# Got my Bridgeport home



## Bernd (Oct 10, 2008)

Waregle,

I'll post this thread here. If it needs to be be moved to a more appropriate place, please do so.

The day has finally arrived were I pick up my, new to me, Bridgeport. I'll document how I got it home, took it apart, moved it to the basement and reassembled it. 






So to start this pic series off, here are some pics of bringing the mill home.





Had to move it outside to get it on the trailer.





Here is the mill at home finally.






A front view of the mill sitting on the trailer.






I've completely flipped the motor and picked up the ram. I discovered that it has a 4" raiser block. Nice.






Set the ram and motor down on some pallets for now. The trailer and mill will now fit into the garage. It's going to have to stay there till Monday. Going to the camp and close that for the winter. I'll be able to contemplate how I'm going to get it into the basement and reassemble it.

So that's it for now until Monday. I should have a post on moving the first part into the basement Monday night or Tuesday morning. Stay tune for the move.

Regards,
Bernd

P.S. I won't be back on till Monday moring.


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## wareagle (Oct 10, 2008)

Bernd, congradulations! From the pictures, it looks like you have yourself a very nice mill!


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## CrewCab (Oct 10, 2008)

Nicely done Bernd. anyway, have a good weekend and we look forward to more updates next week 8)

CC


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## ksouers (Oct 10, 2008)

Bernd,
Congratulations on getting it home! Can't wait to see the move.
Really interested in how it checks out, too.


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## Bernd (Oct 13, 2008)

Thanks for the all the kind words guys. 

Today was a busy day. I got the ram or top of the Bridgeport into the basement. That took a while. Heavy little bugger too. Pictures to follow later. To late tonight to write up a whole lot. Base and table were off loaded and rolled into the garage for further disassembly. 

Here are some stats from the what I could find on the machine. The table is a 9" X 42" with a Bridgeport variable power feed. I found what I think might be a serial number on the cross slide, #2309-69. The DRO can be either metric or imperial and is made by Anilam of Miami, Florida. I totally forgot to check what spindle it had when I went to buy the machine. I thought it had an R8 spindle, Wrong. It's got a quick change spindle. Picture of it below.






At first I was a bit disappointed. But the more I look at it the better it looks. Much easier to change tools. All I need to do is find some collets and tool holders. 

Hope to have pics up tommorrow night of the first part being moved to the basement.

Bernd


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## rake60 (Oct 13, 2008)

I'm loving this thread Bernd.

We beat the crap out of the tired old Bridgeport at work.
It never complains and always gives the correct answer to
what you ask it to do.

Rick


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## Alphawolf45 (Oct 13, 2008)

I have that type quick change spindle on my Hurco cnc mill....mine is the 200 series Quick change...It sometimes happens that swarf gets into it , wont allow a toolholder to draw-in but I blow out the chips and it then works right again....Uhmmmm, have to keep a nylon hammer handy to rap on it from the side sometimes to get the nut to turn..But overall I am very glad that my machine does not have R-8 spindle on it, what you have there is much faster in my experience.


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## Maryak (Oct 14, 2008)

Bernd,

Oz colours are Green and Gold.

I'm green with envy and you found gold with that bridgeport. :bow:

Good luck to you, I'm sure it will be a great asset in your shop. 

Regards
Bob


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## Bernd (Oct 14, 2008)

Alphawolf45  said:
			
		

> ..But overall I am very glad that my machine does not have R-8 spindle on it, what you have there is much faster in my experience.



I used to work with these types of chucks were I used to work for a living. They were a bit bigger though. The more I look at it the happier I am that it came with this chuck. I can't see having to reach up and turn a wrench every time I want to change tools.

Bernd


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## Bernd (Oct 14, 2008)

Maryak  said:
			
		

> Bernd,
> 
> Oz colours are Green and Gold.
> 
> ...



Don't be too green. I've been looking for one of these for several years now. I just didn't think I'd find one in this good of a condition or with DRO and a power feed table. 

Thanks for the kind words though. 

Bernd


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## Bernd (Oct 14, 2008)

The story continues with the moving of the ram into the basement and moving the mill into the garage for further disassembly.





