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View Full Version : Bridgeport - I resisted temptation. I think.



Anorak Bob
31st August 2012, 08:22 PM
I had the take my daughter's car to a repair shop to have the alternator checked. There was a Bridgeport J Head Mill with a 42 inch table in a corner surrounded by junk. I enquired and was told it was for sale. 3 large.

I went back home and did some research. The mill could be 20 to 30 years old, Bridgeport manufactured mills in Singapore during that period. The bloke selling it said that he bought it from Singapore but he reckoned it was American. Every readable label on the machine displayed "Singapore" in the text. He also said that it had done very little work in the 15 or so years he had owned it.

My wife came home. I told her of my discovery. She said rather than me go to Melbourne next week and pine over the mill, she would buy it for my birthday. I ( quickly) went back with the camera. The mill is metric. There is 2.8mm (0.110" Bruce:U) backlash in Y axis lead screw and 0.5m, say 20 thou in the X. No discernable slop in the Y. The table started to bind either side of about a 200mm wide easily traversable central position.

The Y ways are heavily scored. The down feed handle has been welded on, always a nice touch. :roll: The present owner may not have done much work on the mill but someone else sure had.

I'm sure all these ills could be repaired but I think I might look for another birthday present. Maybe a belt.

BT

ps. I must admit having all that room (clearance) to work in is a strong temptation.

shedhappens
31st August 2012, 08:35 PM
I suppose that it was the lovely yellow paint job that tempted you BT :U

but...... for 3 g's you would get a really big buckle with your belt :o

Stustoys
31st August 2012, 08:39 PM
Just look at all that Z ;)
Looks to have a fair amount of Y as well.
R8 spindle?
Hey the speed change lever on top of the spindle isnt broken!

Stuart

Anorak Bob
31st August 2012, 09:21 PM
I suppose that it was the lovely yellow paint job that tempted you BT :U

but...... for 3 g's you would get a really big buckle with your belt :o

Shed,

The yellow sheen is rust.:U


Just look at all that Z ;)
Looks to have a fair amount of Y as well.
R8 spindle?
Hey the speed change lever on top of the spindle isnt broken!

Stuart

Stu,

The bloke didn't know what the spindle taper was. My literature says R8.
I noticed a few missing things, I didn't notice the lever. The head has been Duluxed.

BT

simonl
31st August 2012, 09:49 PM
Hi Bob,

Do you think he will get $3K for it?

Simon

Anorak Bob
31st August 2012, 10:46 PM
Hi Bob,

Do you think he will get $3K for it?

Simon

Don't know Simon, probably not.

I was quite excited when I saw it initially but the excitement quickly dissipated when I encountered the scored ways and the backlash. Could be the reason why it has sat there for 15 years.

BT

Ueee
31st August 2012, 10:54 PM
Still a better mill than a new Chinese one, less backlash and much better build quality.....I would think though that after using the shaublim the bridgeport would still feel not as good.
A big belt buckle and a few nice socks sounds pretty good......

Sterob
31st August 2012, 11:06 PM
Might be worth throwing a low offer at him Bob...you never know...he might bite...if its been siting there for a long time.

Restorations are for the pleasure of bringing a piece of equipment back into excellent condition and your pride....they aren't for value for money....:)

I'm no expert, but I don't think Bridgeports come up too often in Perth?

Just sayin'....lol



Steve

rodm
1st September 2012, 03:00 AM
BT
I agree it might be worth an offer. The Bridgeport gives you a lot more capability albeit not the look, feel or quality of your 13. Maybe have a chat to Les as he refurbished his Bridgeport when he got it. He would certainly have the contacts to get the ways ground and scraped.

The backlash could be overcome by a couple of ballscrews replacing the existing screws or maybe just new Bridgeport nuts will fix it. My new mill has backlash on the X and Y and there is an adjustment for that.

At least there are heaps of new parts on ebay and they seem to be priced well. If anyone can bring this machine back to life you are the person to do it.

Hmmm Melbourne and belt buckles or a Bridgy - your head is going to spin.

matthew_g
1st September 2012, 07:01 AM
CRIKEY !!!!!!!!!!!
I would own it already.....

C-47
1st September 2012, 08:49 AM
Bob,
If memory is correct of that era, the castings were made in Indonesia and finished in Singapore, the head was from the USA. The pancake motor did not have a good reputation for long life. I would have thought the ways should have been chrome plated, but maybe not. If its R8 then more tooling to consider, ah! the first flush of spring. All the best with it. Alan.

morrisman
1st September 2012, 11:16 AM
this one look ok ....

