I have an opportunity to buy a Jet milling machine from a customer of mine. He found out I was interested in machining as a hobby and he is downsizing his personal shop and doesn't need two mills. It's dirt cheap. In fact, if I can't get it fixed it's free. He fools with machinery all day at work and he simply doesn't feel like tearing it open to see what's wrong. He also has a nice Bridgeport right next to it, so motivation is low. He just wants the space back.
The bad: it knocks quickly, but softly in reverse. It is nice and quiet in forward though. While in reverse and knocking if you fiddle with the brake you can make it a little better or a little worse depending on how you wiggle the handle. The noise seems to be in the front pulley assembly, not the rear one under the motor. I have never been inside a milling machine before. I know it's silly, but any ideas? Anyone familiar with this sound in any mill, or its fix? How often do you guys use reverse anyways? I can't ever remember using the reverse on my bench mill.
Even though the mill may end up being free (or at least cheap) it's going to cost a bit to get it moved, I will have to get another 3 phase converter, wire in a new run from the panel, etc. Then if it's something major I have to move it out again. Or I could get it knowing it may only ever run properly in forward.
What do yall think? Risk it being an easy fix and bring it home or pass?
The rotary table and indexing head do not go with it. It comes with no tooling.
The power feed works, but whatever the box with buttons and switches near the bottom does not work.