First I prepared a pallet to make the move easier. I screwed two 2 X 4's to the bottom so that the rollers would roll better. I discovered this when I moved the drill press. The rollers kept getting stuck between the boards.





Removing the ram from the trailer using my handy lifting devise. I'm going to use those pallets and wood blocks to support the head on the pallet I added the 2 X 4's on.





I've put a couple of screws in each of the pallet to hold them together. Here I'm screwing down the blocks of wood as I level out the ram.





Once I had every thing level I used a couple of lag bolts to hold the ram. It mainly kept it from sliding off the blocks of wood.





All trussed up like a turkey and ready for the move into the basement. I added a bit more blocking to keep the ram from shifting around on the pallets and then strapped it down good and tight. If it tipped it would take pallets and all.





On it's way down. One minor problem though. The next pic will show it.





The pallet was wider than the ramp and it slide to one side.






I screwed an 8ft long 2 X 4 to the one side as a guide to keep it somewhat centered.





I then added a second 2 X 4 to the other side so it wouldn't ride down on the pallet boards and get hung up somewhere.







Success, It's down the stairs. You'll notice that the 2 X 4's are a bit black on top. Well, I added a bit of grease to make sliding down the ramp easier.





This part of the move is finished for now.





Time to get the mill off the trailer. The pic is pretty self explanatory as to how I did it. I was able to this because the drive slopes up into the garage. The trailer wheels are blocked, there are blocks under the back side so the trailer won't tip up in front when all the weight is on the back. The tractor bucket is an insurance that that won't happen. Those are 4 X 4 oak planks I'm using. I wouldn't have used anything smaller or a soft wood for that matter.





A shot from the back side. I secured the mill so when I put the first roller under it, it won't take off on me.





The jack won't fit under the frame so I used a piece of wood and jacked that up enough to be able to put a roller under it.






Here's a better view of all the blocking and support as the mill is nearing the edge of the trailer. Notice I've got it chained and strapped off to a piece of pipe. Just incase it's a down ward trip on the wooden road I made.





About half way there. I added the piece of oak 4 X 4 in case one of the so called wooden rails broke that it won't tip over completely. 





And a bit of help from my friend the tractor to get it into the garage.





Next part is taking the table and knee off and to move them to the basement. Don't know weather I'll take both off together or separate them. I'll knew when I get to it. You'll find out tomorrow or the next day. So stay tuned.

I don't think I'll show the whole move down the stairs as it'll be no different than the other parts I've moved down. I'll hit on some of the high lights and then get back to detailed description when I finally assemble it.

Regards,
Bernd


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## Stan (Oct 14, 2008)

Here is a hint from the people who move buildings. When they are sliding things around, they lubricate with soap. They insist that it has to be soap (not detergents) and they just go around with a bar of hand soap rubbing it onto all the sliding surfaces (no water). I am sure the worker's wife are a lot happier than if they came home with their clothes covered with grease.


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## rake60 (Oct 14, 2008)

I'm loving these pictorials Bernd!

They are lessons in raw physics.

Nothing is too heavy to moved safely.
You are more than proving that!

Rick


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## wareagle (Oct 14, 2008)

Bernd, looks like you have things going your way. With a little thought and ingenuity, it is amazing how easy it can be to move heavy objects. 

Best wishes for the remaining pieces to be an easy and safe move!


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## Bernd (Oct 15, 2008)

I'll have a few more pics tonight. Things are not going so good. I was forced to take the machine apart further than I wanted to, but it is a good thing. This machine is a definite poster child for not using an air hose yo blow a machine off. I'll show why when I post the pics.

I got a the confidence for moving the machine from that one web site I quoted earlier where the guy moves a 24,000lb  concrete block. As Rick said physics and a bit of geometry. Of course it helps a bit if you have a tractor with a loader bucket. ;D

Later,
Bernd


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## Bernd (Oct 15, 2008)

Stan  said:
			
		

> Here is a hint from the people who move buildings. When they are sliding things around, they lubricate with soap. They insist that it has to be soap (not detergents) and they just go around with a bar of hand soap rubbing it onto all the sliding surfaces (no water). I am sure the worker's wife are a lot happier than if they came home with their clothes covered with grease.



