Another Bridgeport price question

Hi,

Just joined the forum and apologize for yet another question on what is a fair price for a Bridgeport. I've read several past threads, but haven't seem to find anything recent on what I am looking for.

Here's my background.

I have run a mill some before, but not enough to really say I know what I'm doing. Plus it's been about 4 years and I've forgotten some of what little I knew. I remember using indicators and edge finders and stuff like that, and doing some basic milling/drilling, but nothing very technical or sophisticated.

I've wanted a mill of my own for some time, mostly for repairing things on my farm equip. I'm leaning toward a Bridgeport because my impression is that not only were they well made, and have a good reputation, but I think parts would be more available for a Bridgeport vs. other brands? Please let me know if any assumptions are wrong.

Additionally, my thought is that if I ever wanted to sell the mill (we all get old at some point and lose mobility) a high quality mill would be easier to sell vs. lower end stuff (at least that's been my experience with various equip in the past).

Here's my thought (again please tell me if any of my assumptions are wrong). So many times in my life I've bought equipment cheap only to spend a ton of time and money rebuilding it, when in the end if I had just spent more buying a decent piece of equipment in the beginning, I could have saved myself a lot of time and had a good piece of equipment at about the same price as the cheap piece of equipment I rebuilt. So would it be better to buy a better BP mill on the front end vs. trying to rebuild a more worn machine?

I don't need much in the way of features because it wouldn't be a production machine. Obviously no CNC. I don't need a power feed. A DRO would be nice but not absolutely necessary. I'd want the R8 spindle, which I think requires the J head? I don't have 3 phase, so I'd need to use a VFD. I think I'd want a one shot oiler (even though I'm not sure how to identify this) because I've read on here that units with one shot oilers are more apt to be lubed? I don't want a big table. A 9 X 32 would be ideal, but could go as big as a 9 X 42. I'm limited on space.

I'm not in a hurry to buy one, but at the same time I don't want to wait a year and a half hoping for the deal of the decade. I'm looking for a fair price for a good machine. What should I expect to pay for something like that, say on Craigslist? Prices seem to be all over the board. I called a guy the other day who had an old machine with a round ram (1/2 hp). It was a 1940 something model which looked like it hadn't been necessarily cared for very well and he was asking $3k.

Also I see advertisements from businesses on the internet who claim to completely refurbish BP mills and sell them in the $7K range. Do some of these folks really do a good job? Are they really pretty much like brand new after they rebuild them? If so, would someone care to share some names of reputable businesses who rebuild BPs and then sell them? Would I still need to inspect a machine from a reputable rebuilder, or could I trust they would give me an honest spec sheet on runout, backlash, or any other pertinent info.?

Obviously buying a brand new BP would make these questions moot, but I don't want to spend that kind of money on a mill for mostly farm use. Plus I'd like to have a little money left over for tooling, which I understand can be a very substantial cost.

I'm not quite ready to pull the trigger now. I don't know enough about a BP to fairly evaluate it, so I know I could easily be ripped off.

I'm sure I sound really ignorant about this, because I am.

If there is a past thread which would answer some of my questions, please point me in that direction, so I won't waste peoples time. There are so many threads on this forum, I hardly know where to begin searching.

Thanks.

A good friend of mine used to rebuild a lot of Bridgeport's as he was my Foreman when I had my rebuilding company. He tells me now he can sell a customer a new Acer knee mill that has a 50" table, box ways with Turcite, VS head, power feed and a 1 year warrantee for the same price as a rebuild. 2 other friends bought used Bridgeport's One lives in Cameron MO and he bought it off Craigs List from some used dealer in Mid Mo.. He had problems adjusting a gib and took it out and there was cardboard behind it. The machine was 3machines made into one, a real disaster.

Another friend from KC Mo bought a ill from a PM member out on the east coast. That fellow said it was rebuilt, my friend sent him a cashiers check, shipped it to KC and when he turned on the head, the spindle made a terrible noise. He pulled the spindle apart and the thrust bears were in backwards. So what I am saying buyer be aware.

