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New guy, new mill, big project

Solarbell

Aluminum
Joined
May 1, 2018
I am new to this forum and relatively new to machining. I have wanted to have a Bridgeport for years and last month it finally worked out. A local educational institution relocated shops and no longer needed the oldest mill in the old shop. I knew the shop manager and he let me take it home for free. The trade-off was that a few years prior an instructor at the shop had taken apart both the head to replace something in the quill, and the table to replace the feed nut bracket. But nothing had ever been put back together so I took home 5 boxes of parts in addition to the machine itself.

Specs that I have determined:
- Series 1 made in 1970
- 2J head
- Mitutoyo DRO, X/Y and quill
- Power feed for X axis

The knee and column ways still have their scrapings, but the table ways seem pretty worn. Every bearing I've examined so far (including the spindle bearings) is somewhere between crunchy and seized.

Here is how I found it. The cart in the back had a pile of parts on it too.

5eSyqNABIbmyZ5ybZS0_NWQRWpe1crCkoppBEITmaha2FcO6q-MVi_sUbwbP--sl9VM2F7Eddd5B80Bijy0hN2YFz4V-p3v4ppcEMAbb6OTLjfNjZ3TVAbWbaKh2yF7qCCSGAUSpOjMx9YXUseefkdI6TTB7nVynCLa9X01Kmnm0tT9h7RMZAnJ3Xn_hgjM9lBHyRh_rtrejSnTmxzwP6ellYqzMLZOhcPG4mw-ib9iXfKWP1cmWZfCwU_ttW1ITuAKOu4EPibBopTgxkouwOmJdpKXXt1c35vZb9oSgtkxk_kfdsdWxu7aqmKvzrY-2yDZHsP8IlJQ-vvoMVqyMwxN-bqifMz7RA-p7yRtUF9ZVP4XI-xHGxCCH6XWZtNMewEFybs1ivw76srbNk566pD5rML_GhSfXeutoeEsbo9e5B-88-MTYhI06NpSUCIy7TwbMstiO9esE3tsD-mXntlo3G0cjOVrdNWRTYhjdnWnYcXwk8Td-KiehOXXl7BRW6NDvyQVsFNf289pIhmEq4zl09pzMdSdpG3_Jt_TNpv1CD2EMNBSSROEALg45kgtgOUnSeZUB5Q39gAX02WHioCaOYKqk2NlFxQYNaMk=w600-no


My garage is a wreck at the moment so I'm not going to post pictures of it in place quite yet.

I'm going to be working on it slowly over the next few months to get it cleaned up and back into service. First task is going to be cleaning up and rebuilding the knee and table.

If anyone has any tips or pointers I'd love to hear it.
 
"Series I" was a Textron sales gimick, nothing more.
If it is a 1970 vintage, it's probably a 2J 1 1/2, which is slightly different than the newer 2J2.
Good luck, it looks like a lot of work to me, but I'm old.

Fist tip: Pull the head off now. That way you can get to the table, saddle and knee easier. I'm betting that it's also been greased.
JR
 
Thanks for the info, I'll stop using the "Series 1" terminology. You are correct it is a 2J with a 1 1/2 HP motor. I knew it would be a lot of work, but didn't expect quite this much. I'm expecting this will be upwards of 6 months to get done.

Yes, it has been greased. I pulled the oil fittings off yesterday and found not-20-year-old grease in all of the front fittings, and peanut butter in the rear ones. I plan on cleaning all of that out and using proper way oil on re-assembly.
 
