"New" machine day

[Mr. M]

Today I went and picked up a Sajo PF-52 (I think) horizontal milling machine. I don't know if it runs or anything but I got it home and in the shop. After some cleaning I'll probably power it up tomorrow and see if it starts.

Looks like a pretty solid machine and I think will be useful for some of the work I want to do. Does anyone have any experience on this mills?

 

[Vancbiker]

In general I have found those Euro manual machines to be pretty well built. Sometimes they have some weird features that you wouldn’t see on a Cinncy or B&S etc. As with everything machine tool related, the usage and maintenance in its life will matter most in what you get.

 

[Barbter]

I'd never heard of the make, so I goooogled and it's Sveeeedish - http://www.lathes.co.uk/sajo/

 

[TheOldCar]

Jeff Decker's uncle (Curtis) uses a Sajo horizontal in the first op of Decker noose keychains. It's good looking, and a pretty short machine.

 

[Mr. M]

I am working on cleaning it up this evening. I couldn't resist so I took a plug off another machine and fired it up. The spindle sounds pretty good, and the power feed on all 3 axis works. Now back to cleaning.
I gotta find a manual for it. I'll look on the link above.

 

[MwTech Inc]

You will like a horiz mill...use ours all the time, yep, it's 2023 and you still can make real money with one.
One part we make in house is just a bit wonky after it's welded up, requires the face to be milled. Just so easy to setup on the horiz.
Great for facing off edges of material, slotting and keyways.
One word of caution: they can/will hog a lot of material, make sure the work is held down well.

 

[Mr. M]

I did some more cleaning on it last night. The motor for the power feed seems to have issues sporadically. I will see if it needs new brushes. What do you have for a workholding selection on yours? I have the standard 1/2-13 studs and strap clamp sets, but am wondering what else might be handy.

 

[MwTech Inc]

I use standard 1/2 tee nuts etc, mill is a K&T, also use Bessey clamps. We use this homemade jig which works great for keyways
and have made all sorts of "custom" clamping setup things.

 

[Doug]

Snowstorm there ?
I can't the see the mill for the background .....:d

 

[Vancbiker]

I did some more cleaning on it last night. The motor for the power feed seems to have issues sporadically. I will see if it needs new brushes.

Is it a DC motor? The mills I’ve used ran the feeds from the main motor via a gear train. The auxiliary motor was AC and only used for rapid movements.

 

[Mr. M]

Snowstorm there ?
I can't the see the mill for the background .....:d

14 inches a few weeks ago

 

[Mr. M]

Is it a DC motor? The mills I’ve used ran the feeds from the main motor via a gear train. The auxiliary motor was AC and only used for rapid movements.

I'll look into that tonight. Thank you!

 

[Mr. M]

It looks like it is an AC motor as well for the feed. I did not do any testing on it, but I did get the main cleaning finished and figured out the position for the machine in my shop.
It is a tight fit but I think it is going to be worth the space it uses.

 

[MwTech Inc]

You did get the outboard support right??

 

[Mr. M]

I got two of them that attach to the overarm. I did not get the one I saw in an old flyer that tied those to the knee

 

[MwTech Inc]

Good!
the knee brace for any mill is almost impossible to ever get.......

 

[Mr. M]

I was pretty thrilled to find all the stuff I did to go with it! I have not ever really used a manual horizontal, but for my shop and goals I am excited to see what we can do with it. Now to stumble into a stash of slab mills and slotting mills

 

[Vancbiker]

Good!
the knee brace for any mill is almost impossible to ever get.......

Plus they are a PITA to use as every time you need to adjust the knee you have to unclamp and clamp the support. Especially when running the machine from the rear controls.

 

[MwTech Inc]

When you find cutters just watch out for the tooth size, by that i mean if they look stubby and short, good indication they have been sharpened down to nothing.
Setting up a job now where will be using two 3/8 cutters spaced about 3.5 inches apart to slot a bracket .750 deep in one pass.
Just faster than multiple setups or passes with a vert mill.

 

[MwTech Inc]

Plus they are a PITA to use as every time you need to adjust the knee you have to unclamp and clamp the support. Especially when running the machine from the rear controls.

I tried over the years to find one for my #1 and #3 K&T just to say I one...lol
Really only good for major slab cutting anyway I guess....never had any issues without it yet.....