New (to me) Bridgeport Vertical Mill

[yogi]

I'm a proud owner of a Bridgeport milling machine. 

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. 






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

Regards,
Yogi

[b.lindsey]

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]

Hi Yogi,

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

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

Brian

[Dave Otto]

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

[zeeprogrammer]

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. 

[10KPete]

Yogi! Dude! You're owning my dream machine!!

Congratulations man!!

Pete

[Kim]

Congratulations on a great new addition to your shop Yogi!  And on a safe move!
Kim

[Nick_G]

.
Fab machine that looks to have found a home in a fantastic workshop located in a beautiful part of the world. 

Nick

[Jo]

 

So Yogi how much tooling came with it  or do you already have R8 

Jo

[mikemill]

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

[yogi]

Thanks everyone for the compliments and sharing my excitement about my new toy. 

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

[Twizseven]

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

[sshire]

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.

[sshire]

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

[yogi]

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?

[Hugh Currin]

Yogi:

A very nice looking addition. Congratulations.

Last time I moved my Bridgeport copy, some 20 years ago, the process was the same. Did you find the mill tended to swing when lifted with the fortlift? I remember this but it was on rougher ground, slow and easy got it done.

Great job, nice mill and wonderful shop. Thanks.

Hugh

[sshire]

Here's how one guy delivered my BP.
Jim Cook has probably moved more machinery than anyone can imagine.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tINc3jxAPlM" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tINc3jxAPlM</a>

[vascon2196]

Congratulations on your new machine!

[Grant Jones]

Congratulations on your Bridgeport acquisition. I have a bridgeport clone. Had mine a year and sure like it. I am still learning on set-ups but not much a guy cannot do with this. Same old story  though, the tooling is what really puts a dent in your wallet.

[sshire]

Just keep trolling eBay. I got a Criterion DBL-202 boring head on an R8 shank. I was the only bidder. $35. Might have been that the listing was "Brudgpirt bored head with r eight"

[yogi]

Thanks guys! 

Patience is the key to eBay. I have scored some awesome deals before. So, anybody else looking for R8 tooling will have to compete against me for the next few month... 

Hugh, I had a first class operator in the loader. The mill didn't even wiggle when we had it on the forks.  And of course slow and steady...

[Twizseven]

Stan, Yogi,

Just measured my ceiling height, 91.5" (7ft 71/2"),  So machine would fit but how much is required for the draw bar.  Garage door might be a problem, what is height with head tilted?

Thanks,

Colin

[Jo]

Stan, Yogi,

Just measured my ceiling height, 91.5" (7ft 71/2"),  So machine would fit but how much is required for the draw bar.  Garage door might be a problem, what is height with head tilted?

Thanks,

Colin

Another who is taken by the idea of a flexible friend 

Buy something serious like this: http://www.projectmachinery.co.uk/focus.aspx?itemID=13707 No problems with the head height, a serious nose and some tooling to get you going. Ok so no DRO but  they will probably deliver it.

Jo

[yogi]

Colin, tilting the head over on the machine makes it a lot shorter. It will be in the neighborhood of 64 inches. That's the height of the machine, and then it needs to be lifted or on rollers or something to be moved, but that adds only a little. So unless your door is under 6 feet, you shouldn't have any problems getting it trough. I think you should have enough space to operate the draw bar. All you need to be able to do after loosening it, is to give it a tap to get the tool free from the taper. Maybe someone can enlighten us, who is using a B'port in a shop with a similar height ceiling as yours.

Jo, that's a really nice machine. Well, availability was a big part of the decision to go with a Bridgeport. There are a lot of them around here. Are you looking to trade??? 

Yogi

[sshire]

Low ceiling. Just enough height for the power drawbar. Problem solved

[Jo]

Jo, that's a really nice machine. Well, availability was a big part of the decision to go with a Bridgeport. There are a lot of them around here. Are you looking to trade??? 

No I was looking for a universal mill for what seems ages and as normal two come along like just buses. I have Tgs now and am very happy with my  German friend 

As you say Bridgeport (turret) type mills are always available, cheap second hand quality R8 tooling isn't

Jo