The misadventures of a Wells-Index 860C

[ScrapMetal]

I'm starting a thread for the mill I just bought to make it easier to give you guys updates on the ups and downs of me getting it back in to service.

As the title says, it's a Wells-Index 860C "universal" mill. In all it's glory in it's new habitat - the trailer.





Here are the specs for a "new" one. About the only difference I see is that mine has a 2 HP motor for the vertical head.



Right now my motors are both wired up for 460v 3-phase power but I'm planning on rewiring them for 230v 3-phase. Then I have to get something to convert my single phase 220v power into something to feed it. Figuring on using an RPC but haven't bothered with figuring it all out yet.

Right now the biggest issue is to get it off the trailer and in to the back of my (very small) garage/shop. The garage door is only 6'6" high and I'm pretty sure I'll have to remove the vertical head to get it through the door. In preparation for moving I had to get it cleaned up a bit...



The 800 mile trip left a lot of bug goo on the poor thing.

I've removed the forward/reverse switch on the side of the motor as well as this from the top of the head.



I found out this was a power draw bar (showing my ignorance of such things) which was a bonus. It was connected to this switch and oil "reserve" or whatever it may be called.





That's where I'm currently at. Tomorrow I'm planning on calling the rental place to see when they can drop off a forklift for me to use.

Oh, did I mention? I have to move all my machines out of the "shop" in order to get this thing in to where it belongs. So SB lathe, 16" shaper, LeBlond grinder, drill press, band saw, etc. all have to come out. That is NOT going to be fun.

-Ron