MetalworkingFun Forum

I have my moments Kenny

Here's my Fray #7 All angle on which I mounted a 4" Dayton copy of a Kurt.  I bought the 4" as I thought it was very appropriate for the size of the machine.  It came with an old 6" vice that was just way too large.

Nifty mill! What's the big bar on the left for?

The big bar on the left allows you to slide the head in & out as you might with the dovetail slide of a newer Bridgeport or the round ram on an older one.

What I see that's really cool is that you can not only swivel the whole top assembly as you can on a Bridgeport type machine, but once you have it there you can feed across at the angle you set using the crank at the upper right. Very nice!

(07-16-2015, 09:42 AM)Sunset Machine Wrote: [ -> ]Nifty mill! What's the big bar on the left for?

I think you're referring to the slide on my compound miter saw that I have folded up and hooked to the wall.

The upper arm allows linear movement of the head.  Currently I have it aligned with the X axis, but it can be set at any angle.  Since this pic was taken I've added a DRO on the X and Y axis and also on the upper arm so I have as much travel on the X axis as a full sized BP.

Paid $400 for it and hauled it out of the WVA panhandle.  The overhaul can be viewed here:

http://s1016.photobucket.com/user/drstan...%20Machine

Before I found this one I'd never heard of a Fray.  There's a good description of the company & their mill lines at lathes.uk.  They were built in California from the 1930's to the 1950's.  Mine uses a BP built head and X axis feed box.

That's it, something on the wall. Looks like a huge bar of steel with a flat.

$400. What a deal. Great looking mill, how's it run? All those joints up top look like it might be a bit shaky..? Still, I'd pay 3 times what you did. Very nice.

Wait.. wrong thread!

I was looking at the travel on both the X axis table and that "X2" travel of the upper slide and agree both add up to enough to be able to reach anywhere on the table. It would be a little weird using both though, travel to the limit with the feed box on X1 (the table) and then keep moving by reaching up for the crank on the head.

BTW, that heavy feed box looks a lot like the original ones found on early Bridgeports, same vintage as the milling head from a round ram M machine. It must be from a Bridgeport because of the end support plate sticking above the surface of the table.

(07-17-2015, 10:05 AM)Dr Stan Wrote: [ -> ]

(07-16-2015, 09:42 AM)Sunset Machine Wrote: [ -> ]Nifty mill! What's the big bar on the left for?

I think you're referring to the slide on my compound miter saw that I have folded up and hooked to the wall.

The upper arm allows linear movement of the head.  Currently I have it aligned with the X axis, but it can be set at any angle.  Since this pic was taken I've added a DRO on the X and Y axis and also on the upper arm so I have as much travel on the X axis as a full sized BP.

Paid $400 for it and hauled it out of the WVA panhandle.  The overhaul can be viewed here:

http://s1016.photobucket.com/user/drstan...%20Machine

Before I found this one I'd never heard of a Fray.  There's a good description of the company & their mill lines at lathes.uk.  They were built in California from the 1930's to the 1950's.  Mine uses a BP built head and X axis feed box.

Great Deal great Job Tooo... If i may ask how long of a process on the restore?

... Interesting .. love to hear more of the history of the original build Love this stuff
Very Nice machine beautiful restore ..