Help Needed On Bridgeport Pricing (pics)

[jberenyi]

Hello Everyone. I need your advice. This machine is local to me and I am visiting it today. The owner purchased it for his father and spent over $1500 in parts to get it ready for his birthday. After 3 months of work the father decided to take a different path so the son is selling to fund something else. The installed DRO is a 4 axis type and the machine comes with the phase inverter. No tooling comes with the machine and it's priced at $5500. Owner will deliver for $200. What is everyone's thought on the price? My plans for wanting a mill is for entrepreneurial reasons. I like to develop ideas and make smaller parts. I wonder if this is overkill and I should consider a benchtop mill and for the same price I could better equip myself and the machine with tooling, etc. A benchtop takes up less space too. Your thoughts and ideas appreciated.

1969 Bridgeport Mill Series 1 Pulley Head​

Recently restored and refurbished 1969 Bridgeport Mill series 1 pulley head machine.
Recently added a new DRO (digital readout), and new X axis, servo motor. New drive belts, replaced all worn bearings and upgraded to many other new internal parts.
SPECIFICATIONS:

TABLE SIZE ........................ 9 X 42​

MAXIMUM WEIGHT OF WORKPIECE ....... 750 LBS

LONGITUDINAL TABLE TRAVEL ......... 30

CROSS TRAVEL ...................... 12

QUILL TRAVEL ...................... 5

KNEE TRAVEL ....................... 16

RAM TRAVEL ........................ 12

MINIMUM / MAXIMUM THROAT DISTANCE . 6-3/4 / 18-3/4

PULLY WITH VARIABLE SPEED RANGE ... 60-4,200 RPM

SPINDLE TAPER ..................... R-8

QUILL TRAVEL ...................... 5

QUILL FEEDS ....................... 0.0015, 0.003, 0.006

APPROXIMATE WEIGHT ................ 2,000 LBS

 

[doug925]

While a nice looking machine, I think 5500 is HIGH. It is a '69 model, 1HP, J-head after all.
If there were a few $K worth of tooling to go with it, then sure.
Without, I think you may find something less expensive.
(I don't know Utah's market, but Texas has lots of manual mills for sale.)


Having said that, if the machine is the correct machine and at the right time, it is worth whatever you want to pay.

Out of curiosity, why is the DRO a 4 axis?
I only see 3 ports, and the Z axis (quill) isn't set up with a glass scale for the DRO.
That is why the digital scale on the front of the quill.
So really, it has a standard, glass scale (delicate/ fragile) DRO.

Also, it looks like there might be a VFD in between the head and the DRO. What would a VFD do for a J head?

Doug

 

[CatMan]

Seems high to me as well.

Negatives:
- Pulley head
- No tooling. Not even a vise.
- 3 phase motor, but that may be in your favor.

Positives:
- Looks to be in good shape.

 

[johnmontrose]

I only see 3 ports, and what would you do with a 4 axis DRO on a manual mill?

It looks like there is a scale on the quill (as well as the knee) so that might justify the claimed four axes.

Is it not usual in this setup to put an 'adder' box on to combine the quill and knee readings and send to a single display?

 

[Nmbmxer]

Out of curiosity, why is the DRO a 4 axis?
I only see 3 ports, and what would you do with a 4 axis DRO on a manual mill?


Doug

I have a BP with scales on the knee and quill, quite handy. I generally use the knee when milling and the quill when drilling or boring. It can also sum them together which is useful some times.

 

[Richard King]

I am a rebuilder, but I used to be a VP of a used machinery company. It looks like it's been painted and cleaned up. The table and I bet the ways are original. Close ups of them would help. It's a step pulley head with the hand feed wheel which is not common. It has an after market table power feed. With-out the DRO the machine would sell here in Minnesota for about $2500.00 to $3000.00 With the DRO $4000.00 to $4500.00. In the used machinery game, it wouldn't change the price if the head was rebuilt or not, but if he rebuilt the head with new bearings and belts or a direct hobbyist sale. That's a fair price. If the ways are worn and scores then I would stay closer to $3500.00 If you compare it to a crappy Chinese machine it's a bargain. After looking at it again, the DRO looks like one of the good ones with memory and it has an independent electronic scale on the head quill. That's a fair price. I would offer cash and he loads it for free. Provided the ways are not worn and scored. I can't see a Lube pump on the left side of the knee. Is there one. Another good thing is it is an original Bridgeport made before Textron bought them.