Be sure to test run the machine before buying it. Don't buy a cheapo Chinese Mill but Taiwanese machines like Acer, Sharp, Acra, Kent are good machines. Rich

So ill just go ahead and put it out there that I am (well, my company is. Im the DRO/CNC/power feed guy) a rebuilder. We do full rebuilds (grind all the ways flat, hand scrape them in with each other, full head rebuilds, grind the table, new screws and nuts and whatever bells and whistles you want) of (mostly) Bridgeports. A full rebuilt Bridgeport, if we supplied the mill, is about $8,500 with no DRO or power feeds. If it is your Bridgeport, it is closer to $7,500.

The mills that we have the most of are 42 inch tables. 48 inch tables get alot more $$$ and the smaller 32 inch tables are just difficult to come by, I think we only have one or 2 out of the 20 or so that we have here in shop.

We see alot of mills out there that are priced higher because people think that their mill is tighter and more valuable than it actually is. We also see companies scrap mills because they think that they are worthless or see the cheaper price tag of an import.

When we find a good used mill and we sell it as used, we typically sell them in the $3k-$6k range, depending on what they have on them and their condition (obviously).

As far as some things to look for, just know that new acme screws and nuts typically have about 5 thou slop in them, brand new. When you go to check the slop in a table, move the table to the center of the table and push/pull whiie indicating the movement. That is the slop in your screw and nut combined. Then crank the table to the far end and do the push/pull again. This part of the table is typically never used and the screw will have very little wear here. When you take that measurement, that is gonna be the slop in just your nut (pretty much). Then you can take the difference of the two measurements and see about how much slop your screw has in the middle of travel.

And just as a personal pet peeve of mine... the marks on the ways are flaking, that doesnt mean they have been scraped in.

Jon
H&W Machine Repair

Thanks for all the advice.

Richard, your comments about the 2 friends getting intentionally shafted is exactly what I'd like to avoid. Unfortunately there seem to be some people who think if you can screw a person, they deserve it. I like deals which are win/win, no matter which side of the deal I'm on. Thanks.

Car2,

I've thought about one of the other brands of mills and heard some are possibly better than a Bridgeport (I called about a decent looking Lagun the other day for an asking price of $3500 on Craiglist, but it had already sold for $2500. What I'm a little concerned about is parts availability. Nothing frustrates me more than to need an essential part on a piece of equipment and not be able to find it (at any price). My impression is that even older Bridgeports still have good parts availability and will for decades to come. Do you think that's an accurate assumption, or are there other brands which would have just as much parts availability?

My other thought is that if I buy a BP and use it just for my own repairs (mostly) then the resale value probably wouldn't go down much, so that if I ever live long enough that I can no longer get out of my chair, or I die and my wife has to sell it, it could probably sell for about the same I have in it (not counting the tooling which would probably sell at a discount). I'm thinking Bridgeport is sort of like SnapOn in name recognition. Not necessarily the best (depending on who you talk to) but very good quality and the widest name recognition. Do you think that's a accurate assessment?

Jon at H&W,

Thanks for taking the time to respond. That's just the kind of practical advice I need. The method of checking the backlash of the screw itself makes sense. I also get what you are saying about the wide price variation. In the little bit of looking I've done so far, I think I'm seeing that.

I have a question on rebuilding. Would you say that a good rebuild, of the kind you describe, restores a machine to original condition? I mean just as good as the day it came out of the factory?

First of all, set a budget for yourself. Price of mill plus tooling that you'll need/want. We don't know what you'll be doing, so offering tooling ideas would be a shot in the dark. Prioritize! There are many guys that want stuff, but do they need?

Be realistic. Don't expect to find a cherry machine for low $. It happens, but not very often. Short table machines will be old. BP only offered 2 table sizes after Textron. Since Hardinge, only the 48" table is offered. Any machine that doesn't have a one-shot oiler on the side is over 50 years old.

Be prepared on your tooling, it ain't cheap! I'd hate to gues what I have in BP tooling. You can find "good used" but you also take a chance. You can easily spend $4K on tooling. Easily!!!