Ya I've heard of using soap. Unfortunatley the grease was closer and all we have in the house is liquid soap. 
Now I'ce got to get theose boards off of the ramp. I'm sure I'll get some grease all over me. 

Regards,
Bernd


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## JonnyD (Oct 15, 2008)

Bernd,

Great job with the move. I absolutely love how you're moving a Bridgeport with Dozer. This is the first I've seen it move this way :bow:

Good snag on the QC collets too. Can't wait to see what you can make with it.


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## Bernd (Oct 15, 2008)

JonnyD  said:
			
		

> Bernd,
> 
> Great job with the move. I absolutely love how you're moving a Bridgeport with Dozer. This is the first I've seen it move this way :bow:
> 
> Good snag on the QC collets too. Can't wait to see what you can make with it.



Hey I like that name, "Dozer". Might have to christen the tractor with that name.

I've got a friend that has more. It'll defiantly be steam engines. A bit bigger maybe. ;D I'm looking at building a 4 truck Shay with it, but not right now. 

Bernd


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## Bernd (Oct 15, 2008)

AS I mentioned earlier I would have a few more pics to post. What follows is an attempt to remove the table with the knee off the mill. I had problems due to weight and the fact I cut a strap on a sharp edge trying to pick that part of the machine up. Now I'm glad that it happened that way. I was forced to remove the table and cross slide. What I found wasn't pretty. You'll see what I mean as I continue this story.





First I had to get the mill back out into the driveway so I could position the bucket over the table and knee to try and pick both up. So I wrapped a chain around the column and pulled her out.





Once outside I made sure the mill was level. It would facilitate the pickup of the table. Remember my drive slopes down from the door.





Everything was loose. I removed the taper gib and was at the end of the screw feed. I used a couple of straps at each end of the table, as seen on the left end of the table, and a come-a-long. For some reason I just couldn't pull the whole works up. The straps were stretched way to tight. I didn't want to break a strap and have the whole thing come crashing down. So I went to plan "B". Remove table and then remove knee. I discovered this wasn't going to be easy. I thought all I had to do was remove the cross slide screw and pull the table off toward the front of the machine. WRONG! The nut under the table won't go through that hole in the front left by taking out the screw. DARN!





So back into the garage the mill went. Couldn't work outside since it looked like rain. So removed the screw and slid the table on to a tea cart after getting the correct height. I also broke the handle for the up/down feed of the table. That's another story for later. So off came the table. Unscrewed the nut under the table and removed the small cross slide.





Here's a pic of the cross slide/table nut and the four bolts that hold it in place. Notice the chips? They're stuck on there pretty good. They must have used a very sticky coolant on this machine.





And this is what I found under the cross slide. The is the gear set that turns the table screw. You almost miss it for all the chips that are piled up in there.





Did I make chips already. Naw. That's all the chips I removed from the inside of the knee. Unbelievable. This machine is the poster child for not using an air hose to clean off the table. 

I'm now glad that I was forced to remove all of the slides and table. This will allow me to clean up the machine some before putting it all back together. It looks like it'll be a few days before I post more pics of the move. Have to do some cleaning first.

Regards,
Bernd


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## Bernd (Oct 17, 2008)

I'm getting close to having the whole machine in the basement. I removed the knee today and a long with the table moved both to the basement. I'm not going to bore you with pics of it going down the stairs. I did the same as for the ram. So here's today's progress report.





I used the chain fall this time. Made much easier work of removing the knee.





Didn't quite get the center point, but it's finally off.





Once the knee was off and I cleaned out some of the chips, it and the table were moved to the basement. I put both loads on the 8ft long 2 X 4's to facilitate moving them easier in the basement.





I switched the 4 X 4 posts under the base 90 degrees. I have a slight problem of getting the end up the 4" high step. No problem. Next pic will show what I did.





I just jacked it up on one end, put the 4 X 4 rails under it and lowered it on to a roller. The base is staged for tomorrows move.

So far it's been a fun project. Tomorrow the heaviest part will be moved. I hope the stairs will be able to carry the weight. I guess you'll have to check in on Sunday to find out.

