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Bridgewood spindle bearings
- Thread starter jaco1
- Start date
- Replies 10
- Views 5,196
gwilson
Diamond
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2006
- Location
- williamsburg va
WHICH machine are you talking about?????? We can't read your mind.
Could be anything from a wood shaper spindle to many other machines....Wilke Machinery seems to still exist but no mention of Bridgewood anywhere so I suspect they are hoping to distance themselves from the very line they created (as in paint colors and name labels...machines made by lord knows who)WHICH machine are you talking about?????? We can't read your mind.
About Our Machinery Sales Company - York, PA - CH Wilke, Inc.
gwilson
Diamond
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2006
- Location
- williamsburg va
Wilke stopped selling machinery quite a few years ago,and now only services machinery as far as I know. I used to stop there every Summer,on my way to the flea markets in Pa. But,since they stopped selling machinery,I haven't stopped. That,and I haven't any more room for machinery!
I did buy a Bridgewood 8" jointer and a 15" planer,used,but in new condition. Trade ins on larger machines. I also bought my Wilke Machinery Co. Bridgeport clone there in 1986. It and the others were all Taiwan made machines. They,and especially the mill,have been so satisfactory that I haven't bothered to trade the mill in on real Bridgeports on several occasions when good used ones have been available. The Bridgys were made in Singapore at the time,anyway. The thickness planer planes much smoother than the 20" Powermatic we had at work. So smooth you really have to look close to see the planer marks. I did enlarge the dust hood outlet from 4" to 6",which ensures efficient chip extraction and no clogging.
I did buy a Bridgewood 8" jointer and a 15" planer,used,but in new condition. Trade ins on larger machines. I also bought my Wilke Machinery Co. Bridgeport clone there in 1986. It and the others were all Taiwan made machines. They,and especially the mill,have been so satisfactory that I haven't bothered to trade the mill in on real Bridgeports on several occasions when good used ones have been available. The Bridgys were made in Singapore at the time,anyway. The thickness planer planes much smoother than the 20" Powermatic we had at work. So smooth you really have to look close to see the planer marks. I did enlarge the dust hood outlet from 4" to 6",which ensures efficient chip extraction and no clogging.
Website seems up to date (2016) but no mention of servicing Bridgewood....no mention of that name at all....which is really weird seeing as that what they were all about years ago. Wonder if they got sick of people wanting parts for Bridgewood machines that they could no longer get from Taiwan or China ?
Wonder if Woodworkers Supply still sells those butt ugly green and yellow Asian woodworking machines ? Like they got inspired by John Deere tractors or something.
(on edit) Yep, same paint jobs as ever.....seems like private label woodworking machinery distributors have the worst taste in paint schemes... Wilke's Bridgewood stuff was reasonably tasteful however...at least it looked ok in the catalogs. I've been in the Woodworkers Supply in Graham, NC many times (now closed I think) and the stuff looked even worse in real life.
http://woodworker.com/20-planer-spiral-head-5hp-3ph-mssu-114-764.asp
gwilson
Diamond
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2006
- Location
- williamsburg va
I have had no problem with the paint color on Bridgewood machinery,Milacron. You are exactly right about those ghastly green and yellow machines!!! Some like the John Deere green. I do not! I think it is supposed to look like green plants do early in the Spring(or something like that). When your crops are just starting to come up.
It isn't the green color,it's the shade of green. And what other color they mixed with it. Grizzly could have picked a nicer shade too!! At least Bridgewood used a darker green with no yellow(or whatever) in it.
But,we may take comfort: At least they didn't choose porch paint BLUE!!!
Do you recall those crappy little 6" thickness planers that Sears used to sell back in the 60"s? You had to push the wood through manually. I owned one for a while in the 60's. Those little machines had the cutterhead of their 6" jointer overhead,and a spring steel hold down both ahead and behind the cutter. Well,when good and sharp,those little planers actually did real nice work. It was the only planer I could risk pushing figured rosewood guitar sides through. Since there were no rollers on the table,the wood could not vibrate up and down. It came out very smoothly planed,and with no chips!! Seely thermos bottle co.made those.
It isn't the green color,it's the shade of green. And what other color they mixed with it. Grizzly could have picked a nicer shade too!!
At least Bridgewood used a darker green with no yellow(or whatever) in it.But,we may take comfort: At least they didn't choose porch paint BLUE!!!
Do you recall those crappy little 6" thickness planers that Sears used to sell back in the 60"s? You had to push the wood through manually. I owned one for a while in the 60's. Those little machines had the cutterhead of their 6" jointer overhead,and a spring steel hold down both ahead and behind the cutter. Well,when good and sharp,those little planers actually did real nice work. It was the only planer I could risk pushing figured rosewood guitar sides through. Since there were no rollers on the table,the wood could not vibrate up and down. It came out very smoothly planed,and with no chips!! Seely thermos bottle co.made those.
edl
Aluminum
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2008
- Location
- Southeast USA
reviving an old thread to see if bridgewood 20 inch planer parts are still available anywhere as we recently inherited one
stephen thomas
Diamond
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2001
Might help to say what parts.
bearings, springs. fasteners are usually at least somewhat generic.
Some parts like presser feet or chip-breakers are normally re-worked (ground, machines)
Hand wheels, levers, knobs can be substituted.
Cutterheads - we are in a consolidating phase, but a few years ago there were (and may still be) a range of aftermarket substitutes available, primarily to include various forms of quick-change knives or inserts.
Major castings? You will probably have to find a donor machine, reweld, or machine from bars.
smt
bearings, springs. fasteners are usually at least somewhat generic.
Some parts like presser feet or chip-breakers are normally re-worked (ground, machines)
Hand wheels, levers, knobs can be substituted.
Cutterheads - we are in a consolidating phase, but a few years ago there were (and may still be) a range of aftermarket substitutes available, primarily to include various forms of quick-change knives or inserts.
Major castings? You will probably have to find a donor machine, reweld, or machine from bars.
smt
edl
Aluminum
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2008
- Location
- Southeast USA
Thanks Stephen
We haven't done an inventory yet...was just trying to get ahead and also thought if Willke (or a substitute) were around we might start there to try to get a manual and ask some basic questions and have a source for parts ... but I hear you ... no one like that and have to got alternative for everything....thank you!
We haven't done an inventory yet...was just trying to get ahead and also thought if Willke (or a substitute) were around we might start there to try to get a manual and ask some basic questions and have a source for parts ... but I hear you ... no one like that and have to got alternative for everything....thank you!
stephen thomas
Diamond
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2001
Manuals might still be around.
Wilke was a very early near full-line importer and brought in some interesting machines for the time.
When they moved out of their original building into the new showroom, somewhow things seemed to go downhill.
Never understood how Grizzly became the dominant player, at least on the east coast. (I liked going to the Wilke shop where a friend often bought to serve accounts for which he was also importing machines to sell; but never had personal loyalty either way - just curious).
Anyway, some machines have been imported by a number of marketers with minor changes across the years and models. Others, especially from early importers like Wilke, were kind of a one shot deal. So at some point put up photos, or a link to a machine "just like yours".
smt
Wilke was a very early near full-line importer and brought in some interesting machines for the time.
When they moved out of their original building into the new showroom, somewhow things seemed to go downhill.
Never understood how Grizzly became the dominant player, at least on the east coast. (I liked going to the Wilke shop where a friend often bought to serve accounts for which he was also importing machines to sell; but never had personal loyalty either way - just curious).
Anyway, some machines have been imported by a number of marketers with minor changes across the years and models. Others, especially from early importers like Wilke, were kind of a one shot deal. So at some point put up photos, or a link to a machine "just like yours".
smt