You have a lot of work ahead of you. The key word in your first post was "free". You'll probably have more money in than you expect, but you're starting out ahead of a lot of guys that paid for a machine.
JR
 
Nice project you got there, especially for free

I’m nearing the end of mine now, mine was £300 but was fully assembled, it was just that somebody had abandoned it outside for a year in the poor uk weather and it was rusted and full of water everywhere but after a lot of work it is now looking very nice and although it owes me a lot more money it is also now worth a lot more than it owes me so well worth it

With yours as the quill housing has been stripped I would want to start with that, mainly to check all the parts are still there and if not work out what is missing etc

You can pull off the head and motor assembly in one, make a vice stand for it and build it back up to test etc before you put time and money into the rest of it as if you were to find any major problem with the head first (hopefully you don’t) then you can decide whether it’s worth carrying on

Good luck, look forward to reading about the tear down
Thanks
Marc
 
Nice project you got there, especially for free

You can pull off the head and motor assembly in one” “before you put time and money into the rest of it as if you were to find any major problem with the head first (hopefully you don’t) then you can decide whether it’s worth carrying on

Good luck, look forward to reading about the tear down
Thanks
Marc

Yes, good one for the price! Remember, nothing is for free, everything has s cost though..:)

Don’t worry about the head, you can always get a rebuilt head, it’s all about the heavy(ish) bits. If the ways are good, ( take some closeup pics and post here, there will be no shortage of opinions) you might want to consider sending the head and all of its bits to a rebuilder. Barry at H & W would have that back together in a few hours.
 
Looks like you have a nice piece of machinery to work with. And for free is really nice! As mentioned before, you will have some cost involved in bringing it back to life, but it sounds like it's worth the resurrection for sure.

Just like MK, I went through a complete tear down (didn't touch the ways except for some light stoning on some burrs). Still, it was pretty expensive.

You wouldn't think it would be very expensive replacing bearings and parts, but as I was going through it, parts just kept adding up. I spent over 2K in parts. It's hard to believe, but true. I may actually post all the parts I bought, on the thread for my rebuild. I've got a little time tonight, so I may post it on my rebuild thread, if it might help someone.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...my-bridgeport-series-1-base-referbish-349921/

Get the book "Guide to Renovating the 2J head". It will come with lots of info for putting together the head and base.

Guide to Renovating the "2J" Head Machine

I bought just about all my stuff from H&W, but that was mostly because I was unfamiliar with a lot of the parts for a Bridgeport, and H&W used decent parts and decent Japanese bearings for replacements. Their prices were reasonable. I'd have no reservations recommending them. However, I'd probably prefer Timken bearings as replacements and would pay a little more (which H&W doesn't sell) but I'm an old farmer who is attached to old names, and like Timken.
 
I expected to need to spend some money to get it operational. I'm not looking for the immaculate restore, just a nice functioning mill that is reasonably accurate. And if it takes 6 months to do then I'm ok with that.

Got to unpacking boxes of parts tonight. Found a mostly-complete hold-down set, half a dozen collets and a holding rack, and a whole lot of parts and hardware.

Here are some pictures of the head as it is now.

DR-jIx-HVINn6NpbnFAQTKtK1QWqmOmfpWr1KQhN7UCaqxiQERKN4ZMsvldsUuGzmQfuvbD941PKex9QFyg9bzQhcgAfKpQEBYujwx_XJulEgJQ6ANae2ps6AFGnM5LWQ1XQQA-hR_aOjzE0O27hRrbnvJcT9vQkRYkLpHNWYT8ofqZ4DvjlYKmbr8CIyB9Tj9xMYGN64Lb3ZdvFTcC_3BmriViIGOKMBNlk9ynTJ1mplu_zXMROzJbC5e4hKDnWD-f9FJATAyo6-9-ouDA-C-cSLvB_bAR6cCZe4f11I5Xe5evlZ0Y4G1v7SeHyHW-6ZNDtdCw4_FCwJMvmU4XF4kWagykSXNxNte9bkgkmc3dzTA6GrtbnZp_VDrnV9zO_0PXLdLpwGXQsp2YD9wj_zP_KxZTcUotQTf5xDdJD_mW5QP45bUVW0ts05wFV8JidwDdQ5GKgrtT2a7nF0Q7HPC7slQdWJY-UwpOuL5Blb5wunR6oJ-kIjeMasSKACtwMjn7e08-Hi325UGCa78BoMFNPno1Y1tckycGQIpr1GWI9A1BONOqcivOel020hGiuc9dBbmCfF_xtnvY6Q8BHOuq-xUSBlq-x9QUJr1Y=w500-no


