Bridgeport Mill round arm adjustment

Hello,
I have just received a free bridgeport mill with a serial # on the motor head J 9179 for my machine shop program.
The machine has a round ram. I need info on how to bring the ram away from the table. I only see how to rotate the head.
Also does anyone have any info on where to purchase a manual for the machine. I am a poor machine shop instructor and like to help my students gain knowledge for the machine shop trade.
Thanks,
Machine Shop HCC

From what I can remember there are bolts on top of the turret that you loosen and on the right hand side of the machine (Facing the front) there should be a square shaft that you can crank the ram back and forth with.
I'm going by memory and it’s been awhile so I hope that helps.
Good luck, Kevin.

I have one of these. Keven is right. The two bolts on top clamp the ram and the square shaft operates a gear that slides on the ram. A lot of times the key or the key way wares and slop developes in the gear. This causes the head to shift while you are tightening the clamping bolts and it goes out of tram. This make tramming the head difficult. You have try it a few times to discover how much it moves and set out of tram by that amount and then tighten it. Then try again.

Mike

Hello,
Thanks for your input on the bridgeport round ram.
I loosened the two bolts on top of the column and adjusted the the square shaft.
This pivoted the head in either direction on the ram. The head and ram moved freely in a clockwise and counter clockwise motion.
I see four bolts located below the ram on the column.
Do you think these may allow the ram to slide backards?
Thanks,
Machine Shop HCC

No, those bolts clamp the turret to the base. Loosening them allows the ram/head assemble to be rotated right & left.

Once you have loosened the two bolts to where you can rotate the ram. Just push or pull the ram to move it in or out. There is no crank for moving it in and out.

Hi folks, I'm new here and decided to jump in on this subject. I own a round ram Bridgeport, and the provision for moving the ram in and out is as follows:
Facing the machine, on the left hand side of the turret, there is a square shaft that extends horizontally, this is for rotating the ram. To the rear of this shaft, and slightly above it, a hex head that looks like a bolt extends vertically from the turret. This is part of a pinion that engages a rack cut in the ram. Turning it moves the ram in and out. This pinion must be disengaged before rotating the ram with the aforementioned square shaft. This is done by pulling up on the hex head until a detent is exposed. The fact that you are capable of rotating the ram without having disengaged this pinion leads me to believe it may be missing on your machine. It is possible that your machine is so early that it is not provided with the rack cut on the ram. My serial no. is J12021.

[This message has been edited by x39 (edited 05-03-2003).]