Shop Tour #6C rare Walker Turner RAM

[lou sansone]

Hello fellow ww's

This is one of my favorite tools in the shop and I hope by showing it to you that for those who have never seen one you will see the good design from walker turner. This model is still made by delta under their label and has a machine model # of 15-126. If you have a delta catalogue it will be on page k-18 and k-19. They are still made and if you want purchase one new they will set you back $10,054.84 ( that was their 2002 price list )

The pictures tell the story so enjoy. At some time this machine was converted from the 8 speeds to 16 speeds. With the 1750 rpm motor that gives the following ranges 175 to 8200 rpm. A pretty broad range.

Some stats .
Ram travel 18"
Raising mechanism 20" range of height
Max distance from column 30"
left and right tilt 45 degrees
Weight about 700 lbs
Main column dia 3.75"
Main column has 38 ball bearings for head rotation and the ram has 8 ball bearing rollers that contact the dovetail ways.

These machines do come up for auction some times and are a real nice addition to a wood shop. That is really what they were made for. They may look like a wimpy bridgeport universal milling machine, but they are much lighter duty.

thanks for looking
lou

[lou sansone]

few more pics

[Alan Turner]

Boy does my DP look like a whimp after seeing your toy. Very nice. There are certainly times when I could use a radial DP. I'll probably have to keep my eyes open for something along those lines.

[Bruce Page]

Very nice Lou. About ten years ago I was assisting an old die shop in Akron, Ohio on a Tech-Transfer program through my work. I remember touring their facility and seeing row upon row of the WT’s and thinking to myself, I would sure love to have one of them!

[Nick Mitchell]

lou, you really have some cool machines, thanks again for sharing.

[Mark Singer]

That is another beauty! I like Walker Turner machines....

[lou sansone]

Boy does my DP look like a whimp after seeing your toy. Very nice. There are certainly times when I could use a radial DP. I'll probably have to keep my eyes open for something along those lines.

hi alan and others who look but don't post

This is one of those tools that are really very usefull in a wood shop. I would say that they show up on ebay once a month. The government also auctions them off every few months. Over the years I have learned that if you set your sights on a particualr machine and do all the research, that if you are patient you can eventually find one at a reasonable price.

I would offer this bit of advise for those thinking about buying one of these. Delta rockwell bought this design from walker turner in the 60's and changed the drilling head to a delta design. That was an improvement over the wt head. If you really want one of these then try to find one with a rockwell delta head. In addition delta had 2 different versions of their head. one had a 4.5" stroke and the other a 6" stroke. keep that in mind..

lou

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Lou another massive, impressive great piece of useful iron! Where as Tim Allen of Tooltime fame was impressed by stricly horsepower, I can see that you are impressed by horsepower, physical size, weight and age! You have a more selective taste in tools!

[Richard Wolf]

Lou, I love the stuff you have. How do you repair and maintain that old iron? Do you do machine work also?

Richard

[Ken Kimbrell]

Being curious, I did a quick Google and the first hit was this one for $1,750.00.
Didn’t realize that a used one could be that cheap …
Of course as Lou said, with a little research a better price could likely be found.
http://www.astratool.com/machines/ph4280.htm

[Bruce Page]

Being curious, I did a quick Google and the first hit was this one for $1,750.00.
Didn’t realize that a used one could be that cheap …
Of course as Lou said, with a little research a better price could likely be found.
http://www.astratool.com/machines/ph4280.htm

Looking around the rest of their site, their prices do seem high.

[lou sansone]

Lou, I love the stuff you have. How do you repair and maintain that old iron? Do you do machine work also?

Richard

hi richard

I do all my own work, if something needs real machining ( new spindle or what ever ) then I have it done at a friends place. I can run most metal working machines, but do not have any at this time. I try not to buy real basket cases though. You will spend so much time rebuilding them that it is not worth it. For those interested in buying old machines the best place to find them is in pattern shops that are selling out or changing machines to more modern ones.

lou

[lou sansone]

Being curious, I did a quick Google and the first hit was this one for $1,750.00.
Didn’t realize that a used one could be that cheap …
Of course as Lou said, with a little research a better price could likely be found.
http://www.astratool.com/machines/ph4280.htm

hi ken
actually one of these just sold on fleabay for about $500. This is why I like old iron so much. Go and get a $500 tiawan made DP and take a look at the quality compared to the old american iron stuff. Seems like a world of difference IMHO.

lou

[Corey Hallagan]

Again, nice stuff Lou. Must be a gas to have great old working equipment like that. What a shop! Thanks again for another look see!
Corey

[Alan Turner]

Hey Lou, take it easy with the tips stuff. I thought it was just you and me that knew of the pattermakers secret.

That is a great tip, by the way. The patternmakers did quite precise work, and not in a furniture factory production setting. Much work pride in that trade. So, to get the best results, they were careful with their machines. The stuff I just got out of Lou's back yard (Conn.) was from a pattern shop and I hope I can keep to its maint. schedule. Not a bit of rust or abuse.