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I bought a Bridgport

2K views 17 replies 13 participants last post by  rbthntr64 
#1 ·
not a china machine but 1800 pounds or steel rite from Connecticut. it needs a little bit of work to hook up as it is 3 ph and I think I will give it a real good once over before I try to work it but it is going to be delivered this coming week!! I am very excited!
I will post pics as soon as I can:brows:
I do not have the exact measurements as far as X and Y travel in the table but it is a full size floor machine not just a bench top. I cant wate to start to "play" with it. :thumbup1:
 
#9 ·
sorry for slow reply guys , new job has extreamly long days then a few extra days off. so it is good to be back.
as for tooling.. their is a fairly large vise, 1 collet, a few hold downs, and that is about it.
as for future working ideas. I have no plans at this time other than stripping it down and bring it back up then dealing with 3 PH issue. I allready have an extra motor to use as a phase generator, but I still need to hook it up and test it.
yesterday I made an order with victor machine. I ordered a full collet set, a horizontal rotery devise that takes C-5 collets, I do not why but it looked good, a large end mill adaptor, a fist full of roughing mills, and I got a reemer for the taper inside the spindle and one for the tail stock of my lathe. I have a huge box of carbide mills so I did not buy any of them.
hopefully they guys will be here to deliver the machine in a couple hours!!
yes their is a power feed BUT the motor is appart , maby good, maby not, but the gear box all seems good. if the motor is bad I will definatly be getting it repaired.
I believe their is a 40 inch table on this machine. certainly big enough to bring a trunion down to fit a 1.5MM reciever. lol
 
#10 ·
Bradd -- I've one that's 50 years old and it does its part if I do mine. Its got a good bit of backlash and I have to be careful when I start or change directions or it will snap an end mill.

PBB posted a mod that changes the lead screw and I'm trying to "screw" up the nerve to remove the table and do it.

I've got one of the phase converters -- it works fine.
 
#11 ·
Get a VFD instead of a phase convertor. With that you can change speeds electronically. My VFD was only $150 for a 2hp motor. You can put a potentiometer on the machine to control the frequency/speed. Mine is hooked up through a computer for my CNC converted mill and it starts the motor, changes speeds, reverses and stops the motor.

http://www.factorymation.net/s.nl/it.A/id.196/.f?sc=2&category=32

Here are my new toys. I still need to get a good Bridgeport style mill for the projects where you need to have some sort of feel when machining.

http://ak-builder.com/ak/images/machines.jpg
 
#12 ·
stickman
YES!!! that is exactly what I have decided to do, HOWEVER you have pointed me in the correct direction to buy it. grainger wanted $302 for basicaly the same thing YIKES.. thanks very much for the link.. I think I will be ordering one in a couple days... shoot at that price I may get a seperat one for my 3ph power feed too!!

I looked into a phase box and I was told that it would only be 3ph on staRT UP THEN DROP BACK TO 2 PH , no thanks.
I looked into a second 3 ph motor as a phase generator however further detailed invertigation showes that you get uneven current potental & V on the legs also 2 legs are still 180 out and the third could end up allmose anyware. true 3ph will be all 120 degrees out and have balanced V . a well made balanced rotory typ will have caps. of proper size installed to balance all 3 legs out. this is bigger money ..
so an inverter. "VFD" seemes clearly the best method. inexpensive, all legs balanced, inexpencive, dose not take up a bunch of room. not to mention the added versitility with the ability to vary the frequancy! clearly the best of all choises.
now I have to hope the motor is still good!! "they said it was" ....
thanks again stickman for the link!!
HB
 
#13 ·
Tomtbo said:
Congratulations! I'm a bench-top owner, and wish I had more XYZs!

When you say more XYZ's, how many do you have now. I'd like to get a small affordable mill so I talked to my local machinist who has a Bridgeport and he said don't buy the mini-mill. At least get the next size up mill-drill {HF 33686} because there's more XYZ travel. Anybody set me straight on what I need for this hobby?
 
#14 ·
wiley said:
When you say more XYZ's, how many do you have now. I'd like to get a small affordable mill so I talked to my local machinist who has a Bridgeport and he said don't buy the mini-mill. At least get the next size up mill-drill {HF 33686} because there's more XYZ travel. Anybody set me straight on what I need for this hobby?
It all comes down to how much floor space you have and how much budget you've got to work with. You can get started with a mini mill, but it won't be long and you'll want to do something that the mini doesn't have the capacity to handle. You can't ever go wrong by going bigger when buying machinery. ;)

As a baseline, knee mills like Hotbarrel's Bridgeport have 30 to 35 inches of side to side travel, 12 inches of cross slide travel, and 16 inches of vertical travel. My grandfather was a gunsmith by profession and used a knee mill about half that size in his shop.

I'd suggest 18"x 6"x 8" at a minimum for a mill you won't outgrow too quickly to get your money's worth out of it.
 
#15 ·
harbor freight has a very nice machine on sale for $899 realy a prety good deal! it takes R8 collets so it is easy to find tooling. I was going to buy it till I found this deal , so I would recomend the HF tool , it is a bench mill but 700 pounds with a fairly large collum so it should be prety solid. I forget the travel specs but I felt it was plenty big enough. WAY better than a mini. as mentioned above "it wont be long till you need a bigger one" just my 2 cent
 
#16 ·
Why not just change the 3 ph 1.5 hp motor to a 2 hp single phase? I did that with a Bridgeport years ago by changing the motor mtg plate & motor.
 
#18 ·
DD,
I think the 110 motor uses more current. That is what I was told any way from a friend that is in the business.
 
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