Genre: Information/Explanation

Beaver Miller - Original Model A also badged as " Grimston " Manuals & Parts Lists for most models of Beaver Miller are available Beaver Model A - Click HERE for Detailed Photographs Mk . 1 & Mk . 2 VBRP If any reader has early Beaver Advertising or Maintenance Literature , I would be pleased to hear from them A Beaver Model A owner would like to have contact with fellow owners to discuss head details The Beaver Turret-head vertical miller Model " A " was manufactured by Balding Engineering ( originally jobbing engineers ) of the Old Tramways Power Station , Duke Street , Norwich and then Sweet Briar Road in the same city . A number of this model were also badged as " Grimston " ( a London machine-tool manufacturer and merchant ) and sometimes lacked the cast Beaver badge on the right-hand side of the main column ; the paint finish was also unusual on the Grimston version , a " splatter " mix of dark grey , green and red not dissimilar to that also used on some American ROTEX millers of the same era . In its original form , as introduced during the early 1950s , this little miller proved to be a compact , versatile machine equally at home in the toolroom or on the shop floor - and absolutely ideal when its industrial life was over , for the workshop of the enthusiastic amateur . In 1957 it was succeeded by the very much larger and heavier MK . 1 and Mk 2 and " VBRP " models , details of which ( today the most common " Beaver " on the used market ) can be seen here . In the 1980s , on the back of considerable success in exporting the VBRP range , the company opened a new factory in Peterborough to manufacture a range of CNC lathes to compliment the CNC millers and CNC machining centres already in production ; unfortunately the severe recession in manufacturing industry of 1992 ( when demand for machine tools fell by 50 % in 3 months ) caused the company to close .. The original 1950s miller had a 28 " x 6 " table ( with three 9 / 16 " T slots ) a longitudinal travel of 15 " , a cross feed of 7.5 " and a vertical movement of 13.75 " . A table power-feed motor was fitted as standard and drove a 4-speed gear box ; to change the rate of table feed " pick-off " gears were used where operator removed a side panel , pulled off the gears on two studs ( they were retained by snap-on wire springs ) and changed them for another pair from the four supplied . The head was driven by a simple and reliable two-stage V-belt arrangement with an adjustable intermediate pulley carried in a T slot ; an over-centre toggle lever released the belt tension to change speeds and the whole of the belt run was guarded by a rather fragile hinged , cast-aluminium cover . The head swung on top of the column , slid in and out of its housing and swivelled through 90 degrees each way - allowing the spindle nose to be brought to within 3.5 " of the column face or moved away to give a maximum clearance of 9.75 " . The quill , with 3 " of travel and a No. 30 International fitting , was fitted with both fine and quick-action feeds and driven by a 0.75 hp 3-phase motor through 7 speeds in two ranges arranged ( through the intermediate pulley ) of 200 , 330 , and 500 on Low-Range and 350 , 1420 , 2200 , 3600 rpm on High . The quill movement was measured by a vertical ruler and adjustable micrometer dial - and fitted with a very useful screw-adjusted ' pre-set ' depth stop . Because the electric motor mounts directly onto the back of a Beaver " headbar " , changing it is a very simple operation . The table power-feed motor , however , is flange-mounted to the back of the knee - and is not such an easy prospect for modification ; however , this type of small 3-phase motor is usually amenable to being run on a single-phase supply by using the old trick of linking two of the three-phase terminals with a suitable capacitor . For the home or smaller professional workshop the Beaver Mill " A " is one of the few machines that combines quality , size and functionality in just the right proportions . A Universal version , the " AH " , was also manufactured - but this is a comparatively rare machine and , unaccountably , used a completely different type of vertical head . Balding also built a 4.5 " x 20 " backgeared , screwcutting lathe of conventional design but robust construction . of which details can be foun