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Nichols Horizontal Mill, 2008 Rebuild, Part 9:

Initial Nichols Rebuild!

I initially didn't want to pull the motor apart, so I taped up the wires and hit it with the stripper.

Initial Nichols Rebuild!

A couple cycles of that, and a little detail scraping, was all it really needed to be ready for paint.

Initial Nichols Rebuild!

And, at this point, with the paint dry on the base and column,
it was time to bolt the two of them back together again.

Initial Nichols Rebuild!

And once assembled, rolled back into the machine room
and put in roughly the location I'd planned for it,
at least at the beginning.

Initial Nichols Rebuild!

The head casting is fully cleaned, the threaded holes given a good
run with a tap, and then painted.

Initial Nichols Rebuild!

Installation was as simple as sliding it into place with a little oil.
Temporarily supported here with a small piece of pipe.

Initial Nichols Rebuild!

The head had several extra (as in, not factory stock) holes in the casting, likely for one of the
various versions of Nichols' "auto feed'", which was an analog air-over-hydraulic system,
long gone, of course, when I got the machine.

Initial Nichols Rebuild!

In the meantime, I was cycling some of the other loose parts, like the spindle, through the parts washer
to get the initial grunge off. They'd be re-cleaned with fresh solvent before being installed.

Initial Nichols Rebuild!

And of course the saddle, knee, table end caps and other parts were also stripped,
degreased, pressure washed and had the threaded holes chased.

Initial Nichols Rebuild!

The knee cleaned up nicely, and thankfully, needed no real mechanical repair.


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