Even more steel falls into my collection today as the end of term hits many people, especially seniors, who are ditching stuff to move house. I predict alot more fun stuff to come, so stay tuned.

First up in today’s lineup is this grand collection of enormous über-steel death-mills.

Now the little lonesome shell mill at MITERS has a bunch of buddies. Unfortunately, we have no tool holders for the Bridgeport that can even begin to swing one of these things. The shanks are all 1.25 to 1.5″ in diameter. Each mill is HSS according to their stamped labels. Some are chipped and require resharpening. Some are just weird – like that little stubby thing under the massive mill at the top. A few have six flutes.

These are all capable of serious damage if wielded properly (or improperly). I like this.

This set will go to MITERS, in the event we figure out something to do with them.

Next is…

I don’t get it. Regardless, I liked the 2 foot long slab of solid 1″ thick aluminum that formed the deck, along with the identical 2 foot long slab of 1″ thick aluminum next to it. These will be for the bots… whichever bot I will build that requires a solid slab of 1″ thick aluminum or two?

Stay tuned for the next episode!

Over the weekend at Swapfest, some MITERS guys sequestered a large drill press to replace the one currently in the shop. I left before the festivities, but somehow they managed to lug it back to the shop.

I suppose it’s a misnomer to call it “new” metal.

And here it is. According to the dude who was selling, it dates to the 1950s, which I’m pretty sure is one World War after the MITERS lathe. All solid metal and cast iron as everything of that time seems to be. Otherwise, the layout is the same as drill presses now.

More detail of the head. It is extraordinarily smooth, and actually has a real Jacobs chuck, which is also extraordinarily smooth. The table adjustment lever appears to be missing, as is the chuck key, but I’m told there is indeed a matching key, unlike the old drill press, which required selective use of channel-lock pliers. No racks or worm drives or fancy stuff on the column, which makes me fear that I won’t be beefy enough to change up the table height like I consistenty have trouble doing with large drill presses.

Someone also snagged this thing.

I don’t know exactly what it is, but it appears to be capable of causing massive amounts of damage if used properly. The crazy milling tip appears to be removable.

Alot of new steel for MITERS this week, which should be grea tto get the summer building season starting.