MAS horizontal milling machine with vertical head Auction (0001-3001986) | GraysOnline Australia (http://www.graysonline.com/lot/0001-3001986/engineering-and-toolmaking/mas-horizontal-milling-machine-with-vertical-head)

Abratool
1st September 2012, 11:34 AM
Bob
After speaking with you on the subject, you may recall I made mention of a Bridgeport my son had been working, & he descibed it as "having a lot of backlash"
A lot of these older machines have seen tough lives.
It was good to see that you took a little time to consider.
Enjoy the trip to Melb.
All the best:2tsup:
Bruce
ps Just reviewed the photos again, & my thoughts were.....please.... NO

jhovel
1st September 2012, 11:35 AM
Bob and other Bridgeport afficionados:
what's going on at the joint of the drive head and the spindle housing on this machine?
The colourand surface finish of the drive housing is different to the rest of the machine and the circled spots show that the catings don't line up at all.
I wonder if the drive head has been replaced at some stage and came from a different factory. I can't imagine that Bridgeport would have let it out of the door like that even in in Singapore.
A better finnished/newer drive head might be a good thing, but certainly indicates something very wrong with the machine's history.
In any case, I am certain that Bob could make that work and glisten like a brand new machine!
I'm protty sure (from what I've read in forums) that you could get a spindle with another taper to suit your tooling Bob.
Go for it Bob.
Joe

Stustoys
1st September 2012, 12:04 PM
Hi Joe,
Not sure about the castings, the ones I have seen dont exactly match. But your picture did get me looking again at something I noticed last night. The arm that engauges the spindle powerfeed is missing. So I would assume everthing in there is missing, which is a fair last gears, clutches, springs etc.


My thoughts are heading towards the sub $1k range(unless there is a lot of tooling sitting in a cupboard somewhere).

Stuart

Anorak Bob
1st September 2012, 12:27 PM
I had a rustle through my old photos and found a few J head photos from some Reliable auctions. I also did a quick skim through my copy of "A Guide to Renovating the Bridgeport Series 1 J Head Milling Machine". There are some comparative photos of bed wear and the comment "...if on the other hand you just see scored bare metal, then excessive wear may be present and it may be better to keep looking".

The photos in the guide suggest high wear.

I've included some photos of the Y ways of some machines in good nick. A far cry from what I observed yesterday.

I reckon I'll walk away .

BT

Stustoys
1st September 2012, 02:17 PM
Hmm I wonder if you can tell much just be looking at ways?
The last picture I like as it looks like there has been wear since the flaking was done.
The 6th picture looks like the flaking might have been done on worn ways to pretty things up.(though maybe not. maybe it just has just a little wear?)
How does one know?

Stuart

pipeclay
1st September 2012, 02:25 PM
You do realize its not the same machine dont you.

Stustoys
1st September 2012, 02:33 PM
You do realize its not the same machine dont you.
Yes

pipeclay
1st September 2012, 04:17 PM
Why did you make that comment then,or was it to try and see who noticed they were different.

Stustoys
1st September 2012, 04:41 PM
Which comment would that be?

Machine A "looks like there has been wear since the flaking was done."

Machine B "looks like the flaking might have been done on worn ways to pretty things up."

I recall now that it even has a name, Flaking rebuild or something like that.
I guess you just need to be sure the gibs a tight and feel how it moves at the extremes of travel.

Stuart

pipeclay
1st September 2012, 04:56 PM
Sorry the way I read it I thought you were making post and present comments on the flaking as being the same machine.

Stustoys
1st September 2012, 05:00 PM
Sometimes my abuse of the English language gets in the way of me getting my point across :D

Stuart

Machtool
1st September 2012, 05:40 PM
I recall now that it even has a name, Flaking rebuild or something like that.I think it was Forrest or maybe Rich King that coined the phrase "Biax Rebuild"


Machine B "looks like the flaking might have been done on worn ways to pretty things up."
Your Honor, I'd like to present Machine C as evidence. The very last picture in Bob's post. That's a different machine again.

http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f65/221905d1346462716-bridgeport-i-resisted-temptation-i-think-mf13m.jpg

There's something very after factory gone on there.

Phil.

JohnQ
1st September 2012, 06:00 PM
Phil
Would that be the addition of 2 grease/oilers on the left hand side above the dovetails

JohnQ

Machtool
1st September 2012, 06:06 PM
G'day John.

I hadn't noticed those until you mentioned it. I'd be thinking they are an addition. I was mostly noticing the flaking / mottling pattern on the knee ways.

Those nipples are just screaming "Pump me full of grease"

Regards Phil.

toolman49
1st September 2012, 06:42 PM
Those nipples are just screaming "Pump me full of grease"
That's getting me all excited,
Regards,
Martin

PDW
1st September 2012, 11:01 PM
I'm protty sure (from what I've read in forums) that you could get a spindle with another taper to suit your tooling Bob.
Joe

I doubt it. You certainly won't get ISO 40 because the spindle is too small. ISO 30, maybe. IMO if you buy it, you go with the taper it has. R8 is pretty light duty but so is a B/port really, their strength lies in their versatility not their ability to remove lots of metal fast.

That 1J head isn't a bad milling head, same as mine except mine was made by Adcock & Shipley. Never had any trouble with the pancake motor on mine.

I think it's overpriced for its condition, FWIW. With the amount of wear in the ways it's scrap as far as a precision machine tool goes. Capable of being restored, sure, at a cost in hours. Comes back to the question of whether you're buying a machine to restore or a machine to put to work and what dollar value do you assign to your time?

PDW

Anorak Bob
1st September 2012, 11:39 PM
Well Boys,

I've decided I won't be pining over the Singaporean while I'm visiting the Tool Capital next week. If any local enthusiast wants to try his hand at machine refurbishment, the Bridgeport resides at Abe Schneider's in Dianella.

http://www.schneidermechanical.com.au/ (http://www.schneidermechanical.com.au/)

I'll stick with working small.

BT