Bridgeport Mill on eBay

[Blue_Rock]

Hi, I'm considering bidding on a Bridgeport mill http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/220964877194 that's on eBay.

The mill is missing part of the mechanism for the quill feed (overload clutch mechanism?). I'm not that familiar with Bridgeports but maybe interested in buying the mill if it can still be used without the missing parts and/or if the missing parts can be easily sourced for a reasonable price.

Any comments appreciated.

 

[steve_j1]

The quill on the bridgeport has a lockable depth stop. If you were to engage the drive with the quill say locked in its uppermost position then something has to give hence the clutch mechanism. The quill will still work fine if operated manually but not via the electrical drive so i would say yes it is still very usuable as a milling machine.
Hope that helps

Steve

 

[moconnor]

Hello,

You would not be able to use the power down feed in the mill's present state. The parts are available on eBay and from several sources new and reproduction. I just wonder if this is indicative of the condition of the rest of the mill. Here are some sources for reproduction replacement parts. They each have a diagram of the parts required. Hope this will help you.

http://www.matacoinc.net/html/mh-v100_200_300__b_series_.html

http://www.matacoinc.net/

http://hqtinc.com/quillhousingassembly.aspx#

Regards,
Mike

 

[n4zou]

Strike 1, it's on Ebay. Strike 2, it's a production Bridgeport that's been abused. Strike 3, It's an older Bridgeport you may have trouble finding parts for that are not worn out and you won't know they are worn out until open the box of used and abused parts you purchased and can't return. Ebay is used as a dumping ground for junk no one would buy if they were standing in front of it before paying for it.

 

[kvom]

Since machine tools appear to be scarce in Australia that might be a good deal. Can you visit the seller's shop and try it out? As it's a pulley machine, you may want to run it with a VFD as opposed to changing belts frequently.

I use the quill feed for boring and nothing else; using a boring head with manual quill or knee feed isn't very convenient.

 

[MachineTom]

I've purchased my BP, Monarch 10EE, Mohawk drill grinder, Gorton Grinder, and about $6K of stuff, from ebay. and have been satisfied with all the items and prices paid.

That BP is a step pulley machine with the old, meaning like no parts available at all table drive. The missing clutch for the quill, and I'm guessing is not the issue. At this degree of disassembly, the clutch is out, even if the seller did not want to replace the clutch, they would have likely reassembled the machine, 2 bolts and a snap ring. My guess is the problem is deeper and when it was found so, the next step is split the head, as the shafts, come out the top, So they choose to sell rather than get into the bigger disassembly job required.

Without knowing the availability of BPs or like machines in OZ, I'd suggest to walk away. The varispeed machines, 2J heads, are much more versitile for a home shop. You can buy a table drive for $400 USD, but to install it on that machine would require rework of the leadscrew to install.

IMO, YMMV and all that.

 

[Blue_Rock]

Thanks for all the comments and links. Now I'm tossing up whether to abandon the potentially dodgey Bridgeport and upgrade to a new Wiess http://www.weiss.com.cn/products_detail/&productId=8f4e88b8-c1c2-4646-9017-7dbcd00f81a7.html or X3 or http://www.machineryhouse.com.au/M123 or something else instead. Nevertheless, a Bridgeport would be nice

 

[Blogwitch]

A Bridgeport is very nice, a good stable platform, just not that one.

I could see that one costing well over what you paid for it to put it back into a decent condition. Plus loads of hours of your own precious workshop time.

The X3 does seem to be a very capable machine, especially the latest super version. I know of one very close at hand, and he does superb work on it. It is owned by our own Stew (sbwhart), and he has shown what it can really do in the right hands.

If you wanted the Bridgeport rigidity, then the smaller 836 type machines are very good, which is what I have, they are about 2/3rds the size of a Bridgeport. But you would need to save your pennies a little longer.

http://www.chesteruk.net/products/Product.aspx?productID=35

Just search in your area for '836 milling machine'. You might be lucky and find a good second hand one.


John

 

[Blue_Rock]

Thanks for the suggestion John, I will check it out.

 

[LongRat]

That Weiss machine you linked to is the WMD20 (LV), it's a very nice and popular benchtop machine for the price (same as Grizzly G0704 for those in the US). But absolutely tiny compared to the Bridgeport. If you wanted anything from Weiss close to that capacity you would need to look at the WMD30LV. I have one, it is a brilliant machine but again nothing like as rigid as a Bridgeport but not far off the working area though and much smaller footprint and weight. Easier to convert to CNC which is why I went for it.
If you have the space and are looking for a manual mill, the later series Bridgeports are hard to beat.