Patience will save you a lot of money.
JR

I recently bought my first vertical milling machine (used). I went back and forth over which one to buy, but eventually settled on a decent used Bridgeport. I would have probably bought a decent used Taiwan mill, but during my search a good Bridgeport presented itself at the right price so I went for that. But also, I did lean towards an actual Bridgeport because they are so common, new and used parts are widely available.

Many of the Asian clones, even the good ones, parts availability can be more difficult. If the machine is new enough and common enough, new parts may still be available. And in some cases, they are so closely cloned to the Bridgeport, some or most of the parts are actually interchangeable. But in many cases there is enough of a difference between the clone and the original Bridgeport that the parts will not swap. So taking that important factor into account, unless some really fine Asian clone at a killer price happened to drop into my lap, I was going to get an original Bridgeport. And that's exactly what I did. Happy with my purchase and the parts and service I have received from H&W has been top notch.

Oh one other thing - make sure you factor in the shipping/rigging price of the machine. I paid what I would call a fair-good price for my machine, but it was delivered to my door by the seller. If I had to pay a rigger to deliver it to me, it could have easily added $800-$1200 to the price. That suddenly made it an excellent deal. Especially considering the extras I got with the machine, which is another thing to negotiate for properly.

Randalthor said:

Thanks for all the advice.

Richard, your comments about the 2 friends getting intentionally shafted is exactly what I'd like to avoid. Unfortunately there seem to be some people who think if you can screw a person, they deserve it. I like deals which are win/win, no matter which side of the deal I'm on. Thanks.

Car2,

I've thought about one of the other brands of mills and heard some are possibly better than a Bridgeport (I called about a decent looking Lagun the other day for an asking price of $3500 on Craiglist, but it had already sold for $2500. What I'm a little concerned about is parts availability. Nothing frustrates me more than to need an essential part on a piece of equipment and not be able to find it (at any price). My impression is that even older Bridgeports still have good parts availability and will for decades to come. Do you think that's an accurate assumption, or are there other brands which would have just as much parts availability?

My other thought is that if I buy a BP and use it just for my own repairs (mostly) then the resale value probably wouldn't go down much, so that if I ever live long enough that I can no longer get out of my chair, or I die and my wife has to sell it, it could probably sell for about the same I have in it (not counting the tooling which would probably sell at a discount). I'm thinking Bridgeport is sort of like SnapOn in name recognition. Not necessarily the best (depending on who you talk to) but very good quality and the widest name recognition. Do you think that's a accurate assessment?

Jon at H&W,

Thanks for taking the time to respond. That's just the kind of practical advice I need. The method of checking the backlash of the screw itself makes sense. I also get what you are saying about the wide price variation. In the little bit of looking I've done so far, I think I'm seeing that.

I have a question on rebuilding. Would you say that a good rebuild, of the kind you describe, restores a machine to original condition? I mean just as good as the day it came out of the factory?

Click to expand...

So here are a few more cents, free of charge

The comments on here are spot on. The ne indiana and nw ohio area is flooded with good old bridgeports and laguns. You will spend almost the cost of a Bridgeport on just the screws and nuts of a lagun. And be careful of companies, jet comes to mind, that every few years they change part numbers and the old stuff becomes obsolete.

As far as rebuilding, you gotta look at the rebuilder.At my (well, my father in laws lol) shop, our rebuilds go out at better than when they left the factory. We have 3 head rebuilders, one who has been doing this for 30 years, who fully disassemble, clean, paint, and reassemble about 2 to 3 heads per week (per rebuilder).

We also arent just a rebuild shop. We also do just repair work. We are working on a step pulley BP where the customer wants no way work, just the head rebuilt, new screws and nuts, and cleaned then painted.

Please dont take this as im the best (which i am. As most Marines will tell you, its hard to be humble when you are the best ) or we are the only shop around. We arent. And we arent for everyone. But look around. Find someone reputable in your area. Ask a local factory who does your repairs and rework.

Wow, that was alot longer than i set out fornit to be.

Hopefully jr doesnt flag this.

Jon
H&W Machine Repair

There's a wide range of prices in different areas. Just look on ebay to see how cheap they are in some areas. Here in the Carolinas, prices are up because industry is booming. I recently picked up an old (1963), dirty 32" B'Port for $2K, but the ways and leadscrews are excellent, and it has a DRO. It was the best deal I've seen here in 5 years of looking.

