Handwheels falling off

John S01 · Feb 14, 2018

I am not the voice of experience here since I have been the owner operator of a 1969 J-Head Variable Drive Bridgeport mill for about three days now.

Why is it that every time I try to rotate a handwheel on this mill that it has to fall off the machine? I raise the knee, the handwheel comes loose and I have to muscle it back on. I try to move the quill feed handle and it is loose. It pops out of its keeper. Same for the fine feed handwheel. I have owned two cheap Chinese mills and at least their controls would stay in place. Well, not all the time, but I don't understand why this Bridgeport has to be so fussy. What am I doing wrong here?

thermite · Feb 14, 2018

John S01 said:
I am not the voice of experience here since I have been the owner operator of a 1969 J-Head Variable Drive Bridgeport mill for about three days now.

Why is it that every time I try to rotate a handwheel on this mill that it has to fall off the machine? I raise the knee, the handwheel comes loose and I have to muscle it back on. I try to move the quill feed handle and it is loose. It pops out of its keeper. Same for the fine feed handwheel. I have owned two cheap Chinese mills and at least their controls would stay in place. Well, not all the time, but I don't understand why this Bridgeport has to be so fussy. What am I doing wrong here?

Not "wrong". They were meant to be easily removable, knee (a crank handle, not wheel) most of all. Balanced levers the other two. Anything can get out of whack, Bubba does a monkey-patch, or NO patch? May need some attention. Not a Bridgeport vs Chinese design fault atall.

After all it ain't brand-new, is it? Take a closer look at it, see what needs what.

JRIowa · Feb 14, 2018

OK, a couple of things. If the head has variable speed, it's a 2J, not a J. The vintage of your mill suggests an early 2J so it's probably 1.5hp. So, the correct nomenclature would be 2J-1 1/2.

You also say "handwheels", there is usually only one handwheel on a BP. That's the fine feed on the head.

Please go here and download a current manual: KneeMills.com - Knee Mill Documentation
This way, we can all be on the same "page" and help you find your problems. You might also find that you are missing parts.
JR

AdamC · Feb 14, 2018

John S01 said:
I am not the voice of experience here since I have been the owner operator of a 1969 J-Head Variable Drive Bridgeport mill for about three days now.

Why is it that every time I try to rotate a handwheel on this mill that it has to fall off the machine? I raise the knee, the handwheel comes loose and I have to muscle it back on. I try to move the quill feed handle and it is loose. It pops out of its keeper. Same for the fine feed handwheel. I have owned two cheap Chinese mills and at least their controls would stay in place. Well, not all the time, but I don't understand why this Bridgeport has to be so fussy. What am I doing wrong here?

If I'm not mistaken, knee, quill feed, and fine feed controls are all designed to be removable. There should be no muscling of any of them required and no excessive force required. Give your new mill a good cleaning. For the knee crank, gunk gets into the castellations and stops the handle from fully seating. Then the crank can easily slip loose.

In use, I use the knee crank to get to position, then I lock the knee and reverse the crank handle so its out of the way. Its designed like that.

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Handwheels falling off

John S01

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thermite

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JRIowa

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AdamC

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