Regards,
Bernd


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## malcolmt (Oct 17, 2008)

Bernd

I am watching your work with bated breath, I am very definitely wishing you a safe move with the base. Please be careful, I'm sure you will but i for one will be worrying about you until i hear all went well. good luck for the move. 

Kind Regards

Malcolm


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## kvom (Oct 17, 2008)

Bernd,

Since you have it apart, any chance you could take a pic of the under-table oiling mechanism?

Mine has a manifold under the table, and the input tube fitting is leaking. Seems to have a 5/16-24 male thread, and the tube is 6mm.

I'm trying to find a fitting to replace it, and don't know if it's a standard type.


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## Bernd (Oct 17, 2008)

kvom,

I'll take a picture for you. I looked at it today. The oiling system was made in Italy if that's any help.

Regards,
Bernd


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## ksouers (Oct 17, 2008)

Bernd,
It should be lighter with all those chips out of it 

On a more serious note, please be careful and best of luck. We'd all like this saga to have a happy ending.

Are you planning on taking it down with it standing up or laying on it's back?


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## Bernd (Oct 18, 2008)

kvom,

I've got some pics for you.











Here's the two pics I took of the oiling system
Any more questions, just ask away. I'll see if I can answer them.

Regards,
Bernd


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## Bernd (Oct 18, 2008)

ksouers  said:
			
		

> Bernd,
> It should be lighter with all those chips out of it
> 
> On a more serious note, please be careful and best of luck. We'd all like this saga to have a happy ending.
> ...



Unbelieveable about those chips, ay? I figure I took about 2 pounds of chips out of that thing. Like I said this machine was the poster child as to why not to blow chips off of your machine. 

Thanks for the concern. Read on and you'll see I'm still here to post a reply. ;D


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## Bernd (Oct 18, 2008)

This will be the last installment of getting my Bridgeport home and moving it "in pieces" into the basement.






Here comes B1P1 down the stairs. Looks like a robot, almost. 





All lined up and ready to tip the base forward.





'Thar she goes'. Sure hope I got everything hooked up.





About half way down and she started to turn on me. If the skid went over the side I'd never get back on track. I did get her straightened out. I also had to take the 4" riser off or it won't have fit under that overhead beam.





She turned on me again near the bottom. It looks like the panel box is scraping the side wall but it's not.





Got here all straightened out and up on the first roller.





This is how you get something heavy over the door sill. Make sure it's higher that the sill and simply put the rollers on the other side.





And here we are finally through the door.





Now that I have all of the machine in the basement. I don't want to use the pipe rollers to move the heavy parts around, table, cross slide, knee, etc. I made a "skate" using some spare casters my brother gave me. It's just a couple of 2 X 8's with two cross members screwed on.





Add 4 casters and your done. Make sure the casters can carry the weight though.





And here's the finished product carry the table.





I made one for the knee also. Here's what you'd wind up with if you constantly wanted to move this heavy item. Not much fun.





Here's the five separate parts of the mill. To the bottom left is the knee with the "skate" under it to make moving it around much easier.






One last look at all the parts. Only thing missing is the cross slide. 

Well that's it for now. I hope you guys' liked seeing how I got a Bridgeport home, disassembled it and moved it down into the basement. For those of you who don't have a tractor, an engine hoist or "A" frame with chain fall would have been able to do it also. I would have used a winch to lower the parts down the ramp. Some times it doesn't take brute force to move things. Remember this is not a tutorial on how to move a Bridgeport into the basement. It just shows how I did it. If you can glean any ideas for your own move great. But remember this forum and I are not responsible if you try something like this and get hurt, hurt someone else or damage property. If your afraid to try something like this then get professional help.

Next will be the re-assembly of the mill and a fix I need to make. I'll be posting this over in the "machine modifications" sections when I get started.

