1943 K&T 2H Universal

Andy FitzGibbon · Nov 29, 2022

I've been halfheartedly watching out for a 2H horizontal for a while now... mostly looking at eBay listings for machines on the other side of the country, and allowing the distance to keep me from buying any of them. This universal came up for sale 25 miles from my house, so I suspended my self-imposed "no more project machines" rule and bought it. It's not in amazing shape, but its not worn out either, and it came with two Style B arbor supports, the hard-to-find outboard support, and the hinged clamp that holds the coolant nozzle. It was just recently taken out of service to make way for a larger twin-screw K&T.

I don't know when I'll have time to start on cleaning it up, but if anyone is parting out a 2H i could use a knee crank and the cover for the right hand end of the table screw. And, of course, a vertical head and parking attachment too...

Andy

WHHJR · Nov 29, 2022

I have one also. It has a feed problem which I have not had time to check. PM if interested. I have a few arbor supports and arbors as well as many cutters.

MyLilMule · Nov 29, 2022

Nice to have a universal table. I wonder if the old shop had a low lead attachment lying around. Likely the reason the cover is missing.

WHHJR · Nov 30, 2022

Feed problem resolved( motor reversed).

Andy FitzGibbon · Dec 1, 2022

MyLilMule said:
Nice to have a universal table. I wonder if the old shop had a low lead attachment lying around. Likely the reason the cover is missing.

The shop I got it from definitely didn't.

I already have a Model H indexing head and foot stock. I actually had a conventional lead box at one point as well, but sold it years ago. It would be fun to play around with one, but the chances of axtually needing to cut any leads in my shop are fairly slim.

Been too busy to do anything with the mill since I unloaded it... hoping to drain the muck out of the sump and give it an initial cleanup this weekend.

M.B. Naegle · Dec 1, 2022

Andy FitzGibbon said:
......

Been too busy to do anything with the mill since I unloaded it... hoping to drain the muck out of the sump and give it an initial cleanup this weekend.

One thing to keep in mind is that the sump on these isn't one big open cavity. It has several walls bridging the top and bottom surfaces and on my old 2H at least, they were very rough cast with lots of sharp edges that will hold onto debris. Hopefully yours isn't as bad, but mine had been run without the screens in place and they hadn't kept the oil levels up, so the sump was completely full of chips and thickened cutting oil gunk (oil pump also had poor pressure after years of running dry). I soaked a bunch of mineral spirits into it and just started fishing around with my bare arms until I couldn't dig any more gunk out. I had the machine up on 4x4's so after that I opened the washout port on the back and rinsed what was left into a pan. Had a few machines with the same issue from the same lazy shop, and there are many out there that would advise to just ignore the sump and use a bucket or something, but once you get it clean then it's really just as simple as keeping the screens in place and keeping it topped off with fresh oil.

ramsay1 · Dec 1, 2022

M.B. Naegle said:
One thing to keep in mind is that the sump on these isn't one big open cavity. It has several walls bridging the top and bottom surfaces and on my old 2H at least, they were very rough cast with lots of sharp edges that will hold onto debris. Hopefully yours isn't as bad, but mine had been run without the screens in place and they hadn't kept the oil levels up, so the sump was completely full of chips and thickened cutting oil gunk (oil pump also had poor pressure after years of running dry). I soaked a bunch of mineral spirits into it and just started fishing around with my bare arms until I couldn't dig any more gunk out. I had the machine up on 4x4's so after that I opened the washout port on the back and rinsed what was left into a pan. Had a few machines with the same issue from the same lazy shop, and there are many out there that would advise to just ignore the sump and use a bucket or something, but once you get it clean then it's really just as simple as keeping the screens in place and keeping it topped off with fresh oil.

All three K&T machines I own had the same problem.. Rotten dinosaur carcasses in the coolant sump.. I washed and washed with a pressure washer with the drain open until I got everything out that I could... I no longer have any problems with this as I use cutting oil exclusively.. The only thing that is needed is to occasionally add a bit more oil and the coolant pumps love me... My 2D tool and die mill coolant pump was totally seized but I was lucky to be able to save it....I have a 2hl universal with low lead attachment, a 2h plain, and the 2d tool and die mill all from ww2 period .. Two are "war finish" machines.. Cheers from Louisiana; Ramsay 1

M.B. Naegle · Dec 1, 2022

ramsay1 said:
All three K&T machines I own had the same problem.. Rotten dinosaur carcasses in the coolant sump.. I washed and washed with a pressure washer with the drain open until I got everything out that I could... I no longer have any problems with this as I use cutting oil exclusively.. The only thing that is needed is to occasionally add a bit more oil and the coolant pumps love me... My 2D tool and die mill coolant pump was totally seized but I was lucky to be able to save it....I have a 2hl universal with low lead attachment, a 2h plain, and the 2d tool and die mill all from ww2 period .. Two are "war finish" machines.. Cheers from Louisiana; Ramsay 1

The worst one I did was our Fosdick sensitive drill. It had a similar in base coolant sump packed with gunk and chips, and in there I found a foil hamburger wraper with... something wrapped inside :ack2:

.

As a lot of these old machines get relegated to "beaters" in shops, the simplest preventative maintenance is the first to go, like changing the oil and maintaining coolant. Guys will cut dry or with a squirt bottle all day long before they'll clean and maintain the machine because everything's a rush and if the machine dies, it was just it's time to go and the boss will get another old beater from somewhere.

Tyrone Shoelaces · Dec 1, 2022

M.B. Naegle said:
The worst one I did was our Fosdick sensitive drill. It had a similar in base coolant sump packed with gunk and chips, and in there I found a foil hamburger wraper with... something wrapped inside.

As a lot of these old machines get relegated to "beaters" in shops, the simplest preventative maintenance is the first to go, like changing the oil and maintaining coolant. Guys will cut dry or with a squirt bottle all day long before they'll clean and maintain the machine because everything's a rush and if the machine dies, it was just it's time to go and the boss will get another old beater from somewhere.

Machines like radial arm drills, shapers, bandsaws normally are “ shop “ machines that most guys in the shop can jump on. As a result they are usually neglected and abused.

Regards Tyrone.

ramsay1 · Dec 3, 2022

Andy FitzGibbon said:
The shop I got it from definitely didn't.

I already have a Model H indexing head and foot stock. I actually had a conventional lead box at one point as well, but sold it years ago. It would be fun to play around with one, but the chances of axtually needing to cut any leads in my shop are fairly slim.

Been too busy to do anything with the mill since I unloaded it... hoping to drain the muck out of the sump and give it an initial cleanup this weekend.

ramsay1 · Dec 3, 2022

Be nice to have a low lead attachment complete for my 2h plain as I have a standard high speed universal head.... Those lead boxes of either type are scarce especially with all the gears and with the auxiliary shaft in the low lead box... I have the low lead box complete for my 2hl universal and it is nice to have... Cheers from Louisiana; Ramsay 1

Ohio Mike · Dec 8, 2022

I have a complete regular lead attachment for my 2H and a low lead box that's missing tons of gears. I got lucky this year and bought a dividing head from a dealer I know. I was talking to him about my 2H and he mentioned that he had a pallet with a K&T head and some other parts but he hadn't had time to even look at it yet. I told him to send me pics and any serial numbers he could find when I had time. The next week I got a bunch of pics. Ended up being a head for the 2H and also a complete parking attachment. Feel lucky to have found that setup.

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