Restoring Beaver VBRP Mill

[Robert James 3Participant @robertjames3]

Hi Guys, A few questions if I may.

First, My machine has the zirk fittings that we here in the states use for grease. What kind of lube gun do you have in England to inject oil into those zirk fittings. If you know of a factory supply that has a website where I might order one that would be awesome.

Second, Does anyone have a good page 36 from the manual? Could you send me a copy mine is cut off.

Third Does anyone know anything about the main switch on the left side of the machine close to the floor. I believe it is the main switch. I think it supplies power to the head and the suds pump and table drives if the machine has any. Mine is wired out and the head is wired directly to the phase convertor. I don't know how it is supposed to work so I don't know how to test it. Is it a electromagnetic type that once turned on will stay engaged until turned off or until there is a power failure?

Forth, What kind of Cutting Fluid / Coolant was used in the suds pump sump? ( try to say that fast 5 times)

Thanks!

 

Edited By Robert James 3 on 02/01/2017 00:38:33

Edited By Robert James 3 on 02/01/2017 00:39:18

[Robert James 3Participant @robertjames3]

Today I found out my "Manual Mortor Start Switch" is toast. Since this switch is the main switch , It sends power to both the spindle and the suds pump I'm going to try to find a suitable replacement. The old switch has an adjustable amp setting. Does anyone know what that setting was supposed to be? Have any of you found a suitable replacement? the only one I've found is almost 250.00 U.S. dollars. Ouch!

[Travis HittParticipant @travishitt70740]

I too have a beaver mill and this page seems to have the most information about them that I have found.

I'm currently having to rebuild the head on mine as the previous owner disintegrated a bearing on it causing the lower pulley to drop down onto the timing gear for the backgear. It made for an interesting disassembly to say the least…

All the documentation i found said basically pull apart the assembly and simply replace the belt, no biggie.

Three days later and lots of penetrating oil I was able to get it apart enough to cut the bearing off the shaft.

Mine is a VBRP model as well and since i'm currently compiling a list of bearings needed for the rebuild I'll be sure to post pictures and bearing numbers when I'm done to help out other folks in the same situation.

A lot of these bearings can be cross referenced to things found over here in the U.S. However I've found two bearings that I cant seem to find anywhere else than in the UK.

RHP- XLJ4 1/4E (SIZE-ID 4 1/4"xOD 6" X W7/8&quot *

RHP XLJ2 (SIZE-ID 2"XOD3 5/16"X W5/8&quot *

Gaco oil Seal # 2 x 200 275 1/4

All of the cross referencing I've done led me to these and they are available from various manufactures here in the US. Can anyone tell me the difference in precision between RHP or Hoffmann and things available here like AMPEC, or SKF?

RHP 6011-2RS (SIZE ID55MMXOD90MMXW18) (QTY 1)

RHP 6308-2RS (SIZE ID 40MMX90MMX23MM) (QTY 1)

HOFFMANN 120RSS V3 (SIZE 20MMX47MMX14) 6204RS ALTERNATE # (QTY 2)

HOFFMANN LS12RSS V3 (SIZE ID 1 1/4"XOD2 3/4"XW5/8) RLS10-2RS ALTERNATE # (QTY 2)

I havent found anything for the two brass bushings in the VBRP pulley drive but I dont think I'm going to be replacing those at this time anyways.

The drive belt for the Back Gear is

210L200 and is available from Mcmaster-carr #6484K347

the VBRP pulley belt is another one I'm sourcing from Mcmaster and I just did some measurements and im ordering one thats 'close enough' for me to use I'm hoping. I'll update in the future as to if it doesn't fit.

1922V386

Mcmaster #7885K19

[Robert James 3Participant @robertjames3]

Posted by Mark Rand on 31/12/2016 17:38:22:

That pump is for the table feed gearbox itself. On the Mk1, 2 and 3 gearboxes, lubrication to the gear train relies on oil being carried upwards on the gear teeth of lower gears to feed higher gears and bearings. It worked, sort-of, on the earlier ones…

My Mk1 had suffered the indignity of at least the previous owner using grease on the ways. At the end of the re-scraping/rebuilding process, I blanked off and redrilled the existing oil ports and added a few more when fitting a one-shot system. It has 68ISO oil for the horizontal ways and 220ISO oil for the column ways:-

Edited By Mark Rand on 31/12/2016 17:39:51

Mark what brand is the manual oilers you used I like the manifolds you used.

