Bridgeport mill ?

bisley45 · Sep 26, 2016

In about a week I will be heading up north about 10 hours from me to pick up a Bridgeport mill. This will be quite the adventure for me and the little lady heaviest and farthest trip I have made for a machine but am looking forward to the trip for sure. My question is that I have been planning and planning the haul and placement of the mill when I get it home. This is an older round ram mill and was wondering from those that have one could give me the distance from the back of the base to the wall that is required for this type of mill? Any help would be much appreciated.

moonlight machine · Sep 26, 2016

bisley45 said:
In about a week I will be heading up north about 10 hours from me to pick up a Bridgeport mill. This will be quite the adventure for me and the little lady heaviest and farthest trip I have made for a machine but am looking forward to the trip for sure. My question is that I have been planning and planning the haul and placement of the mill when I get it home. This is an older round ram mill and was wondering from those that have one could give me the distance from the back of the base to the wall that is required for this type of mill any help would be much appreciated.

I would not walk across the street for a round ram let aloe drive 10 hours for one. The newer ones are so much better in every way. I'd look around and try to find a newer one.

JRIowa · Sep 27, 2016

As Moonligt said, your nuts to drive that far for a round ram. I can make it to LR in less than 10 hours so you must be talking Iowa.

The newest round ram will be 60 years old. Probably with an M head. Just sit down, drink a beer or 2, and plan some more. Look for something build in the 70s or later. Hell, your probably closer to Dallas.
JR

Richard King · Sep 27, 2016

I suspect the thread will be closed because he doesn't ask a question in the title, just a ? mark. Sir now that you can if I were you I go to "edit post bottom right and click it and then go down to Advanced and click it and scroll up to the title and edit the title to read "Need help on loading Bridgeport Mill" Or "How to prepare Bridgeport Round Arm for trucking".

you can already see our members don't like Round arms because they are so old and obsolete when there are so many machines on the market that are 1000 times better. If someone gave me a round arm I am not sure I would go get it. It is probably worn out and would not be much better then a drill press. If it still has an M head it can only accept a 1/2" cutter. (if memory serves me right) If it has a J head by chance that would make it better. If you insist on buying it I would go on You Tube and search how to turn headstock or remove it. You would lower the knee down and if your trailer has a wood floor nail 2x4's around the base and use 2 or 3 - 2" Nylon straps to ratchet it down. Rich

bisley45 · Sep 27, 2016

Ok fist I did ask a question and second didn't ask your thoughts on how to haul or the mill itself. just dim for the base from the wall?

rons · Sep 27, 2016

bisley45 said:
Ok fist I did ask a question and second didn't ask your thoughts on how to haul or the mill itself. just dim for the base from the wall?

Relax, you will get used to this sort of treatment. Some mean well but it it just reads differently on the page.

There is a lack of understanding that you might have probably already paid for the machine, and might have a friend who has one, etc.

http://manuals.chudov.com/Bridgeport/Round-Ram-Turret-Bridgeport-Mill-Manual.pdf

From the operator's manual it looks like you should plan for at least 1 foot. I would allow a little more.

JRIowa · Sep 27, 2016

bisley45 said:
Ok fist I did ask a question and second didn't ask your thoughts on how to haul or the mill itself. just dim for the base from the wall?

OK, fist! Those are fightin' words. Or at least that's what I read on the internet.

We're trying to keep you from making a BIG mistake. Is why we do this. If you've made the decision, say so. So many come here and ask for opinions and what they really want is confirmation. I think that's what you were hoping for.

Have you ever ran an M head? Go here and read up on them first. http://www.lathes.co.uk/bridgeport/
M head mill can generally be had for $500 or less. Most of the time, less. Does it come with any tooling? M head collets are generally twice as expensive as R-8.

You want a dimension. 18" is probably a minimum. IMO, somewhere over 24 is better.
JR

Richard King · Sep 27, 2016

I did see this in your post " My question is that I have been planning and planning the haul and placement of the mill when I get it home." I saw the word "Haul" plus placement. I tried to be nice about you buying the machine and gave you some advice on the head. Wasn't trying to be nasty at all.

rons · Sep 27, 2016

I had a neighbor who owned a round ram BP. The table was 36". Didn't look like much and was not well kept. He started and owned a company that made repair tools for Harley Davidson's. If you looked at some of his parts you would not know that a round-ram was used. He also used a large Taiwanese lathe. He had a storage barn full of vintage and antique motorcycles that he worked on with his tools.

bisley45 · Sep 27, 2016

OK sorry if a read in to this all wrong and didn't quite word my question the right way either. The reason I went with a older BP round ram is I have a very small shop and was looking for a Rockwell or clausing mill and this one popped up for very little money and comes with a complete set of collets and end mill holders as well.

Mark W. Ingalls · Sep 27, 2016

I have a RR and I live in Fayetteville. You're welcome to come take a look.

