Who has a bridgeport mill?

Shouldn't the question be," Who is obsessed with having a Bridgeport mill?".

Or did you want to ask a Bridgy oriented question?
 
J. MacDonald said:
I do, I do!!!

Damn thing's 8 years older than I am too!
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Mine is a 1973 or 74. I love having a Bridgeport!!!

John, do you have a rotary phase converter or static? Higgins has a Jet mill drill and I think It runs on rice.
 
I do not own one but I get to work on one everyday.....and it does not run on rice.....:rolleyes: ;) :p

Old machines are like old buildings, got a feel of history and character.

Mike
 
I have a '63 and it gets used every day and most weekends. I have 2 other mills but seldom ever use either one unless I have the Bridgeport on a long running setup (which aint often)
 
adammichael said:
Mine is a 1973 or 74. I love having a Bridgeport!!!

John, do you have a rotary phase converter or static? Higgins has a Jet mill drill and I think It runs on rice.
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Mine's a 1954 and I'm a 1962! From the serial # research I've done, mine appears to be the year that BP transitioned from the round ram M head to what's now known as a Series 1. The table looks it's age although the ways are in surprisingly good shape. It's only a 1hp machine with no table power feed so it was probably never used much for the continuous hogging that beats hell out of the ways. It needs a good tune up, have the gibs all adjusted and probably a new set of nuts as there's a good bit of backlash, but it works for me for now.

It's presently got a static phase converter on it. It's a step head model and I've got a VFD taht I was going to put on it, but I think the master plan has changed and the VFD is going to go on my 2nd KMG and then I'll trade the old BP in for a newer machine with a DRO and power feed. If I'm really lucky, I might even find one with chrome ways and a Vari-speed head.
 
I have one, shucks I thought everyone had a Bridgeport. FYI They are now made in Elmira N.Y by Hardinge Bros. Inc. They have been made there for about four years now. As bridgeport has been bankrupt for some time now.
 
. MacDonald]

It's presently got a static phase converter on it. It's a step head model and I've got a VFD taht I was going to put on it, but I think the master plan has changed and the VFD is going to go on my 2nd KMG and then I'll trade the old BP in for a newer machine with a DRO and power feed. If I'm really lucky, I might even find one with chrome ways and a Vari-speed head.
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Mine has the crome ways and vari-speed head but no dro or power feed. It came with a Teledine Gurley DRO but the cables were ripped out of the connectors at the back of the display. The display still lights up and probably works fine but no one at Teledyne can tell me the correct pinouts for the cables. The scales look good and the display looks good but i cant use the damn thing. It is very frustrating.
 
NickWheeler said:
Yay for you.

Rub it in, dickwood.

:jerkit:


:p

So I'm jealous, sue me!!! :D
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I made a knife with Dickwood once. Its pretty stuff. It has real nice viens in it. You want me to send you a pic of my Dickwood, Nick?:D
 
adammichael said:
Mine has the crome ways and vari-speed head but no dro or power feed. It came with a Teledine Gurley DRO but the cables were ripped out of the connectors at the back of the display. The display still lights up and probably works fine but no one at Teledyne can tell me the correct pinouts for the cables. The scales look good and the display looks good but i cant use the damn thing. It is very frustrating.
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That's a bummer. Even the cheapest deal on a Mitutoyo 2 axis DRO is around $600.00. Then you have to install it. And to add power feed is another couple hundred, and you can't even get good old Servo Power aftermarket feeds anymore as they moved to China and sold off their US manufacturing a year or so ago:(

I figure in my market, if I take what I can sell mine for, add in that extra grand that I would have spent to upgrade mine to at least a 3 axis DRO and a chinese power feed on the table and I can probably find a nice machine with an older Accurite or similar DRO and a real Bridgeport 8F electric power feed and maybe even chrome ways and a vari head. I've seen plenty of nice BP's around Los Angeles for $3000.00 +/-, although when I get ready to upgrade, I'll probably let mine go for half that.

But until I get around to doing all that, I still got the old beast out there when I need her :)
 
J. MacDonald said:
But until I get around to doing all that, I still got the old beast out there when I need her :)
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It never ends. I have alot of backlash in mine that I need to get out. Hopefully without replacing the screws. Is there a way to adjust the baclash out?
 
By my understanding, you can minimize backlash, but never eliminate it. In teh old days before DROs what made a good mill wright was his ability to work with the backlash and hold tight tolerances.

I have a lot of backlash in my X axis (that sound's kind of dirty). The Y is not as bad, but needs attention too. I hear on the old machines they used a one piece nut that you can sometimes just split on a bandsaw and see an improvement, where the newer machines use a 2 piece nut and when it's worn out, it's just done. I have to get deeper into mine and check that out.
 
adammichael said:
It never ends. I have alot of backlash in mine that I need to get out. Hopefully without replacing the screws. Is there a way to adjust the baclash out?
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Buy a ballscrew kit.
 
Yes you can split the nut to get backlash out, I did it on mine and it works really well,it wont take it all out ,you do need some to work with and it will help to keep it from climb milling.
 
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