Adcock & Shipley 1AD

[Ruairidh Dunford]

I like your style Jacob, nice one!

Duncan is quite correct, in my experience, many UK based firms can make wonderful crankshafts (and other things). Market to pay the price for such is lacking.

[Tony Griffiths]

An update on this project:

I'm taking a bit of time off from the Top Hat at present and thought I'd get on with the milling machine. I had previously fitted a single phase 2HP motor that I was given but found that it didn't have enough torque to start the machine turning. It was a single capacitor motor, which are good for fans and low torque applications but not enough "grunt" to spin this machine up. It was however free  

That should be a really useful machine for A7 engineering work. I too discovered the hard way how tiny the Horses are in those cap start induction run Clarke motors. As a replacement for a burnt out 3HP motor, I fitted a 3HP version to an Ingersoll Rand Vee twin compressor -utterly useless.  I came to the conclusion that  the Clarke horses were actually Shetland Ponies. After quite a lot of argy bargy, Machine Mart gave me my money back and I bought a proper electric motor for the compressor.

I'm sure that you'll find it very useful, especially with the vertical head. All these millers built to a strict standard - no Chinese-type thin-walled castings and short-life bearings for Adcock and Shipley - and they often went to the military or Government, where inspection standards were severe.

I have seen Adcock and Shipley mills with what looks like a factory fitted Bridgeport 'J' head. My Bridgeport has an Adcock and Shipley commissioning plate on it. Don't know if this was badge engineering, UK assembly of US parts or a complete UK build.

Yes, a standard option on some A & S horizontal millers.

[Parazine]

Another update:

New motor has been wired up with all the necessary control gear and seems to be running well. A bit of cleaning done, machine is looking much better.

Here's a link to a video of a bit of trial cutting.

MOV_1019 on Vimeo

Next job: a coat of paint and the overhaul of the vertical head, which is seized solid. I think, on the whole that a vertical miller is more useful so that will be the key to making it productive.

[Austin in the Shed]

A horizontal miller and a shaper are pretty much out of date machines today,Especially in a home workshop.
I used to own a shaper,set up just to cut keyways but unless you could set up a dividing head on its use was limited, (To a single keyway)and vision awkward.I bought a slotting head for the Bridgeport in the end,saved the floor space and much more useful.
When I was an apprentice a horizontal miller was more of a heavy blocking up type of machine even then.Although where I worked they were still used to machine the fir trees and lugs on turbine blades.
Things have moved on a lot since then with CNC and modern tooling.
It makes me feel old as an apprentice we didn't even have calculators. I sold LED watches to supplement by income during the breaks.

[Jacob Fowkes]

The shaper maybe ? But the horizontal mill is still a very handy machine in larger sizes as it can do most of what a HBM can do. That being said I still use a shaper regularly as it’s often faster than setting up a slotting head on a Bridgeport style mill.

[Charles P]

The shaper maybe ? But the horizontal mill is still a very handy machine in larger sizes as it can do most of what a HBM can do. That being said I still use a shaper regularly as it’s often faster than setting up a slotting head on a Bridgeport style mill.

I had a shaper and whilst it was very soothing to watch it didn't get used enough to justify the floor space in a domestic environment, and a dedicated horizontal mill may come into the same "justifying space in a domestic set up" category. The HBM comment is fair but when you head down that route I'd say that a "Deckel style" mill ranks strongly for lots of use cases. Whilst I don't use the horizontal overarm much on my Maho, I do use the horizontal spindle to extend the versatility. Nowhere nearly as big and capable as Victoria U2 sized horizontal, but it all depends upon space and frequency of use. You can machine an Austin 7 crankcase casting on a Maho, which suits me!

c

[Parazine]

I thought I had a requirement to cut a keyway in a replica cast magneto vernier. Turned out, I didn't need to but I couldn't see how to do it without a shaper. You can find small, bench mounted, hand operated shapers that would be ideal for cutting these small keyways and I might look out for one next.....

[Austin in the Shed]

Many use the lathe for one off slotting jobs, turn the tool sidewards and take your time winding the saddle in and out. Setting it at centre height is critical to cutting the keyway centrally though.
Lock the lathe spindle to stop rotation too.

[Stuart Giles]

I thought I had a requirement to cut a keyway in a replica cast magneto vernier. Turned out, I didn't need to but I couldn't see how to do it without a shaper. You can find small, bench mounted, hand operated shapers that would be ideal for cutting these small keyways and I might look out for one next.....

Well, you'd get some valuable exercise using an "Adept" style manual shaper....mounted on a big chunk of angle you can clamp the whole thing in a vice. But I have cut keyways accurately using a lathe. Got the tool set up sideways on and the headstock locked. Then just wind in the saddle taking light cuts on each stroke gets the job done. Having said that, I did still buy a slotting head for my Bridgeport a few years ago.

Edit: Austin In The Shed obviously types faster than me. I've only just noticed that we have given pretty much identical advice re. cutting a keyway in the lathe.....

[Parazine]

Hmm, that's worth considering. You could design some sort of clapper box to release the tool on the back stroke.....