Veb4tY8iKA-gbcNmiO3WYGZi6hnFkc7vCrmzb1fWXONwsD9YG_ZtwnUCZdjXmcvaL8PX2Pkna8hW1x1kYjpRaxkPsdSX5IcA64Qyb9lnlIZ_nrNZ43A35hK1ew5EN_jTRC1h9cAN6k-zLoZ6OGeJilAgqjfxPJCIuqJj5CG5mFgBEyg-jxq1npm6eOV-YU8H5lTcGhyZzznmGjx2rJ5uplqy65ccTnAJIKrhLzlluKIl4ejEwQNTJ8SMgjCRgd3i1DotoAsesgvckFJA1UHWZAiKoeRjQQ-VwUt29xHb5mrWAEYbT_2vbBzU383VfPe8N7t1fMsFZ8-LtqroGmPk4euCb9u4irc1d3i22QP0OgkPfriF822ZvLgniLkUaZZSKSdp4hnAUkyKhnuM13Qevm9vIx97OxE4qnJi1QHK3uCeXa8-nJ9o-lgaABhdXoALY-TrjLiZs8DK51g324J7_APeOktvN1M5WRd0kLElwXyaawJrvOU3luDhpune40w4oD6DpQJBZfG2x9i4DzjDMu0pVgVsETq1lpIJ2BVVLdbTf6wliIjRQpW7ylcwCOFMpW1U9HRdzlNUO5pSDYfUv4A21bVvV0A5Nt0BiVc=w500-no


qxSg7-5zYwWPaxPK5uPp-3sh24_xp6P2YKujXfrPE5a-mi3suzChaNOcsQC8vH9rTNryFoB8Xg69kYXC-hXxIjx5ifuFlQG16nHMSLmf4JOALzUOJJ3U4wpBIVGK3P1c5ecgMDtGSPvavfcJpfMptCMunbHoTJXtWXQtp5LhOGQZYERFzrJWiGLJXuk89w4dpntLkrpJmITBR8mbSr9AyO518XQD6PrOKZAmvh-dWBOf93L-XI3T85O-W-VyrIg7dEAXawXuhuL8od8Q1KeVnk64838cTceAsjSarGPDEGQX0ISaRg67OE-dDYroWbVacacmY8OD2d39EdzRdElkL5uVjjnc_RhdQXDc64cdMH3phm_5SdN-llnvFWUDbEM-MmX4MiUyHxAVs62fYg6quizj9nsXh8Z7_KQKGAI6dHLbEJGt-yA-3_YkH6ifLso9XWvAPdF_mYnrZm2bdykc1PScUkUifnIzQGFPVGUADKLOMy234UWpx0redW904EKlWxw6Ua_S1IKealdZBrS0jhrwpzazNIYmQX33cl8k_tBDFSpZysgfcOqWE_XHxZmJJcXQNMbWoJ6T_2Iwi3QN7Oy-s3fTVGR5nnkX4BA=w500-no


And here is the assortment of parts that I think are for the head, I'm pretty sure I separated out everything that is for the table.

50CAqopPf6Ql2WZrtK8eUwkmcT1Agb1ueOTmZZsj21FSRfupg6mx1CUBLkXl-JUN84LKZT16jKnNtyEmGMn5PALlzhEFbFUDh3lVP2UTdgPhzITGCVi6fh0EYR-BRpKgvXgzDGT1auTtJE7wlT8M6CmRDUcr5T7iWQgN1h9CiGWzJD-RTaAQXhfK74fom9jxSYbLOBTeBUbpdlVCzm8R46AORhoBCC02fLdOTRpHj7If4GJHE7yx_r4iBa4L2CNH2FQgUHVVO1OhZiC2oXxhtQ262-a_9YNHsL59X544zboY1w5Z6SW1EQrDCIcaPQ4WueEzLm51axuWFHV1hBfS1KTAemMTGK6WArlW4fmkO6F_wQlHG3JheBvj8PONzjqcRcM510n5zli2q3jE1hv13eEW1bU0t3WKNnY11TFS3ezc2oDprnsBYo_2VNgZP3_01EfN6q-4xdg1v_Mnd2k7rqLyAa7HrXzuUTsjDCprnI9072RTRc_nzkNu77bF7n5KhXMva2YRYA5laWdyCJ-a64FVha9X5sUI3ql4p8WPWmRPGBeFo0v0w0U90PN1BKUIjkL9rDUGYH3iHJzY-cxRnaTGVW0sO_33nCBG4Fs=w600-no


All of the bearings on the spindle are hosed. The bearing in the top cap actually moves quite well, but if the price is right I'll replace it too. All of it needs thorough cleaning.
 
