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Perfecto Universal & Horizontal
Milling Machines

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Perfect Drilling Machine

Unfortunately, with only two examples found, details of the Perfecto Universal milling machine are scanty. However, it appears to have been developed from an equally rare  horizontal type with the addition, at the top of its rectangular main column, of a bolt-on plate that carried, like the Dore WestburyBeaver Mk. 1 and Elliott Ominimil 00, a vertical head carried on a ram that could be slid backwards and forwards. Drive came from a rear mounted single-phase motor to the spindle by standard A-section V-belt. Unusually for a small miller, the ram on the Universal, instead of being the expected round steel bar, was of the much more rigid dovetail type with the head arranged to swivel on the end, Bridgeport style. In addition to the vertical head, the miller also kept the horizontal spindle, this being driven by V-belt countershaft system from a second motor mounted on the left-hand face of the column; this drive was (usefully) equipped with a low-speed, lathe-like backgear system almost certainly borrowed, judging by its appearance, from the Perfecto lathe. Oddly, instead of using the dovetail ram as the overarm to support the end of a cutter-holding horizontal arbor, the makers employed a round bar that passed, in the usual way, through the column just above the spindle line. 
Travel of the standard table - which seems to have been that used on the Dore Westbury miller -  had a longitudinal travel (Y axis) of around 14 inches, in traverse (X axis) of just 2.5" and vertically (Z axis) of around 6 inches. As few can have been produced - and the small factory lacked resources - ancillary items like countershafts and bracketing have a decidedly home-made appearance, showing that each example would, almost certainly, have been built to order.
An owner reports:
Using an ordinary end mill with a depth of cut set to approximately 40 thou - or a 60-deg dovetail milling cutter set to take off 120 thou and using a slow feed rate - no chatter was evident. However, as one might expect with such a relatively light machine, with a slab cutter (straight or angled cutting blades) mounted and cutting in 20 thou passes caused quite a lot of vibration. I have not used the back gears on the horizontal mill yet as I find I have not needed the slower speeds. It seems to be no slouch when cutting metal, unlike the Sieg X1 or similar milling machines that suffer from a lot of chatter no matter what cutters are employed - with those "Chines" machines only very slow and gentle feeds can be attempted.
A few problems I've found with the Perfecto: the shaft that holds the pulleys for the horizontal drive has no means of lubricating its bearings (or bushes( that I can see - though as yet there is no wear in them (or anything else). The vertical axis has no covers over its slideway and swarf can enter and make the movement stiff.
If you have a Perfecto milling machine of any type, the writer would be very interested to hear from you..


Perfecto "Universal" milling machine on what appears to be the maker's purpose-built stand. The drive system is not original - but the incorporation of a mid-way pulley assembly gives a far better speed range and hence extended versatility

Arrangement of the vertical feed-screw and handwheel



Horizontal spindle with its round-bar support overarm

Countershaft system used to drive the horizontal spindle

Horizontal drive system

The low-speed,  lathe-like backgear mechanism fitted to the horizontal spindle - it appears to be identical to that used on the Perfecto lathe

Cross-slide feed-screw handle and micrometer dial

Longitudinal feed-screw handwheel and micrometer dial

Vertical handwheel and (homemade?) micrometer dial


The very rare Perfecto horizontal milling machine


Perfecto Lathes   Perfecto Shapers   Perfect Tool & Cutter Grinder

Perfect Drilling Machine

Perfecto Universal & Horizontal
Milling Machines
email: tony@lathes.co.uk
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