Got me a Bridgeport for Christmas!

J

J. MacDonald

Joined
Jun 8, 2000
Messages
3,140
Well today was the day. My new (to me) Bridgeport mill was delivered this morning.
I've wanted a Bridgeport since I was 17 years old in metal shop (I'm 41 now). This machine is a 1954 vintage J head step pulley 1 hp machine with only quill power feed, Everything else is manual. The mill has a bit of surface rust, but the important parts seem to have been reasonably well lubricated. The ways seem to be in really good condition considering the age of the machine (see pix). The table has one hole drilled in it that is aprox .500 in diamater and equally deep a bit left of center, and a couple other small kisses, but overall the table seems in pretty good condition. There's also a small break out on the little island of T slots at far right end of the table (see pix).

There is also a (hopefully small) quill power feed issue.

The man, Tom, that moved the Bridgeport (he also moved my Hardinge) for me has been a professional machine mover since 1959 and I can highly recommend his services if you need a machine moved in the Southern California area. He really understands the precision nature of the stuff and takes great care to not abuse your machines while moving them.

While it has a few issues, the head is quiet, even in back gear, the wasy seem in great condition and I got a bunch of tooling for less than $1500.00. I'm a happy camper! Merry Christmas to me!

Here's a few pics:

http://img2.photobucket.com/albums/v11/jmxcpter/Bridgeport/?action=view¤t=dec03_013.jpg

http://img2.photobucket.com/albums/v11/jmxcpter/Bridgeport/?action=view¤t=dec03_030.jpg

http://img2.photobucket.com/albums/v11/jmxcpter/Bridgeport/?action=view¤t=dec03_029.jpg

http://img2.photobucket.com/albums/v11/jmxcpter/Bridgeport/?action=view¤t=dec03_021.jpg

http://img2.photobucket.com/albums/v11/jmxcpter/Bridgeport/?action=view¤t=dec03_021.jpg

http://img2.photobucket.com/albums/v11/jmxcpter/Bridgeport/?action=view¤t=dec03_014.jpg

I've got a little work ahead to clean up the rust, but I also got a 90 degree adaptor, 13 R8 collets, an original Bridgeport vice as well as a newer Asian vice, a Phase-a-Matic 1-3hp Phase converter, a few end mills, a small Cool-mist system, a nice keyless chuck and a set of turned down drills from .500 to about an inch.

Wahoo!

jmx
 
Very happy for you, a great find!

A Bridgeport mill is the dream machine I always wanted and will probably never have now. It is cool to know you are getting to fulfill your dream machine, too. Hardinge lathe ain't too shabby either. :)

Congrats. Enjoy.
 
Lucky bastid, I'm still waiting for someone to ask me to clean out a garage, and find a vintage 1960's machine shop free for the removal. I'll keep dreaming, in the mean time I'll just keep picking up what I can at auctions.
 
Congratulations on a fine machine, forget that it is two years younger than I - I am trying to:eek:. I wish I had the space and the wisdom to settle for nothing less than a good bridgeport mill.

RL
 
I'll make you feel a little worse. It's eight years older than I am..:) But it's a pup compared to my Hardinge ESM lathe.

I'm starting to get a decent little shop together. Now if I could just get the electrician to get it in gear, I could actually use some of this stuff. It's killing me to have it sitting there in an unusable state (no 220 yet). Hopefully just after New Years, oh wait, then I have to go to a tradeshow for a week..:mad:

I guess it'll be a couple weeks before I can spin it up in my shop. Oh, well, at least I can spend some quality time with it removing rust and tending to it's cosmetic needs.

jmx
 
Good find! We need an insanely jealous smiley!


Not to hijack your thread, but could someone give me an opinion on how a machine like this stacks up to something like the big Wilton Mill/Drill machine that Koval carries? I'm thinkin of savin up from knife sales for finally go for it, and I'm just not sure what direction to go in yet. I've got folks around that are experienced with the equipment and could help get me started, but they don't necessarily know what all knifemaking entails. Main interest is in folding knives, but I have a tendency to get into projects that are over my head so I want more capacity than the little imports like the grizzly and harbor freight mini mill.
 
Yeah, you will be wise in getting a qualified person to wire that 220 for you. A reasonable wait through the holidays for that will be well worth your while and your family well being.

RL
 
Matt, by no means am I an expert but rather an enthusiast with little experience but I believe bridgeport is a type of mill that most full size manually operated mills are generally compared to or referenced to in design (a standard type of design), except that there are other specialities that other milling machines lend themselves to.

Your question is much better than my, probably ignorant, responce and I hope a real expert will chime in so both us can learn the true answer.

RL
 
Matt,

The comparison between the Wilton you referenced and a Bridgeport is not a fair comparison. I have a machine very much like the Wilton Marketed by Rutland Tool sitting in the garage waiting for pick-up. It was a fine little machine and can turn out some pretty good parts if you're really patient and careful with your set-up and cuts. My real problem with the mill/drill machine is that I went to school to be a machinist and then worked in the field for a short time before transitioning into a sales job 20 years ago. This means that I have some experience working on real, full sized, precision milling machines. The real difference is rigidity and repeatability. A mill like a Bridgeport has tehm and for the most part, a mill/drill doesn't. If you've never worked on a real mill, it's probably easier to live within the limitations of a mill/drill.

As RL indicated, the Bridgeport is sort of the benchmark in vertical mills. It's not that it's the best mill ever built, although it really is good. I once saw someone make a good analogy. The Bridgeport is a lot like a small block Chevy motor. It's a real workhorse, they have been making them forever and there's lots of spare parts, acessories and expertise around for them. They are also quite a bit more flexible than a mill/drill due to the ability to tilt the head in two directions and the power feed on the quill.

For what Koval sells their mill/drill for, you could certainly buy a used Bridgeport (or clone) if you're patient and wait for the right deal. It will take up a bit more space in your shop, but not a lot more and as long as you don't buy one that is totally worn out, it should last you as long as you want to keep making chips and be pretty hard to outgrow. The same can't be said of a mill/drill. Weight is a consideration though. A mill/drill is usually under 700lbs and can be moved with a pick-up truck and an engine hoist you can rent for $20.00 at U-haul whereas a mill the size of a Bridgeport pretty much requires a professional machine mover as they weigh in at just over 2000 lbs.

In years gone by, a machine like this was only an option for the most dedicated and well heeled home machinist or hobbyist. It's pretty easy even today to find late model used Bridgeports selling for 5K-7K. I think the base model new is still produced (first produced in 1938 I believe) and is over 15K new! Lucky for guys like you and me, with so much of manufacturing moving to China and switching to CNC, machines like this can now be had for the price of a new Taiwanese mill/drill if you shop carefully and can deal with owning an older used machine instead of a shiny new one.

jmx
 
Thanks alot for taking the time to respond. It sounds like I would do OK with a mill/drill but a real milling machine would be better for my purposes. I only want to buy once!
I realize that bridgeport kind of sets the standard. So that was more what I was asking, in terms of what you can do with the machine. Things like integral bolster/liners and dovetails are a very straightforward idea to me. I've done a fair amount of work with routers. Its not perfectly clear how I would do things like index an angle to mill the locking tab on liner locks and that sort of thing. I suppose that comes down to the right vice and fixtures which is something I need to do more reading on. I didn't know if the mill/drill would be capable of all that or not. Sounds like it is, just not as well as a true mill.
 
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