Photo Index - J. E. Costilo Machine Works - milling machine with rise/fall table

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
J. E. Costilo Machine Works
Brooklyn, NY

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Metal Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Mill, Horizontal
Machine Size:	6"x14" table
Submitted By:	James Huston

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	milling machine with rise/fall table
Date of Manufacturer:	late 1890s
Serial Number:	25
Last Updated	8/15/2021 6:09:26 PM

Comments:

I had been looking for a small horizontal mill to mount my Porter-Cable No. 2 universal milling attachment on and spotted this machine at HGR, a nearby industrial surplus dealer. I was intrigued by the small size and obvious age of the milling machine, but was unable to find much about the manufacturer until Jeff Joslin stepped in and unearthed some history; it would appear that J.E. Costillo made metalworking equipment with an emphasis on automotive service and repair. On closer inspection, this mill has led a Dickensian life, being treated with so much downright cruelty that the table actually snapped in half lengthwise, fracturing the front saddle dovetail in the process. When this was "repaired", the brazing left no room for the original leadscrew assembly, so a substitute adjustable stop was cobbled out of all thread and a pair of gears were used to move things back and forth. The damaged table was brazed a little crooked and drilled extensively but unevenly to mount a massive shopmade T track table that wasn't remotely flat, being constructed ( if that is the right term) from bar stock and 1/4"-20 flathead screws. At some point, the original support bracket for the Z-axis was damaged and replaced with an assemblage of bolts and weldments. In addition, the milling machine had well over a dozen holes drilled haphazardly through it to scab a motor and countershaft onto the side of the main casting, which was covered in a large chickenwire guard that required further drilling. There was also the small matter of the missing hardware to retain the Y axisleadscrew. Did I mention the two spots where the T slots in the table were blown out, the missing overhead support or the loss of all the original balanced cranks? Somebody should have been horsewhipped.

To add to my woes, no other mills of this manufacturer have come to light, and there are no known engravings of what the machine actually looked like intact, so much of the restoration is done via extropalation of how it had to have functioned, a few ghosts where missing parts once met, and plain old guesswork.

I brought the mill home as much from pity as anything only to find that there were still some good bones under all the blood and entrails. After a long pressure washer and scraper bath, I filled in all the non-original holes, removed all hardware too new to be OEM, and gave the machine a coat of satin black. I cleaned and loc-tited screws into each and every hole in the table, cut them off, and ground the whole top on my surface grinder, then trimmed away the brass on the repair area until I had a tunnel just big enough to accept a new leadscrew and nut. I fitted a new nut assembly, made a leadscrew support bushing, wear plate, and retainer, and mounted everything back on the machine. I also modified the remaining z axis pieces to use a proper crank, made a new drive system from the pieces of the old one to mount to the ceiling ( the Costilo was meant to be a lineshaft machine), and made an adapter to mount the vertical attachment that the milling machine was bought to accompany. Lastly, I made some mahogany dust cover/tool racks to keep the new set of tapers in a convenient place.

This mill is unusual in having no way to accurately raise or lower the knee, the movement being accomplished solely by a rack and pinion and the table being forced back up by what is essentially a big die spring. There was likely some provision to limit this travel, which I've attempted to reproduce, but the general assumption is that this milling machine was really meant for jobs like slotting, cutting keyways, and anything that didn't require much precision- the mill doesn't been have graduated dials, so it can judge distances about as well as Sammy Davis, Jr.

All in all, the Costilo has a new life ahead of it, being capable (with the vertical attachment) of drilling and light milling some very difficult compound angles. Moreover, the Milling machine will be handy for keyways, which I do a fair amount of and loathe setting up my primary mill to do.

Seeing the Costilo with the proper black and gold livery, some exotic hardwood tool holders and a drive system stratching down from the rafters as Nature intended is a great feeling, and I have no doubt the old man will benefit the shop with his 120 or so years of shop experience.

Photo 1:

Comments: With dignity restored
Source: James Huston

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Photo 2:

Comments: There's a milling machine in there somewhere
Source: James Huston

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Photo 3:

Comments: Who does this?
Source: James Huston

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Photo 4:

Comments: Rise /fall mechanism, I think
Source: James Huston

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Photo 5:

Comments: The only lettering on the machine
Source: James Huston

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Photo 6:

Comments: It's true, you can do woodworking on a mill
Source: James Huston

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