Regards,
Bernd


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## CrewCab (Oct 18, 2008)

Well done that man 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 ............ now go crack a cold one and celebrate 


Must admit you had me worried after the last line of your previous post, so I'm now going to also crack open a tin and raise a glass in appreciation of a job well done 8)

CC


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## Bernd (Oct 18, 2008)

CrewCab,

I was having a cool brew while posting the last of the move. Need to go to the store and get more. :big:

Well now you guys all know that I can move something heavy safley, right? ;D I feel sorry for the guy who's going to have to figure out how to get it out after I'm gone. :big: :big:

Bernd


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## kvom (Oct 18, 2008)

Bern,

Good work! :bow:

Your tube fittings look similar; here is a closup of mine.






Threads are 5/16-24. Could you measure yours to see if they're the same?


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## ksouers (Oct 18, 2008)

Woo Hoo! :bow:

Great job, Bernd! A most excellent outcome indeed!

Looking forward to the re-assembly and tune up!


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## rake60 (Oct 18, 2008)

You've upped the ante with that move Bernd.

I've seen a lot of heavy machinery and parts moved in my life time.
Every one of those moves involved an overhead crane or heavy moving
company coming in with small portable cranes to get the job done.

This thread shows that it *CAN* be done successfully and safely at home.

*GREAT THREAD!*

What's next?

Rick


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## Bernd (Oct 18, 2008)

kvom  said:
			
		

> Bern,
> 
> Good work! :bow:
> 
> ...



Yup, they sure do. Sorry I forgot to measure the threads. Will do and get back to you.

Bernd


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## Bernd (Oct 18, 2008)

Thanks Rick. I think a majority of the small stuff like what I have can be done at home safely. I figure if the Egyptians built those pyramids I could move a machine of about 2200lbs safely. Gravity helped a lot though. :big:

What's next? Well the clean up and reassembling the machine in the basement "without" the tractor. ;D

It'll be a while before I ill get to that.

Bernd


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## wareagle (Oct 18, 2008)

Bernd, congrats on a very successful move! Ya made it look easy!!  :bow: :bow:

Here's one for new horizons!


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## Bernd (Oct 19, 2008)

kvom  said:
			
		

> Your tube fittings look similar; here is a closup of mine.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I measure the same thing. 5/16 dia. and 24 threads. Seems rather odd since the block it's attached to is stamped "Made in Italy". You'd think it would be metric. If it's a pipe thread then I think European is the same as US. But we seem to agreed on 5/16-24.

Bernd


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## kvom (Oct 19, 2008)

None of the NPT threads are 24 TPI, and this isn't tapered in any case.


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## SandyC (Oct 19, 2008)

Excellent move Bernd...look forward to the re-build.

BTW 5/16" x 24tpi is Unified National Fine.

Best regards.

sandyC


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## Bernd (Oct 19, 2008)

Thanks guys. Really appreciate the thumbs up from all of you. 

Sandy, I believe 27 is the closets to pipe thread. 

As I said I'll start a thread in the "Machine Modification" section when I get to put the mill back together again. I need to take care of some other stuff before I get back to the mill. I just needed to get it out of the garage so that SWMBO can park her car inside. She complains the windows are frosted over in the moring. :-\  :big:

Bernd


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## baldrocker (Oct 19, 2008)

Just finished reading the whole thread in one go.
Got to admit to a bit of "pucker factor" coming down the stairs. :big:
Way to go :bow:
BR


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## Bernd (Oct 20, 2008)

Thanks BR,

Actually I was testing the stair build, I wanted to see how much weight they could hold. :big: :big: :big:

Bernd


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## Bernd (Nov 16, 2008)

It's been a while since I've posted anything on the Bridgeport. Putting the pieces back together again is a slow process, but it's getting done when I can find some time for that project. I'm not going to bore you with the details. Hopefully the following pics are of interest as I assemble the Bridgeport.






The last pic showed all the parts were in one area after I'd moved everything down to the basement. Here I'm getting the base into position using the pipe rollers.





Notice how they are at an angle. This facilitates in turning the base to the proper orientation.





Now for a bit of clean up. There were lots of stuck on chips.





This is the damaged area I was talking about earlier in the thread that will need fixing. Apparently sometime in this machines life when it got moved something or someone got the adjustment handle of the knee hung up on something. They managed to break the handle, which is aluminum, the gear shaft clutch, and bend the end of the shaft. 