If you just want something to repair old Farm Equipment buy you an old $2K machine with tight spindle and be done with it. I have one that I bought about 40 years ago, looks like shit but holds .003 and it runs every day 40 hr week making me about $50 hr.
If you want something to "rebuild and make pretty" get you an old $5K machine that looks well taken care of and start "rebuilding".
Just my 2 cents If you need parts Jon
H&W Machine Repair will have anything that you will need.

Thanks again to everyone for all the good comments.

Just to follow up, I did end up buying a Bridgeport. Got it home last night. I didn't intend to buy one so soon, but came across what I felt like was an acceptable deal for the money, based on what information I could find here in past threads and what other prices I was seeing on Craigslist and Ebay.

Its a 2J1-1/2 model head with a 42" table. No DRO or power feeds. It does have one shot lube. The table is in good shape. I think there is one small drill mark, no mill marks but lots of scratches. I think the paint is original, but I'm not positive. The paint is in pretty good shape, and where it's flaked off, I can't see any paint underneath.

I tried to twist the table for slop and couldn't discern any movement by feel, however I did not put an indicator on it to check the slop in the gibs.

Put an indicator on the outside of the spindle, and could not detect any movement of the needle (indicator only measured to the nearest .001) so the runout is probably within the acceptable range of a few tenths.

I checked the backlash of all three axis and it was generally around .012 and seemed to be the same even at the ends of the screws. So I don't think there is much screw wear. However, on the X axis, once or twice the screw seemed to have a "hitch", which added about .010 more to the backlash. I need to find out what's going on there. The machine looked like it had been setting for 20 years, so I don't want to move the table much without getting some waylube.

The head sounded decent. All the brakes worked. The quill feed worked, but had a screw in place of the knob to run the quill feed reverse. No quill feed wheel. No lever to raise/lower the knee. The quill lever was bent.

The guy bought a full shop of machines which looked like they hadn't been used in 20 years. Sort of the the owner of the shop just shut everything down and didn't sell the equipment.

One thing I didn't like was that the drawbar threads were pretty much gone and the end of the drawbar was blue (as in got so hot it turned blue). This means the collet got that hot, which makes me wonder if the spindle got that hot, are the bearings OK? Like I said there was no discernible runout on a .001 needle indicator, and the head sounded good.

There is still some flaking on the ways (I assume the flaking is original.)



I ended up paying $2300 for the machine, but had to drive 200+ miles to go get it. I had to rent a drop trailer and a pallet jack for two days, so I had some cost in getting it home.

We removed the head to lighten it a bit. Still not sure how I'm going to get that back on.



I'm not sure where to look for the serial number. Here's a number on the front.




I'm sure I will have lots of questions, which I will start a new thread if I can't find answers in the archives, but I had a few quick questions for starters.

1. I'd like to lube the gear which rotates the head, while I have the head off. Does anyone know if this takes special grease, or is any lithium grease acceptable?

2. For any precision parts needed for the mill, I'd like to stay with OEM, but for non-precision parts like a drawbar, or various missing handles, is there any reason to stay with the more expensive OEM parts, vs. cheaper clone parts?

3. Lastly, is there anything I should do maintenance wise, while I have the head off (I'm not talking major things, like disassembly of the head, but something I should check or maintain while the head is off?

Here's a pic of the head. I've made sure the spindle has not come in contact with the floor. It's not even resting on the plywood.

Looks like a good machine, very similar to mine in vintage, condition and features. Your's is a 1972 model according to this website...

Northeast Precision Machinery | Bridgeport Milling Machine "J" Head Serial Numbers

In my opinion, I would run the head and fully vary speed up and down. If it's really quiet or sounds acceptable, then use it as is. On my head it was pretty noisy, or certainly noisier than I liked. So I went ahead and ordered a complete rebuild kit from H&W (for like $300) for the upper head. This included all bearings, the plastic bushings on the two split pulleys, grease, new belt etc. It was fun to tear it down (just the upper part, not the inner spindle assy on the lower part of the head). My head didn't really need all the bearings, but it did need plastic bushings which you can get for a lot cheaper alone. It also gave me an opportunity to measure the runout on the motor shaft which can tell you why your head may be making excessive noise, especially when you vary speed. I also replaced the bearings on the motor, which was pretty easy (with my 20 ton HF press) and very inexpensive too. All these steps are covered in the H&W video series.