There's a guy east of Tulsa who sells used BP's:

[h=1]Stantec Machining[/h]2829 West 605
Chouteau, OK 74337
Phone: (918) 530-9500

How long have you been looking?

mach2 · Sep 27, 2016

bisley45 said:
OK sorry if a read in to this all wrong and didn't quite word my question the right way either. The reason I went with a older BP round ram is I have a very small shop and was looking for a Rockwell or clausing mill and this one popped up for very little money and comes with a complete set of collets and end mill holders as well.

The Rockwell is a good small mill but is flimsy and smaller compared to a round ram Bridgeport. The round ram Bridgeport is flimsy compared to the dovetail version. Any mill is better than no mill. Got to start somewhere.

cyanidekid · Sep 27, 2016

well, here is the real rub..

bisley45 said:
OK sorry if a read in to this all wrong and didn't quite word my question the right way either. The reason I went with a older BP round ram is I have a very small shop and was looking for a Rockwell or clausing mill and this one popped up for very little money and comes with a complete set of collets and end mill holders as well.

everyone is ragging on you for getting a round ram, but they are missing the real downside here.. yes, a mill is a mill, and a round ram, well tooled is far better than no mill, but a ten hour drive, well that's the crazy part here. is that 10 hrs each way!? no, you can do better..

JRIowa · Sep 28, 2016

bisley45 said:
The reason I went with a older BP round ram is I have a very small shop

I also have a small shop. 28 X 36. I put my BP in the corner.
Shop8.jpg Photo by JRIowa | Photobucket

A round ram is about the same size as a V-ram BP. You can save a little space with a short table. There are also plenty of guys out there that have them. If you ask them, 99% would rather have a v-ram. They are an extremely frustrating machine to run.

Be patient in your search. Have a realistic budget. Look around at what others to. There are several here that have sleds to move their mills around their shop. Do your homework!
JR

rons · Sep 28, 2016

bisley45 said:
In about a week I will be heading up north about 10 hours from me to pick up a Bridgeport mill. This will be quite the adventure for me and the little lady

Do some sightseeing on the way there. You have quite a lady there, many times I see the lady sitting out in the car while the guy goes into the machine/tool store. Two types of ladies in the world, those who take interest in a guy's hobby and those who sit in the car.

bisley45 · Sep 28, 2016

rons said:
Do some sightseeing on the way there. You have quite a lady there, many time I see the lady sitting out in the car while the guy goes into the machine/tool store. Two types of ladies in the world, those who take interest in a guy's hobby and those who sit in the car.

That's the plan. Never seen the great lakes and we will be real close to lake Michigan[emoji1]

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

JRIowa · Sep 29, 2016

OK, I know you want to see a lake, but at least take a look at what John F. sells
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...reconditioned-bridgeport-single-phase-324899/
He can ship to your location.
JR

moonlight machine · Sep 29, 2016

bisley45 said:
That's the plan. Never seen the great lakes and we will be real close to lake Michigan[emoji1]

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

Hard to see more than 1 at a time unless you are flying.

bisley45 · Sep 30, 2016

JRIowa said:
OK, I know you want to see a lake, but at least take a look at what John F. sells
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...reconditioned-bridgeport-single-phase-324899/
He can ship to your location.
JR

That mill is very nice and most likely worth the 3450.00 but knock 3 grand off and that's what I paid for my mill

pianoman8t8 · Sep 30, 2016

Agreed, round ram is better than trying to use a drill press as a mill... not that I would know (Jacobs chuck taper doesn't hold well to side loading LOL).

Worth noting: I have never used a round ram BP.

You say you have a small shop. I also have a small shop. 24'x24' to be exact. I have stuffed enough machines in there to be a cluster-F, but still manageable. (trust me, it's a sh*t-show in there, but I can still get work done on the side).

7 machines in my garage, plus 60gal compressor and 2 RPC's (10hp and 20hp) plus workbenches, toolboxes, etc (usual stuff).

-BP clone, full size (KBC Machinery)
-Monarch 10EE toolroom lathe
-Abene VHF-3 universal mill
-Hardinge CHNC with barfeed
-Tree Journeyman 325 CNC kneemill
-Harig 612 grinder
-Clausing Colchester 15x50

And a Sno Jet... (not metalworking related)

Space will always be an issue if you like to keep things under cover, unless you either a) don't have much to cover or, b) have a very large building.

I would think the difference in size between the round ram BP and a newer standard-size BP would be well worth the minimal difference in loss of space for something more capable and modern. Then again, what do I know, I've never handled a RR BP. Just my $.02 on the space factor, or lack thereof.

Bridgeport mill ?

Aluminum

Diamond

Diamond

Diamond

Aluminum

Diamond

Diamond

Diamond

Diamond

Aluminum

Aluminum

Stainless

Titanium

Diamond

Diamond

Aluminum

Diamond

Diamond

Aluminum

Hot Rolled

Similar threads