Here's a better pic of the bent shaft.





I did finally get it all apart. That will be another thread all by itself when I get to the fix.





Now comes the fun part of getting the ram back up on the base. The big question is, will the chain fall lift it high enough to get it on top of the base. And the answer is.





Well I did have to get it up as far as I could first. Right?





Oh, did I mention I had to make a lifting hook since I had no eye hook. I made one from 2" X 4" X .25" Angle iron. Drill a hole for the bolt and an elongated hole for the hook. Then raised her a few inches to test my setup. Ok looks good. Go for the top.





Dam, won't fit. Looks like I'll have to remove the 4 X 4's it's sitting on.





Ah, much better. Now the fun part of trying to get the long bolts that hold the ram on to the base without dropping the spider inside. 





Ok, swing the head back up and see what she looks like. Good, got enough head room from the joists to the top of the motor. I just need to swing the head a few degrees to get it under the "I" beam.

I've also have the knee mounted to the base. I didn't take any pics of that since it was a straight forward process of using the chain fall and installing it. 

Before any other parts get put on, meaning cross slide and table and the rest to finish the machine I need to fix the shaft that moves the knee up and down. This could be a while yet. Other projects are taking priority at the moment.

Regards,
Bernd


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## wareagle (Nov 16, 2008)

Bernd, I was wondering about your progress. Glad to see the machine is getting itself back together! Keep us posted!!!


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## CrewCab (Nov 16, 2008)

Bernd, from the looks of it, if you weigh in the chips you could probably recoup 25% of the cost of the machine 

Good to hear things are progressing, good luck and keep us posted 8)

CC


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## kvom (Nov 17, 2008)

Unless you are going to make something really tall, leaving the riser off would make the ceiling clearance a lot better.


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## Bernd (Nov 17, 2008)

kvom  said:
			
		

> Unless you are going to make something really tall, leaving the riser off would make the ceiling clearance a lot better.



Since I'm not going any higher with the motor, plus I already have the ram on I think I'll leave the riser on for now. Besides it would be harder to remove once I have the machine in it's proper place.

Bernd


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## Bernd (Nov 22, 2008)

Ok, this will be the last installment of my Bridgeport adventure. The machine is ready to be used. A few minor items need to be finished but that's about it. I still need to move it into it's permanent position.





Here the cross slide has be installed, the gib put in place and now I'm installing the lead screw. Not much to it.





Next is the table. Everything looks tipped to the left, that's the camera angle. Held the camera a bit crooked. Although the table is up in the air at one end.





Ok, the table is on and the gib is in place. It's ready for the lead screw and power feed.





And there we have it. The table is complete and the power feed works.





The DRO is installed, hooked up and working. Now I'm ready for a bit of serious tool building. The models are going to have to wait a while.

Other than a few odds and ends that need cleaning up I'm ready to use the machine. It was a lot of fun seeing if I could move a machine of this size from the place I purchased it to the basement. I did it without any injury to myself. No animals were hurt either. :big:

Bernd


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## dsquire (Nov 23, 2008)

Bernd

Very impressive. It just goes to show that with a bit of thought, some ingenuous uses of equipment and materials and a large amount of patience, jobs such as this can be accomplished with satisfactory results. 

You now have a piece of equipment that should serve you well for a long time. We will watching for future posts as you build tooling and projects with this mill.

Job well done. :bow:

cheers

Don


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## Maryak (Nov 23, 2008)

Bernd,

Congratulations on a huge project well completed in a home environment. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




I hope you enjoy your new machine, you certainly deserve it.

Best Regards
Bob


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## Metal Mickey (Nov 23, 2008)

Well done, you must have been an Egyptian in a previous life! That's a fairly substantial lump of metal. Moving soon? ;D

Great post.

Mike


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## wareagle (Nov 23, 2008)

Bernd,

Job well done!! Congrats on your move, and new machine. I have no doubt that you will get years of enjoyment out of it!




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## Bernd (Nov 23, 2008)

Thanks guys.

Egyptian, huh. ??? Maybe that's why I "walk like an Egyptian". ;D ( reference to the song "Walk like an Egyptian)

Bernd


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