Otherwise I tore my whole machine down, table, saddle and knee off, and thoroughly cleaned everything out. 50 years of packed chips were in everything so I'm glad I did. Every table or knee movement can cause unnecessary wear with those chips in there so I'm glad to have cleaned them out so my machine maintains it relatively low wear status. If you don't have a 1-shot oiler, this is also a good opportunity to install one. I also installed new felt wipers on the table and knee.

Anyway, looks like a good machine, I think you will be pleased with it.

I just finished up cleaning and totally going through my new to me Bridgeport. Mine is a year older than yours (1971). I'm glad I spent the time going through it and cleaning it up, but I have time because I'm retired and this is a hobby for me. I enjoy working on machines like this.

Anyways, if it were me, I would take the motor off and check the bushing on the motor shaft's variable speed pulleys. These typically go before the spindle set. If they need replacing and are not replaced they could very well ruin your motor shaft and you certainly don't want that! They are pretty cheap to replace (if needed) and as mentioned above there are great videos available to instruct you. It's not a bad or time consuming job either.

Just my two cents,
Ted

Thanks Guys,

I think you've convinced me. I think I will go ahead and replace the plastic bushings you mention, at a minimum. I'll take the time to watch the videos you mentioned first.

Maschine,

How were the bearings you replaced on your motor, how about the bushings? The reason I ask is that the BP manual said the bearings contain grease for the life of the motor. Since all the rest of the grease appears to be dried up on this machine, I wonder about the bearing grease in the motor.

As a comparative motor, I know those old Baldor motors would last a long time without any servicing, but these machines we are talking about are almost 50 years old. I have a 50 ton press, and various bearing pulling equip, so I think I can get the bearings off/on.

I originally wasn't going to do anything to the head, but you guys have me thinking in that direction.

When I bought my machine the head was quite noisy. But really, these heads are fairly noisy even when new, at least compared to a step pulley machine in good condition. The split pulley system is just inherently a little screechy and rattly, even when everything is working as it should. So if you haven't worked around these machines before, it's easy to think they're "noisy" when in fact they're actually ok.

But my head was definitely in need of "something" based on how much noise it made. I didn't know offhand what, but I knew it was about 50 years old and probably had never been rebuilt or maybe even greased (the back gear inside needs to be greased periodically). So since you have to delve into the head to get to the back gear I decided to just go ahead and replace all the bearings (in the upper head) while I was in there. The rebuild kit for everything was about $300. Not cheap, but not horribly expensive either, at least I didn't think so, considering all that you get. Especially considering all the bearings are high quality Japanese or American, no Chinese junk (which you want to avoid like the plague). I wanted peace of mind on my "new" Bridgeport, so I just went for it.

Bridgeport Rebuild Kits

After tearing the head down I was surprised to find that nearly all the bearings still seemed pretty good considering their age and use cycle. Some seemed a bit dry and maybe slightly rattly, but none of them were really obviously worn out. Only one bearing, and I don't remember which one it was, seemed clearly ready for replacement. The bushings on the pulleys did seem pretty worn, so I'm definitely glad I replaced them. I also mic'ed the shaft on my motor (as shown on the H&W video), which was within limits. Had it been out of spec, a replacement rotor is like $350, unless you know a machinist that can rebuild it for you (by welding up the shaft and cutting it back down to size). But the shaft spec is an important parameter in a machine that runs smoothly and doesn't rattle or vibrate as you vary speed with the hand crank.

As suspected, the back gear was running almost dry. All the grease within the head had mostly dried up over 50 years. So I cleaned out all the old gunk and then used the grease in my kit to fill the cavity with fresh grease. There are also grease and oil ports/passages on the head. The grease ports/passages were plugged with dried up old grease. I used a wire and solvent to clean all of them out. Now the head can be properly lubricated when needed instead of having blocked passages. I also replaced a felt cover (H&W SKU number 1164) that went over the upper spindle bearing (it had trapped metal chips in it, so thought it best to just replace it).



