A local dealer allowed me to copy the Van Norman pages from his 10th edition of the book. The book is copyrighted, but since it is out of print, and since I am using only a small part of the book, I believe that "fair use" applies. I have completely re-formatted the information, so that all models of Van Norman ram type mills appear together. This format makes it easy to see when different models were introduced and discontinued.

Each model occupies one column in the table below. The model numbers appear in bold at the top and bottom of each column, and at two places in each column (to minimize scrolling up and down the long table). The model number at the top of each column is also a link to a page dedicated to that model or group of models. Years appear in bold at the left and right sides of the table. For each year and model, the highest serial number built in that year appears where model and year intersect. If a "-" appears where a model and year intersect, it means that there were no mills of that model produced that year.

The model number and serial number of a Van Norman mill are usually stamped in the front face of the column, at the top. For example, my mill is stamped "12-5751". The "12" means that it is a model #12 mill. The "5751" is the serial number. If I run down the #12 column of the table, I see that the last mill made in 1940 was number 5443, and the last one made in 1941 was 5903. Since 5751 is between those two numbers, I know that my mill was made somewhere around the middle of 1941. Not all mills use the same format for the serial numbers - an owner of an older #12 has informed me that his mill is marked 5074-12, (serial number first, then model number). It is possible that some mills don't include the model number at all, or that they have additional digits before or after the serial number to specify options, etc.

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