Author Topic: New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill  (Read 6891 times)

Offline yogi

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New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill
« on: May 27, 2016, 12:21:54 AM »
I'm a proud owner of a Bridgeport milling machine.  :whoohoo:

In this post I want to share how I brought the machine home and moved it into the shop.

To lower the center of gravity of the top heavy machine, I lowered the knee all the way down and turned the head upside down. The machine loaded on my trailer, it got a generous treatment with a roll of shrink wrap. This will keep the road dirt and grime off the machine.
To tie the machine down, I used a set of chains around the bottom of the column. In addition, I put ratchet straps over the top of the machine. None of the chains or straps are putting any load on any of the lead screw or ways.




The machine arrived at home.




To offload the machine off the trailer, I got some help from my friend with his skid steer loader.
Bridgeport style machines can be easily lifted with the forks under the ram. First, we grabbed it from the side, to get it off the trailer. A second setting from the front, with a couple of 4x4's across the forks, to move the machine into the shop. Once the machine was inside, I used a set of machinery skates to move it to the back of the shop.









The machine in its place, next to the Maho mill.  :cartwheel:






I'm obviously very exited about the new machine, and can't wait to make some chips.

Regards,
Yogi
« Last Edit: May 27, 2016, 12:33:55 AM by yogi »

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill
« Reply #1 on: May 27, 2016, 12:41:51 AM »
Congrats Yogi!!  It looks to be in very nice shape too. It always nice to get them moved to their final home though. Happy it went well for you and without any incidents.

Bill

toolznthings

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Re: New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2016, 01:00:23 AM »
Hi Yogi,

Nice job and pictures ! Smart rigging for the move.  Wish I was there to share in the excitement.  :cheers:

Glad they mounted the readout scale on the front of the table. No lost "y " movement and no crushed scale.  :o

Brian

Offline Dave Otto

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Re: New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill
« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2016, 01:10:12 AM »
Nice clean looking machine Yogi; congrats on your new toy!

It would sure be nice to have a manual mill along with the CNC; my converted knee mill has to do double duty.

Dave

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill
« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2016, 01:12:47 AM »
Very nice Yogi. Congrats.

I have to admit, the thing that struck me about the pics...how much it reminded me of Pennsylvania.

Oh...right.  :Lol:
Carl (aka Zee) Will sometimes respond to 'hey' but never 'hey you'.
"To work. To work."
Zee-Another Thread Trasher.

Offline 10KPete

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Re: New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill
« Reply #5 on: May 27, 2016, 02:05:59 AM »
Yogi! Dude! You're owning my dream machine!! :praise2: :praise2:

Congratulations man!!

Pete
Craftsman, Tinkerer, Curious Person.
Retired, finally!
SB 10K lathe, Benchmaster mill. And stuff.

Online Kim

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Re: New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill
« Reply #6 on: May 27, 2016, 04:49:26 AM »
Congratulations on a great new addition to your shop Yogi!  And on a safe move!
Kim

Offline Nick_G

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Re: New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill
« Reply #7 on: May 27, 2016, 07:15:31 AM »
.
Fab machine that looks to have found a home in a fantastic workshop located in a beautiful part of the world.  :)

Nick

Offline Jo

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Re: New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill
« Reply #8 on: May 27, 2016, 07:30:49 AM »
 8)

So Yogi how much tooling came with it  :embarassed: or do you already have R8  ;)

Jo
Enjoyment is more important than achievement.

Offline mikemill

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Re: New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill
« Reply #9 on: May 27, 2016, 09:49:27 AM »
I love posts from across the pond that show workshops and contents, they are generally huge by UK standards and contain several very expensive machine tools.
I bought a Centec mill from a chap in Cumbria years ago when I turned up to collect it his workshop was a 4’ x 6’ shed in which had the mill, a Myford lathe, a drill press and a 5” Britannia loco, with a compressor under the bench!!

Mike

Offline yogi

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Re: New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill
« Reply #10 on: May 27, 2016, 11:27:54 AM »
Thanks everyone for the compliments and sharing my excitement about my new toy.  :cheers:

Moving machinery can be a daunting task, especially for the hobby machinist. With a little planing, it can be done safely with basic means. I'm hoping other people are encouraged when the time comes to shop for a new machine tool.

Jo, I got a vise and a set of collets with the machine. I don't own any R8 yet, so I'll be looking for tools over the next few month. I get a lot of my tools from Ebay. It requires a bit of patience but can have really good deals.

Regards,
Yogi

Online Twizseven

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Re: New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill
« Reply #11 on: May 27, 2016, 11:40:34 AM »
Looks a nice clean machine, congratulations.  Out of interest what is the maximum height of the machine.  I would like to check my workshop to see whether such a good machine could be fitted in.

Colin

Offline sshire

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Re: New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill
« Reply #12 on: May 27, 2016, 11:50:47 AM »
Congrats on the addition. MY BP (1969 vintage) has been a joy.
A few thoughts:
H&W Machine carries virtually every BP part. Very nice people who know the machine in great depth.

http://www.machinerypartsdepot.com/?gclid=Cj0KEQjw4J-6BRD3h_KIoqijwvkBEiQAfcPiBfDNvEMZuVDMMTlajXKScCAJCrMIRmhtAYGV5WkIqlYaAghJ8P8HAQ

Buy their repair and rebuild manual. Worth every penny. Lots of pix and step-by-step instructions. If only for maintenance.

There is one oil port that many people don't know about. Center of table at the bottom of the T-slot is a socket head screw. Remove it, squirt in some Mobil 1 or something of 10W-30 weight.

Never adjust the speed if the motor isn't running.

My X-axis scale is at the back of the table. The Y movement doesn't go back far enough to contact it against the main column. The advantage is, you have the t-track available at the front for stops (it's also where my power feed limit switches are.)

Think about a power drawbar. Makes life easier and you won't think twice about changing tools.

ENJOY!!

Enjoy.
Best,
Stan

Offline sshire

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Re: New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill
« Reply #13 on: May 27, 2016, 11:57:00 AM »
Colin
The height is 7.04 ft (2.15 m). Keep in mind that the drawbar needs room above the head. The only way it worked with my shop was to get a power drawbar. The other suggestion (which I disregarded) was to drill a hole in the ceiling :lolb:
Best,
Stan

Offline yogi

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Re: New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill
« Reply #14 on: May 27, 2016, 01:29:02 PM »
Thanks for the info Stan! It's good to know a goog supplier for parts.

Colin, I measured my mill, and she is 82 inches tall. I'll put the mill of some sort of blocks (haven't decided on the exact ones yet) that will add a couple inches. And like Stan said, you'll need a bit of room for the drawbar. For reference, my door to the shop is 7 feet tall, and I needed to tilt the head to clear it. What's the ceiling height in your shop?

 

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