You can access this felt washer once you remove all of the upper parts.



As to the motor bearings, they were cheap, like $15 for both of them if that. Mine were dry and probably were a part of the noise in my head, but they weren't completely worn out. Definitely glad to have replaced them along with the other bearings.

I also went ahead and stripped the motor and upper head parts of their paint while I had them off and repainted with gray enamel tractor paint with hardener. Pretty easy to do with those components removed. I didn't bother repainting the rest of the machine, which is a lot of work (if done properly) for no real return other than cosmetics. But I did degrease and clean everything up really well. I also buffed out the aluminum upper housing on my shop buffer. Easy enough to do when it's off and made the head look new when done.

When you have everything apart it's also a good time to inspect the condition of the splines that mesh on items 31 and 33 below. If these are heavily worn, it'll cause rattling and possibly slippage if bad enough. When you put the head back together it's important to adjust the H/L engagement lever (item 61,62,63) so that the splines fully engage in high. You also need to "float" the head around initially by loosening bolts 39 and tapping the head around with a plastic or rubber mallet while the splines are engaged and the head is running. This better aligns the splines so that they run as quietly as they can when they are engaged.

Forgot to mention I also completely disassembled the variable speed hand crank mechanism (everything connected to item 5 above). It was also caked in dried grease and was stiff operating. Took it all apart, soaked everything in solvent, thoroughly cleaned it all up perfectly, re-greased/oiled and reassembled. Adjusted it (and the metal lever its chain connects to) after everything was back together and now it's as smooth as glass, better than new (because it's broken in, unlike a new one).

Thanks so much Maschine. Very useful info.

I watched the H&W videos on how to rebuild the upper half of the head, change out the plastic bushings, and replace the motor bearings.

I had a few questions for you, or anybody, if you don't mind. H&W used a plate mounted to a table to anchor the head, while working on it. I don't have a table bolted to the floor to mount the head. I was thinking about welding up a little stand to mount the head. What did you use?

The in the head disassembly video starts out by saying to run the head under power and lower the speed all the way before disassembly Bridgeport Head Top Half Teardown - YouTube (See one minute into the vid) I can't do that because I don't have 3-phase power. I intend to get a VFD but haven't done so yet. Did you run the head down to the slowest speed before disassembly, or do you know how critical this step is?

The man in the video is shown pressing one of the bearings in a housing by pressing on the inner race, but it's the outer race which comes in contact with the housing. I was always taught to press bearings in on the race which comes in contact with the item you are pressing the bearing onto. In other words, if you are pressing a bearing in a housing, use a sleeve which comes in contact with the outer race. If you are pressing a bearing on a shaft, use a sleeve which comes in contact with the inner race. But the man in the film does it backwards on this video Bridgeport Bushing Repair - YouTube (see vid at 19:30) Do you know of any reason he would do it that way?

Lastly, H&W says this about their upper rebuild kit for the 2J head, "If you have a blue or teal bushing in the motor vari-disc you will have to replace the vari-disc assembly." Do you know what this is about, or the likelihood my machine would have the blue or teal bushing? Did yours have it?

I simply kept my head mounted on the mill and used a sturdy milk crate to access it. Worked fine for me, although I’m pretty tall. Depending on your height you may need something that raises you up a little higher.

In my opinion, I would advise buying the VFD now. That way you can power the machine and put it into low as the H&W video advises (makes removing the motor easier, and yes I did do that on my machine). But also, you’ll be able to run the head and test it before tearing it down. This may give you valuable diagnostic information you may need after you break the head down. For instance, one thing that comes to mind – I would run the head in high position at the lowest speed possible. I would chuck up (or collet) a big drill bit (maybe ~1” in dia) and try pushing it through some thick steel. I would load test the mill as best as possible (within its limits, of course) and see if anything slips or chatters inside when it is under a full load.