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

They are actually genuine Bijur fittings, But made by Bijur's Chinese plant! They're the metric series, but I guess you might prefer the imperial ones.

I got mine from Arc Eurotrade.

[Robert James 3Participant @robertjames3]

Thanks for the response those make a nice system. Are they setup for a specific flow for for a specific point?

[Travis HittParticipant @travishitt70740]

Anyone have the dimensions for the drawbar and spacers on the bar? My machine failed to come with one when purchased.
It doesn’t have the black wheel at the top of the head either. Can anyone post the dimensions on these parts so I can make some new ones?

[Robert James 3Participant @robertjames3]

An update for anyone needing a new motor start switch. Here in the States I found a company called WEG. They have a nice inexpensive replacement switch, mine cost about 66.00 usd. It works on the 220V 3 Phase I have to run. It senses a phase loss as well as overload conditions. I have one on order if this works as advertised I'm going to replace the suds controler as well. When I get it installed I'll post pictures.

[Robert James 3Participant @robertjames3]

Posted by Travis Hitt on 08/01/2017 17:31:33:
Anyone have the dimensions for the drawbar and spacers on the bar? My machine failed to come with one when purchased.
It doesn't have the black wheel at the top of the head either. Can anyone post the dimensions on these parts so I can make some new ones?

Travis if no one answers before I get home on Friday I'll get you measurements and pictures. I'm just curious are you in the U.S. or Great Britain?

[Travis HittParticipant @travishitt70740]

Thanks Robert! Im in the US. What part of the states are you in?

[Robert James 3Participant @robertjames3]

I'm in Indianapolis, and you?

[Travis HittParticipant @travishitt70740]

Atlanta.
Also I just realized your machine appears to have a int40 taper and I think the drawbar dimensions will be different. Mine is a r8/int30 taper with the shorter nose. I guess ill get out the tape measure and get a universal draw bar from mcmaster.

[Robert James 3Participant @robertjames3]

Can yu send me a link to the McMaster page? My draw bar is a home made rig. Thanks!

[Travis HittParticipant @travishitt70740]

here you go man,

https://www.mcmaster.com/#milling-machine-drawbars/=163xfl1

make sure they will work with your machine obviously

[Travis HittParticipant @travishitt70740]

uploading 5 pics at a time into an album and then selecting each photo one at a time to post really sucks so these are all the pictures i was willing to load today…more to come

Edited By Travis Hitt on 09/02/2017 18:46:32

[Tony CapstackParticipant @tonycapstack17995]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum and have just purchased a Beaver VBRP. I'm currently working out how to get it off my trailer over an 8ft wall and into my home workshop. Looks to be loads of useful information in the forum and I was wondering if anyone has an electronic copy of the maintenance manual that they would be able to send me as I'm sure it needs a few jobs doing on it before I get it up and running. Any help would be much appreciated!

[Thomas StauboParticipant @thomasstaubo12021]

Posted by Tony Capstack on 27/02/2017 20:04:10:

Hi all, I'm new to the forum and have just purchased a Beaver VBRP. I'm currently working out how to get it off my trailer over an 8ft wall and into my home workshop. Looks to be loads of useful information in the forum and I was wondering if anyone has an electronic copy of the maintenance manual that they would be able to send me as I'm sure it needs a few jobs doing on it before I get it up and running. Any help would be much appreciated!

This is for a mk2, if it suits you:

**LINK**

[Tony CapstackParticipant @tonycapstack17995]

That's great, just what I wanted. Thanks Thomas

[Daniel RobinsonParticipant @danielrobinson12697]

So, a bit of a long shot, I have a mk II and i'm looking for a riser block of any size, or plans so that I can make one…. I see on ebay that there is a generic riser block being manufactured in the US but the cost of shipping is near to £1K.

Also open to bright ideas

Dan

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

I've got a task that will need a 6" or 8" riser for the Mk1 VBRP. I've noticed a firm on EBay that will cut 'washers' from 15mm mild steel. my thought was to get a couple of plates cut to the right dimensions, approx 14" OD-10" ID, then weld 6 or 8 segments between them for the height, After that, they can be milled flat, then mounting holes drilled and tapped using a rotary table.

