New bridgeport question

[guythatbrews]

On a manual mill, the ball screws will back drive from the cutter loads. You will spend your life locking and unlocking each axis when you take your hand off the wheel.

"Backdriving" is not always the case. The system configuration determines whether or not force on the slide will cause the screw to turn, or "backdrive". I've never had the pleasure to run a manual machine with ballscrew leadscrews, but I hope think they backfeed. That would be dangerous, indeed.

Backdrivability on ball screws

This article complements previous entry on general backdrivability exploring the conditions under which a ball screw is backdrivable. Power transmission screws—ball screws and lead screws—are typic…

enriquedelsol.com

Isn't that how most good manual machinists operate a manual mill ?

-Doozer

For sure! Lock everything that doesn't need to move to make the cut. Not to prevent backfeed, but to eliminate lost motion in the non-moving part.