email: tony@lathes.co.uk
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Famco Milling Machine
The writer seeks catalogs, & other research material
relevant to the Gorton & Famco Companies

Still in business, though no longer manufacturing milling machines, the Famco Machine Company now concern themselves with shears, the Gorton/Lars pantograph and cutter grinder and Milwaukee Slide & Spindle precision, standard and special slide assemblies. The Company were, at one time, based at 3100 Sheriden Road, Kenosha, Wisconsin where they manufactured their "Model 200", an interesting machine described by the makers as their: 2 hp Vertical, Ram Type, Turret Milling Machine . A very heavy-duty column was surmounted by a 15-inch diameter swivelling turret which held a ram running on dovetail slides; the body of the ram held both the 2 hp, 3-phase reversing motor and the complete, oil-bath lubricated, speed-change gearbox whose shafts all ran on taper or ball bearings. The final drive to the forged, nitralloy  No. 40 National Standard Taper spindle (which ran in Timken taper roller bearings) was by spiral-bevel gears. Twelve spindle speeds, controlled by three levers on the left-hand face of the ram, were provided of 80,  100,  140,  200,  260,  350,  600,  800,  1150,  1600 and 2100 rpm. To facilitate meshing the drive gears when speeds were changed, and lacking a handwheel to turn the motor over, an electric jog control was fitted. The ram was traversed over a range of  17 inches by a rack-and-pinion mechanism operated by a handwheel supported on the side of the turret 
The 40" x 10" table had 20 inches of longitudinal travel, 10 inches of cross feed and the knee could be moved vertically through 20 inches; hand-scraped tapered gib strips were fitted to adjust the clearance on all three table movements and a one-shot oil pump supplied lubricant to the table and saddle fittings. The table feed screws were heat-treated and ground-finished - and the nuts through which they ran fitted with easily-reached adjustors to eliminate backlash; handwheels were fitted at both ends of the table and a pair of micrometer-adjustable stops supplied as standard for the longitudinal travel. The spindle nose could be brought to within 2.5 inches of the tables surface, and moved a maximum of 22.5 inches away. An optional variable-speed power table drive was available, but had to be factory fitted when the machine was ordered; the unit offered rates of feed from 0 to 10 inches per minute and was powered by a 0.5 hp reversing motor.
Standing just under 70 inches high the miller required a floor space of 72.5" x 80" and weighed 2750 lbs..

email: tony@lathes.co.uk
Home   Machine Tool Archive   Machine-tools Sale & Wanted
Machine Tool Manuals   Catalogues   Belts   Books   Accessories

Famco Milling Machine
The writer seeks catalogs, & other research material
relevant to the Gorton & Famco Companies