The Ford Barn

34fordy · 03-28-2015, 03:05 PM

I believe that you are getting good advice--I had opportunity to use a mill like the one you are looking at for a number of years--A very good machine built in the late 50's or early 60's--I still own a small mill and a lathe--
Although these machines had very close tolerances at one time, they now have wear in different places--This affects the accuracy greatly--If you know your machine well you make adjustments, and sometimes in the middle of a cut--I do not think you would want to do this boring a cylinder-
It is nice to have an older milling machine for doing many things, but if I had a specific job in mind like boring engine blocks I would buy a machine that was more specific to the intended task--I have never bought any used machine that did not have a few surprises--Parts for a 60 year old mill can be very hard to locate and very expensive--I wish you luck whatever you do--

Heard · 03-28-2015, 08:04 PM

One other thing as a side note...and this has no bearing on using a Van Norman for boring, but if you want a Van Norman for general milling work, make sure you get one with a 'Q' in the model number. Otherwise, it will NOT have a quill.

03-28-2015, 03:05 PM	#1
34fordy Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Fort dodge, Iowa Posts: 1,228	Re: Van Norman Mill I believe that you are getting good advice--I had opportunity to use a mill like the one you are looking at for a number of years--A very good machine built in the late 50's or early 60's--I still own a small mill and a lathe-- Although these machines had very close tolerances at one time, they now have wear in different places--This affects the accuracy greatly--If you know your machine well you make adjustments, and sometimes in the middle of a cut--I do not think you would want to do this boring a cylinder- It is nice to have an older milling machine for doing many things, but if I had a specific job in mind like boring engine blocks I would buy a machine that was more specific to the intended task--I have never bought any used machine that did not have a few surprises--Parts for a 60 year old mill can be very hard to locate and very expensive--I wish you luck whatever you do--

03-28-2015, 08:04 PM	#2
Heard Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Florida Posts: 621	Re: Van Norman Mill One other thing as a side note...and this has no bearing on using a Van Norman for boring, but if you want a Van Norman for general milling work, make sure you get one with a 'Q' in the model number. Otherwise, it will NOT have a quill. __________________ Do I look like I have a plan B?