bridgeport mill price question?

wilhurley

wilhurley

Joined
May 9, 2004
Messages
252
I found somone not far from me that has an old bridgeport mill. I'd say it was made in the 40's or 50"s, just a guess, It is a knee mill. The head you change the speeds by pullies. It is all manual, no power feed, and I have to move it. they priced it at $2500, I thought about buying it, it does come with collets. and a small vise, but thats it. I couldn't find a fine downward adjustment for the head. Would I be better off buying a smaller import mill, with power feed and DRO. or go with the brideport. I just want the best bang for the buck. Also are those harbor freight, grizzly, knee mills any count? The mill is identical to this mill I found on the net. http://www.danparksmachineservices.com/Bridgport_Mill.html
 
Go with an import. I work in a machine shop, and we have 4 manual mills that we use everyday. I used Brideports in another shop, and have found our imported mills (same style, different price tag) to be of great quality and performance. It's amazing how much faster you can get work done with a DRO and power feed. Plus an old Bridgeport looses any accuracy that may have put it above the import in the first place. Don't get a harbor freight, their a little too cheap. Go with something like an Enco, I have used many of thier imported tools with great satisfaction everytime.
 
That's too much.

I've seen a lot of Bridgeports (usually newer, sometimes with DRO and powered ways) sell for between $1,200 and $1800. It seems there are a lot of them being sold at auction, with the rise of the CNC machining center.

Check ebay, particularly a seller called : reliabletools
These guys always have neat stuff. They're one of the big-boys and a lot of people look at their auctions which means the prices aren't always rock-bottom, but they're often pretty good.
The price range I mentioned for Bridgeports was from their auctions I was watching. After shipping, you'd probably be in the same ballpart, but you'd have a nicer, newer machine usually with some power goodies.
 
wilhurley said:
I found somone not far from me that has an old bridgeport mill. I'd say it was made in the 40's or 50"s, just a guess, It is a knee mill. The head you change the speeds by pullies. It is all manual, no power feed, and I have to move it. they priced it at $2500, I thought about buying it, it does come with collets. and a small vise, but thats it. I couldn't find a fine downward adjustment for the head. Would I be better off buying a smaller import mill, with power feed and DRO. or go with the brideport. I just want the best bang for the buck. Also are those harbor freight, grizzly, knee mills any count? The mill is identical to this mill I found on the net. http://www.danparksmachineservices.com/Bridgport_Mill.html
Click to expand...

The $2500 price tag is a bit high, Will. It had better be in near-perfect shape for that price. In my opinion, your best bang for the buck is indeed a Bridgeport, but that comes with the qualifier that its a better deal than what you are showing us today. Look for a variable speed mill with DRO and I am sure you will find one in your price range. This also depends on what you intend the mill to be used for. If you are only going to use it for knifemaking, get a mini-mill from HF or a Taig.
 
I have to agree with everyone on the price being to high.

Last month I attended CNC classes at the the Hardinge factory in Elmira, New York. Hardinge now owns the rights to Bridgeport. After completing the courses I got a tour of the faucility that produces All of their machines. Just friggin awesome. I'd stay with the Bridgeport name and avoid the knockoffs if at all possible.
 
Thanks for all the help, the voice in my head was saying it was pretty high. They orginally wanted $3000. I thought I was going to get a good deal( $600-800) until they went to ebay and thought they could get an arm and a leg. Thanks again.
 
That is a double-eded sword (pun intended). Why don't you go to Ebay and get a way newer, better machine for less?

John
 
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