I have a few bastard machines, of questionable parenthood, parts of some machines, wedded to parts of other machines, never meant to be together, to some perverting the laws of nature.
The Imfamous Franken-Mill, a 1940 Bridgeport round column milling machine (ser # BH-572), that came with a severely damaged M-Head, but the column, knee and table had been rebuilt, by an equipment company 2-3 yrs before I got it, then just before I bought it, the ruined the head assembly. Enter the 1986 Central Machinery (Harbor Freight) model #981, mill/drill head assembly. The mill/drill had a 2hp motor and an R8 spindle, with 12 speeds. I fabricated a knuckle assembly and adapted the mill/drill head to the Bridgeport ram assembly. Originally this was to be a temporary fix, until I could find a Bridgeport J-Head assembly, but because of the rigidity and the effortless was it works, the temporary repair became semi-permanent, still may change it, if the right deal on a J-Head appears, but I’m not losing sleep over it. Since I changed head assembly, I’ve added a one shot lube system, X, Y and Z power feeds, LED lights and other modifications, its been a true asset in the shop.
The Franken-Drill, an Atlas/Clausing (johansson) model # 8520 series milling machine, that was boughten with the knowledge that the head assembly pieces were either broken and what was not broken, was missing, but the column, knee and table assembly were in excellent condition. This was bought with the intent to adapt a drill press head assembly to it. There was a floor model, 20” Jet drill press in the shop. The drill press column was adapted to the top of the Atlas/Clausing milling machine column assembly, then the head was installed, the outcome was an excellent X-Y drill press, with a functioning knee. Again a great asset in the shop.
Obviously, neither of these bastard machines, were ever in the back of the minds of the original designers or manufacturers, but for the me the combinations, have made my work done in the home shop, much easier and faster, with the precision necessary for what I’m doing.