 

[Peter from Holland]

Looking a bit closer to the pictures reveales it is a porch paint job
That paintjob(any paintjob btw) makes it impossible to valuate the machine from the pictures

Peter

 

[lucky7]

While it is an ugly paint job, I couldn’t care less about appearance. Only thing that matters to me is spindle bearing condition and way wear. Both impossible to tell from pictures. Need to see in person.

 

[Richard King]

I looked again and it has the old grease fitting oilers. If they pumped grease in there and chips got caught under the ways, that could have ruined the ways Take a set of feeler gages when you go look at it again and see if you can slide aa .002" feeler under the wipers. Take some pictures of the ways and table top and let us see them before you buy it. Another odd thing is the spec sheet that is attached. A son of a hobbyist dad would not have a spec sheet like that. It could be a story about the Dad. It could be a new to the field used machinery dealer telling a line of BS. Like the old lady who only drove her car on Sunday to go to church. Buyer be aware

 

[MrWhoopee]

Belt change in decent condition with DRO, no tooling = $2 - $3k

 

[M.B. Naegle]

The VFD is likely their way of running this mill on single phase. Even if it still needs 3 phase though, a lot of guys can't stand changing the belt to change speeds on the old J heads, so the VFD gives you electronic speed control, and greater range than the 8 original speeds. You'll still want to make use of the back gear when doing low speed high torq stuff. It's not hard to add a VFD to a machine, but you could factor it into the machines value.

In the end, I'd look around and see what else is available in your area. If similar mills are around for more/less, that'll tell you if this is a deal or overpriced. If nothing is around, it's just a question of how bad you want it.

 

[Bill D]

Factor in the cost of a trip to go to another state to pick up a cheaper machine in your comparisons. How many decent B-ports show up near you? It should have a 1/2 or 5/8 threaded hole in the top of the ram for a. forged lifting eye and tie down point. Probably upped to 5/8 by 1969. It weighs about 2,200 pounds so a one ton engine hoist will not do.
Bill D

 

[Gordon Heaton]

I don't know where, in Utah, the OP is, but the St George area is a desert in every sense, especially the machinery sense! If the machine is in good shape and the DRO is a brand-name and properly installed, I'd personally go for $4,000-$4500 max.

 

[G-ManBart]

Having lived out west for a long time I know many areas have almost no used machinery, but that still seems high. It's got a quickie paint job and an eBay/Amazon power feed on the X-axis which would have me a bit worried. There are machine rebuilders offering overhauled machines for not much more than that and shipping is often in the $500-1000 range.

 

[Gordon Heaton]

. . .eBay/Amazon power feed on the X-axis . . .

That looks like an Align/Workhorse unit to me. I've got one. They're not cheap, are very well made in Taiwan and very functional and reliable.

 

[dana gear]

Just FYI, we sold off the last of our J heads somewhere around 16 years ago, overall pretty good condition, no tooling ready to operate. All 3 phase.
There was several J's that went into a public equipment auction. They sold in the range of 1,800- 2,500. And yes that was 16 years ago so in todays dollars ?

 

[Dan from Oakland]

Thats about double what it's worth out here on the west coast. Looks like lipstick on a pig from the pictures.

 

[paulz]

Paid $500 for this one a few months ago.

 

[Richard King]

Paid $500 for this one a few months ago.
View attachment 380821

36" table?? Looks like chrome ways too. Where did you get such a deal?

 

[TheOldCar]

Be patient, they do pop up here in Utah for much cheaper. I agree on the paint job also; I’m leery of porch paint jobs.