has a set of change gears ,but has a quick change gear box .There were a couple of boxes with lots of tooling , including a full set of Myford collets and collet chuck . Since Ive owned it I added an after market no 4 plate so I can index more divisions . A quick change tool post , rear parting tool post and lots of bits and pieces have also been added.The best tooling investment was a er32 collet chuck that fits the myford spindle and a set of er32 collets ,I use them every day either on the lathe or on the milling machine
The amount of projects I have produced on this lathe is beyond belief to alot of my friends ..Ive made chamber reamers both fluted and dtype , many bullet swaging dies for cast and jword boolits , case trimming tools ,and even lathe bored a couple of bullet moulds.
The dividing attachment also is used on my taiwanese vertical mill ,I made attachment parts for it. The lathe was made in the late 50,s and is now needing new head bearings .Since I recently purchased a larger lathe the Myford is not used much for bigger jobs but is still used nearly every day . My new lathe has a 40mm head stock bore so I can now do barrel work.
The only thing I ever had against the Myford was the tiny head stock bore.
But they are a qualty machine and mine has served me well for many years .It will get a refurb in the future ,to keep it going for many years to come.
Kev.

[smokeywolf]

Had a Servo sensitive drill press in the MGM Studio Machine Shop. Great little machines. I remember having to manufacture a special shower head for a movie or TV show. Plumbing shop designed the shower head, I manufactured it. Set it up on a small rotary table clamped to an articulating sine plate to drill the multitude (well over 100 as I recall) of I think, .013 holes.

Had a WEBB Champ mill in the Studio Machine shop with the Servo feed on X. One shop I worked in had two new (in 2008) Bridgeport mills with the Servo feeds on X, Y and the knee.

[marvelshooter]

Servo calls it a drill press, not a mill. How much did you pay for that?

The head is the same as the head on a drill press they make or used to make but this is definitely a milling machine. I paid $550 for it.

[smokeywolf]

There's another mill like yours on ebay. This one is retrofitted with X, Y and Z CNC. Seller wants $3650.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Ive had a Myford Super 7 for around 20 years ,I bought it at an auction rather cheaply ,it came with the universal milling attacment, and vice , dividing head an the no1 & No 2 dividing plates, has a set of change gears ,but has a quick change gear box .There were a couple of boxes with lots of tooling , including a full set of Myford collets and collet chuck . Since Ive owned it I added an after market no 4 plate so I can index more divisions . A quick change tool post , rear parting tool post and lots of bits and pieces have also been added.The best tooling investment was a er32 collet chuck that fits the myford spindle and a set of er32 collets ,I use them every day either on the lathe or on the milling machine
The amount of projects I have produced on this lathe is beyond belief to alot of my friends ..Ive made chamber reamers both fluted and dtype , many bullet swaging dies for cast and jword boolits , case trimming tools ,and even lathe bored a couple of bullet moulds.
The dividing attachment also is used on my taiwanese vertical mill ,I made attachment parts for it. The lathe was made in the late 50,s and is now needing new head bearings .Since I recently purchased a larger lathe the Myford is not used much for bigger jobs but is still used nearly every day . My new lathe has a 40mm head stock bore so I can now do barrel work.
The only thing I ever had against the Myford was the tiny head stock bore.
But they are a qualty machine and mine has served me well for many years .It will get a refurb in the future ,to keep it going for many years to come.
Kev.

I agree about the collet chuck (mind is for 5C collets) and the small bore. But you can pay a little more for a slightly larger bore (enough for ⅝in, bore liners, say), or a lot more (plus weight, bulk and above all, cost of other ancilliary items) for a usefully larger bore.

Something else useful is a micrometer adjustable boring head with a Morse taper mandrel to fit the tailstock socket. Even if you never bore anything, you can put a home-made 60 degree centre in it, for precisely adjustable taper turning between centres, and return instantly to the dead-centre tailstock centre you have carefully set up for cylindrical turning.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

There's another mill like yours on ebay. This one is retrofitted with X, Y and Z CNC. Seller wants $3650.

I am reminded of the Scottish Highland salmon fish gillie (a breed who know how to be rude politely) who says to his client "Ye may carry on as ye are doing, sir, for there is aye the chance of a blind yin or a daft yin."

Just the same, it is worth saving that listing on your watch list. Sometimes they pitch their starting price very optimistically, and lower it a lot when nobody bites for a while.

[Tokarev]

The only thing better than owning a milling machine is owning a milling machine with a machinist chained to it to do your bidding. Most people dream of hitting the lottery and buying a private island. Me? I dream of buying a machine shop full of machines and machinists...

Jeez, we have the same dreams, man! Are you me and am I you?
If I won a lottery, I would buy a machine shop for myself and a leatherworking factory for my wife next door. She would make the holsters for my guns.

[DCM]

Sure looks to be better than a milling attachment for a lathe.
Both are certainly functional but I would much rather work with this.
When space and $ is at a premium this most certainly would fit the bill.
Good catch.