On your tray at the top, the flat T stock looks like a tool to clean out chips from the T-slots in the table.

You may be aware of this, but before you invest in new bearings for your spindle, check the inside to make sure it's not scored.

I see the nose piece for the quill. When you put it back on it's supposed to have some clearance (I can't remember amount right now) between the quill and the nose piece. If you tighten the nose piece to where the original divot in the threads are (the divot which allows the set screw to seat in) you are probably good to go, but you might check the clearance to make sure. And don't over-tighten the set screw (from what I've read a fairly common mistake) or you'll deform the quill and affect the ease of up and down movement. Also, the nose piece is supposed to take a spanner wrench to remove/install, but I just used an oil strap wrench (very carefully so as not to allow the strap wrench to contact any part of the quill).
 
I worked on this some more tonight. I didn't see any scoring on the inside or outside of the spindle or the quill. I have a spanner so that's not a big concern for me.

I started disassembling the head. It was pretty dirty inside, apparently in a previous life this mill did a lot of foam work.

IMG_4116.jpg

The grease looks terrible and had separated a bit, but was still a good consistency. The bull gear looks rusty but it's not. It's a dried-out coating of grease.

IMG_4118.jpg

Got it mostly cleaned out, but the lower bearing on the bull gear counter shaft is stuck in the hole. Any easy ways to get it out?

IMG_4122.jpg

Opinion question: A lot of the bearings feel really good. Should I just replace them anyway since I have it apart, or just leave them as good?
 
Last edited:
For the bearing in the blind hole, if you don't have a slide hammer, you might try the wet paper towel trick. You can search it on Youtube.

For me, a big part of working on machinery (any machinery) is the labor/time of disassembly/reassembly. So, while I have a machine apart (especially one that takes a lot of time to get apart) I replace any worn parts, or even suspected worn parts.

Way too many times in my life I've tried to get by, with a part which looked a little suspect, only to put the machine back together and later have that suspect part fail. I also try to put back the best parts I can afford. Again, I've used cheaper grade parts only to have them fail prematurely, and have to tear the machine back down again.

Imo, bearings fall in this category. Even if they "feel" good, the grease is old and probably dirty or dry. If it's any bearings which take a lot of work to get to (like in the head) I'd replace them.

Btw, the dogs on the shaft which goes through the bull gear look pretty good to me. That would make sense if they used the machine in a light torque application, like milling foam.
 
Go here for parts. H&W Machine Repair & Rebuilding - Parts and Service for the Metalworking Industry
Got to give the ex jar head a plug :D
Replace all the bearings for reasons mentioned above and they are probably dirty.
Buy a slide hammer/bearing puller. You won't regret. Mine sits in the tool box most of the time, but when I need it, it's there. Less than $100.
Watch the videos that H&W links to. There are also kits for the parts with instructions
Bridgeport Rebuild Kits
That, and please post thumbnails. Scrolling thru picts to get to the end is a pain.
JR
 
Go here for parts. H&W Machine Repair & Rebuilding - Parts and Service for the Metalworking Industry
Got to give the ex jar head a plug :D
Replace all the bearings for reasons mentioned above and they are probably dirty.
Buy a slide hammer/bearing puller. You won't regret. Mine sits in the tool box most of the time, but when I need it, it's there. Less than $100.
Watch the videos that H&W links to. There are also kits for the parts with instructions
Bridgeport Rebuild Kits
That, and please post thumbnails. Scrolling thru picts to get to the end is a pain.
JR

I was planning on going through H&W for pretty much everything. Their YouTube videos are great and I wish there were more of them.

