Herbert To Fix Herbert

Some years ago I looked for a vertical milling machine for my workplace, an Agricultural Service Company. Having previously bought a second hand lathe, a Harrison L15, from a nearby machinery dealer and having a Myford Super 7 which matches up with my own machine to the extent of using some of my GHT extras on the works unit, I felt that a miller was the next essential.

- Alan Hopwood

The first answer was negative, but on further reflection my dealer said that he had a unit in the yard which had been damaged on trying to load it out to another customer. He had caught the leadscrew with the mudguard of his 10 ton forklift and bent it (the leadscrew that is). The machine was an Alfred Herbert 47V, all 6.7 tons of her. The deal was agreed on the basis that as our premises were closer to the local scrap yard than his; he would charge us scrap price and if I could effect a repair we would have a miller and if I could not, then the local scrap yard was just round the corner. In fact, I had to borrow their large fork lift to unload the machine and position it in our premises.

Cutting a longish tale short, the leadscrew was removed, taken to our 60 ton hydraulic press and, with a couple of Vee-blocks, gently straightened. Luckily the leadscrew is held stationary, whilst the drive nut revolves around it. The whole machine was then cleaned up, oiled, adjusted and is back in useful service (photo 1).

Now to the second part of the story. I journeyed from North Yorkshire to South Devon to collect my wife who had been visiting her sister. We had a couple of days to spare so, on a visit to an antique shop in Dartmouth, I was immediately attracted to an Alfred Herbert wooden cased precision level (photo 2) but the asking price on the label was more than a bit frightening to a Scotsman who has lived over 40 years in Yorkshire. Getting into conversation with the lady of the shop, and giving some (hopefully useful) advice on setting up a wheel barometer, I decided to put in a cheeky offer for the level. After consulting her husband by phone, the offer was accepted. I won’t detail the reactions of my wife and in-laws on hearing what I had paid for the level but they think I’m daft anyway.