I have been refurbishing a T Ram Bridgeport that was a line-a-mill when it was new. I may play with the optic Tracer some day but my main goal now is to to make the mill as close to new again as possible. I have tried to find a match for the serial number but no real luck. The number on top of the knee is 12 BTL 102324. The numbers put it around 1967 which sounds about right. I'm guessing the 12 is series one and a 2J head but I'm just guessing on that. The BTL I'm guessing could mean Bridgeport t ram line a mill. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Largest Manufacturing Technology Community on the Web
Stay Connected:
Bridgeport Line-A-Mill serial number
- Thread starter dkarrick
- Start date
- Replies 14
- Views 4,751
JRIowa
Diamond
- Joined
- May 27, 2003
- Location
- Marshalltown, Iowa, USA
Oh boy, another machine reburbisher!
The 12 is the length of stroke on the knee. They also made a 9.
B ~ all Bridgeports have a B in the serial number.
T ~ T ram
L ~ (IIRC) is the width of the face of the T ram. Don't know what letter they were, but there were at least 4 configurations.
JR
The 12 is the length of stroke on the knee. They also made a 9.
B ~ all Bridgeports have a B in the serial number.
T ~ T ram
L ~ (IIRC) is the width of the face of the T ram. Don't know what letter they were, but there were at least 4 configurations.
JR
Thanks for the info. Sorry if I offended anybody by saying I was refurbishing my Bridgeport. This is my first mill. I always wanted a Bridgeport but really couldnt afford it. I don't plan on making a habit of refurbishing machines, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Sorry to be added to an undesirable list. Thanks for your help.
JRIowa
Diamond
- Joined
- May 27, 2003
- Location
- Marshalltown, Iowa, USA
There have been many that come here with that goal. You have not offended anybody that I know of. The are a lot of reburbishers that never make chips. They have a pristine pile of iron sitting in the corner that all their friends think is really cool. I'd rather make chips than worry about matching paint colors. If fact, I've got 3 projects going on now that I need the mill for. Who wants to help with the rotary table?
JR
Oh. Ok. I understand now. I am a automation engineer in the automotive industry by occupation. Unlike most I usually design, build and implement in order to keep under budget. I'm using a mill and or lathe weekly. Sometimes daily. My main reason for refurbishment is to gain all the original accuracy of the machine plus make Improvements. Once refurbished she will need to pay back for all the attention she was given. Gotta make money to spend money. Lol. Thanks
JRIowa
Diamond
- Joined
- May 27, 2003
- Location
- Marshalltown, Iowa, USA
Do you do your own scraping? How can you get the "original accuracy" without scraping all of the worn ways?
As I said in an earlier post, the Line-A-Mill was a POS. They never worked as advertised. Been there, seen them run! Good luck on making money with one. A true CNC will eat your lunch.
JR
Not planning on using the tracer. Might play with it some day but for now it's off and stored away. I don't have a scraping and never done it, but I know someone who does. Can you even scrape chrome ways? I have the mill tore down and there is no visible wear. Chrome ways, ball screw xy axis. The unit was bought for a school that must not have used it hardly at all. The old man that had it was 95 and he bought it in the 80's at a sale. He didn't know how to use it but my brother made a few parts for the old man's back hoe. Last 15 years the machines been setting in his farm work shop collecting dust,rust and rats nest. I'm not needing a cnc as of yet, but wish I could afford one. Mainly going to start small doing work that doesn't specifically need cnc, but that a regular shop would be to expensive.
Hey JR
You seem to be very knowledgeable about the tracers. Hope I can use you as a valuable resource. My line-A-Mill has ball screw feeds screws. There in pretty good shape but I can't find any info on them. They could use new wipers. Pretty sure there original due to having servos. Each screw has two ball nuts. Not sure if there's any backlash adjustment other than the preload washers on one nut. I can't find any info on them.
Thanks
You seem to be very knowledgeable about the tracers. Hope I can use you as a valuable resource. My line-A-Mill has ball screw feeds screws. There in pretty good shape but I can't find any info on them. They could use new wipers. Pretty sure there original due to having servos. Each screw has two ball nuts. Not sure if there's any backlash adjustment other than the preload washers on one nut. I can't find any info on them.
Thanks
JRIowa
Diamond
- Joined
- May 27, 2003
- Location
- Marshalltown, Iowa, USA
Those aren't ball screws!
JR
JR
JRIowa
Diamond
- Joined
- May 27, 2003
- Location
- Marshalltown, Iowa, USA
Without the tubes showing, they didn't look like ball screws. If you lost balls, you're probably SOL. Be very careful when milling manually with ball-screws. They can be very dangerous. Many posts on this.
JR
Similar threads