ISTR there was an article once in MEW about a chap that had made a riser block using a similar technique, but using rolled plate to produce the centre cection in a cylinder. I'll just use flat pieces of 10mm plate to produce a polygon by welding them together.

[Daniel RobinsonParticipant @danielrobinson12697]

Hi Mark,

Sorry for the late reply…

I have thought of doing something similar and have made some notes as to potential issue that I could run in to.

Malleability of steel vs Iron and wall thickness – Steel in cheaper but will bend and buckle if wall thickness is not big enough. Your Idea of using 15mm plate means that it could practically be solid which is excellent but heavy

Male and female centre grooves top and bottom of the ring. At 14inches I’m going to have to find someone with a really big lathe or construct a fly cutter / boring head that can do that kind of diameter… even my 12inch rotary table is too small to do any kind of exterior work….

Extended bolts or tapping the riser? I am thinking about tapping the riser as it would take a lot of tension off extended bolts. Again this is down to malleability of the bolt material and riser and would involve milling the sides of the ring to accommodate the bolts. It could be more trouble than it’s worth but I think that this is what this chap is doing on youtube.

Dan

[Martin ZuzákParticipant @martinzuzak89452]

Hello all,

I just bought Beaver VBRP MK2. I am from Czech republic so this milling machine is not usual here. I just found out that gib key is missing. See the pictures please. I assume that I am only one owner this machine in the Czech Republic.

Could you please measure yours and write the dimensions to me? Some basic drawing will be the best. It would be really helpful.

Thank you

Kind Regards

Martin

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

I'm afraid that I cannot help with dimensions for the gib. My machine is a VBRP MK1. All of the drawings I have are for the MK1 as well. Are there any adjusting screws on the left hand side of the saddle? If there are, the gib is parallel and you can measure the dimensions from one end and make a gib that will fit.

If there aren't, then it is a tapered gib and you will need to measure the width of the gap at both ends and make the gib to those dimensions.

If it is a parallel gib, you can make it to nearly the right size and adjust it with the screws. If it is a tapered gib, you really need to make it to the right taper, then scrape it to fit the ways.

If you can, make the gib from cast iron instead of steel. It causes less wear on the other parts of the machine (the original gibs were all cast iron)

[Martin ZuzákParticipant @martinzuzak89452]

hank you for your reply.

There are not udjusting screws on the left side of saddle. There are only lock screws.

Yes, it is tapered gib. It seems that I will have to measure angle with sinus ruler, but I have to take down the saddle. Cast iron seems the best for it.

Do you know anyone who has drawings for MK2? I have original literature, but there are only basic information how to lubricate and etc…

I assume that Beaver factory doesn’t produce milling machine anymore. Right?

[Peter_HParticipant @peter_h]

Beaver/Baldings closed down around about 30 years ago.

I am almost certain that I got a pair of spare table gibs when I first had my VBRP Mk2. They are complex double tapered, odd looking things. A thread rod emerges from one end, and this locked with a pair of nuts either side of a fixed part, so they are positively held in both directions after adjustement. I also think they are a right and left handed pair.

I could try to take some dimensions from it if you want, and maybe photograph it. Best would be if sommeone could put it on CAD.

Later…

I have found them, they are a matching pair. Cross section is parallelogram with angles 35/55 degrees. The section is constant height, but tapered width.

They are 10 ins long (254mm)

At the fat end, the parallellogram is 0.6317 ins (16.045mm) by 0.7351 ins (18.671mm)

At the thin end it is 0.4911 ins (12.474mm) by 0.7351 ins (18.671mm)

The fat end has a slot 7.4mm wide by 8.81mm deep, 8.34mm from the end. It is the slot that is used to lock the adjustment. The threaded stud I mentioned must be the stationary part. There is a blind hole about 6mm diameter 77.5mm in from the fat end in one face.

The part seems to be made of carbon steel and hardened after machining all over. One side looks to be ground then hand scraped flat. There is a witness mark on one face where the table locking screw has pinched on it.

 

I'll follow up with photographs when I get a chance.

 

Edited By Peter_H on 20/06/2018 16:34:49

Edited By Peter_H on 20/06/2018 17:13:30

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