Sorry about the images, the other forums I'm on prefer it that way. I fixed the one post that I could.
 
Thanks for all the plugs fellas! But it does sound like I gotta correct JR (I think this makes the second time ever I have gotten that honor) that we Teufelhunden do not believe that there is such a thing as an "ex" Marine (minus traitors and assissins)... we do prefer "former" or some even say "no longer on active duty" but I think we all just enjoy us being called Marines. :D

Barry was saying that he needed to do more videos... if you wanted to put out some videos you guys would wanna see, I will get him to do them and post them.

Jon
H&W Machine Repair
 
I knew it once you said it, once a jar head, always a jar head. :D

Sometime come over to my place, we'll have some adult beverages, and I'll tell you about me and PLC.
JR
 
Barry was saying that he needed to do more videos... if you wanted to put out some videos you guys would wanna see, I will get him to do them and post them.

I've watched the Bridgeport Head Top Half Teardown video at least a few times. Personally I'd like to see a corresponding bottom half teardown. Also any video of reassembly of the head, either half.
 
Bit of a mishap today. I am working on tearing down the lower head. When I went to remove the quill drive worm gear assembly from the input shaft, it didn't come out smoothly and in the process misaligned with the removal cutout. Now I have a broken worm gear cradle.

IMG_4145.jpg

I was planning on parts costs but this was not among them. I'm hoping to find a used source but my initial searching is not fruitful.
 
S#$* happens

Bit of a mishap today. I am working on tearing down the lower head. When I went to remove the quill drive worm gear assembly from the input shaft, it didn't come out smoothly and in the process misaligned with the removal cutout. Now I have a broken worm gear cradle.

View attachment 229015

I was planning on parts costs but this was not among them. I'm hoping to find a used source but my initial searching is not fruitful.


It is ok very likely you are one one of many that have had the problem. Just like using the same unaltered setup sheet gets you a scrap part first one every time. Programming will not change it and you can’t. With us we go by what we have experienced in taking apart or putting together something yet there is that one design with no support book on the machine then you feel you are at fault.


You share a little fault in that if something prescision you are taking apart never needs to be forced much and if you have a situation where something breaks on you then good news for next time . Leave it before you break it. Curb your zeal to tackle every problem. Even very experienced people can have this happen. Do you know what prevents the mistake ,it is the discipline to cease rather , asking a expert or reading the book on the machine which always seem to disappear and never replaced.

Be good to yourself despite the pressure to fix it ask for someone’s help first then if it breaks at least you asked. Do not overestimate your skills, the guys who brag about all they know are 85 % or more the time lieing. Just keep your cool you are not the first man that had this exact thing happen...believe me.
 
Bit of a mishap today. I am working on tearing down the lower head. When I went to remove the quill drive worm gear assembly from the input shaft, it didn't come out smoothly and in the process misaligned with the removal cutout. Now I have a broken worm gear cradle.

View attachment 229015

I was planning on parts costs but this was not among them. I'm hoping to find a used source but my initial searching is not fruitful.

You'll find them on eBay now and then. H&W may be able to help as well.

Here's one right now. It says that it's new. No affiliation.

BRIDGEPORT MILL PART, J HEAD milling machine WORM GEAR CRADLE 21959 M1318 NEW! | eBay
 
;)
Thanks for all the plugs fellas! But it does sound like I gotta correct JR (I think this makes the second time ever I have gotten that honor) that we Teufelhunden do not believe that there is such a thing as an "ex" Marine (minus traitors and assissins)... we do prefer "former" or some even say "no longer on active duty" but I think we all just enjoy us being called Marines. :D

Barry was saying that he needed to do more videos... if you wanted to put out some videos you guys would wanna see, I will get him to do them and post them.

Jon
H&W Machine Repair

Yep my brother and friends once a Marine always a Marine. Because my older brother spent a lot of time with me growing up I learned good because I related to my oldest brother (20 years older) so I know Marines yet I never had to be one yet given a choice of what I would have to have done Marines scored high always yet I had other plans.
 








 
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