For instance, if the splines mentioned earlier are heavily worn (and the H/L lever is properly adjusted for full engagement), they may pop out of engagement or slip under a solid load. If you see this behavior before you tear it down, you won’t have to wonder while you’re looking at the splines after you disassemble it if it’s an issue or not. You’ll know if it slips or not because you already tested it. Unless you’re an expert that can visually assess just the looks of something (like a pro rebuilder with years of experience), you’re not going to know if something should be replaced or not. Testing it beforehand takes the guesswork out of it.

Same thing goes for checking out all the features. The downfeed feature and all the other levers/actuators, I would check them all out and verify they all work well. That way you have a good sense of the baseline machine’s functionality. And you’ll know it BEFORE you go into the head. You don't want to rebuild everything just to reassemble it and then later find out there's something else wrong with it that you could have fixed a lot easier when you had it mostly all apart anyway.

“The man in the video is shown pressing one of the bearings in a housing by pressing on the inner race, but it's the outer race which comes in contact with the housing. I was always taught to press bearings in on the race which comes in contact with the item you are pressing the bearing onto. In other words, if you are pressing a bearing in a housing, use a sleeve which comes in contact with the outer race. If you are pressing a bearing on a shaft, use a sleeve which comes in contact with the inner race. But the man in the film does it backwards on this video Bridgeport Bushing Repair - YouTube (see vid at 19:30) Do you know of any reason he would do it that way?”

Yes I remember that one and I was thinking the same thing when I saw that. I also saw other youtube videos of other Bridgeport rebuilders doing the same thing. And while normally you are correct, for that one it was a fairly light press-fit, so it wasn’t really harmful to the bearing in the way you may think. These bearings are designed to tolerate a substantial thrust load. In fact, that specific bearing is used in a thrust application. Not saying to not do it the right way, just that what you see there is not necessarily "bad practice" due to the light press fit. Obviously you can also choose to get an arbor that's exactly the right size for the outer race. I think what I did is use the old bearing to press it in most of the way and then the final little bit I did like Barry did in the H&W vid (I didn't have the exact size arbor for it). Just use common sense when assembling on this one, it isn't that critical in the way it is for other bearings.

As to the blue Teal bushing thing, I didn’t have them in my machine so am not familiar with that scenario. Since my machine is the same vintage as yours, I suspect you have the non-blue or Teal bushings. The black ones shown in their website pics are exactly like the ones that came out of – and went back into – my machine.

Thanks. I did go ahead and rotated the spindle by hand while cranking the vari speed to see if the belt would climb the pulley and it seemed to work. But you have some good thoughts on running it before tearing it down. I did run it before I bought it, but the drawbar was stripped and wouldn't accept a collet, so I couldn't run it under load. The spindle feed seemed to work fine, and kicked out when it hit the stop.

I need to do some reading on a good VFD. I don't think I need a top of line VFD to run one 3-phase machine, but I would like to get a good durable one that will be safe to run a DRO in case I ever choose to add one.

Another question about this head is where to lube. I've read the manual where it talks about lubing, but it doesn't seem to answer this question.

The lube plate says to remove set screw B in the lower rear section of the vari drive. I found where screw "A" is (and the two lube cups) but can't figure out what they are talking about with screw "B". The BP manual online only shows where screw "A" is, unless I'm missing it.

I'm away from my home so I can't check my manual or machine. But the head has two oil cups you add oil to periodically. It also has two plugs, which are for grease fittings. One is directly behind the front and the other is on the left side (as you're facing the machine)...I think, anyway. I think they use plugs on them instead of permanent fittings because greasing should be needed very infrequently.

As to the VFD, I bought a cheap
Chinese unit off amazon for $100 (called LaPond). It has some idiosyncrasies but it has been working ok for me. I complained about the quirks and they knocked off $60 so I wouldn't return it (all the way back to China). So I got it for $40 and it's been working ok for me. Not suggesting you should get one, just letting you know of my experience. Since then I bought a 3 phase lathe, so I'm going to get a rotary phase converter setup to power both. Already scored a nice 7.5hp motor, now just need the electronic module and wire it up.

One more thing- you mention the need for a VFD for a DRO. DRO's run on 115VAC house current in just about all cases that I'm aware of. I have an old Mitutoyo unit in my machine and it operates on standard 115-120VAC.