[davo727]

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

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

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

[davo727]

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

[BobWarfield]

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

[QSIMDO]

Looks like one of these

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?

[llino]

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.

[SORCHEROR]

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

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

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.

[QSIMDO]

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.

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

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.

[llino]

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
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

and then after I took off the CNC bits and did a partial cleaning


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, 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

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

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.

[davo727]

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

[BobWarfield]

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

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

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.

[BobWarfield]

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

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

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

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

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

[RICHARD ZASTROW]

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.

[llino]

Here's another CNC ready example of a Santec/Sharp on the 'Bay
Santec BedMill

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