Bridgeport Milling Machine

[ubooze]

Hey everybody!

Yesterday I found a milling machine for sale on ebay which was located not too far from my home. You can see it here.

Though my dad is kind of interested in purchasing that Bridgeport, the price scares him. Do you experts see the deal as being good?

Also, he says any machine without powerfeed is a waste of money due to the fact that the table's operation will not be as smooth. He also would not like to dish out an extra 500 bux to get powerfeed servos. My question to those of you who have some background is whether Powerfeed is really needed. Do you think that thing will roll along smoothly without servos?

Hopefully, after you guys tell me you comments, I can inform my dad better, and then maybe check the thing out with the sellers consent. What are some of the things we should check to see if the machine is in good condition?

Thank you people ahead of time.

[einhander619]

HA!!! I've waited sooo long to have something actually meaningful to say. I do work at my university on what I'm almost sure is that exact same model. If everything is tight on the mill and it is properly aligned, AND you know what you are doing as far as bit speed, bit selection and feed rate goes, it will be buttery smooth. Powerfeed is not needed for smoothness, but it can certainly help.

As far as the condition of the machine goes, it's hard to tell just by looking at it. You'd have to actually mill something to make sure. For example, excessive vibration might mean a shaft somewhere is bent, or imprecise cuts might mean the table is no longer trued. Also, the drive screws for the table may have worn to the point that their graduations mean nothing.

If you can't get a peice of metal into the mill to test, inquire heavily about it's service history and what it has been used for in the past. The one I work on is pretty worn out, simply from years of people operating it when they had no clue what they were doing.(me included my freshman year)

I hope this helps. Also, $500 is not bad for 2 axis powerfeed!

BC

[ubooze]

Thanks.

Do you have any suggestions on literature to read? I wouldn't want be or my dad to ruin the machine. My dad will use it to drill support beams for his job, where as I would use it for milling. So what book is a good read?

[einhander619]

Well, everything I learned I did through personal instruction, hands on. If there's a machining for dummies book out there, that would be that best place to start, but otherwise, I would get on amazon and try looking there. Also, there is a bookstore where I live that carries technical books and manuals, I'm sure you could find something online from them, or call them up and ask. Here's the website:Powell's Technical Books

Feel free to pm me with any questions. That mill has some quirks that are hard to learn if noone's there to show you.

[bornl33t]

crap that machine is hte same one we used at school. It's very nice, a little on the outdated side, but GREAT for personal use. Also it's not as powerfull as some of the others I've used, but it's had enough juioce to do anything we threw at it in school and it didn't phase it. I wish I'd seen that before it closed I coulda had my grandpa fund me the money for a few years That's a SWEET price... even if it IS used... the only thing that does wrong with those it the wear on the pathways And you can compensate a for that down to .0001 inches

[BlackVCG]

einhander- Are you going to PSU?

[einhander619]

VCG - Indeed I am. Majoring in Economics now, and living in Goose towers.

[ubooze]

Thanks a lot people, you have been a great help.

My dad is reassured, but the price is still kinda high for him. He says that maybe an import would be better for that price, and brand new.

What are some pros and cons of import mills? Or are they about the same as Bridgeports?



And also, will I need a lathe or bandsaw? I keep on reading about threading the bodies on cockers and how you need a lathe, but can't threading be doone with a boring head? Basically what I am asking is whether or not a milling machine would suffice to make a small time machine shop(though there would only be one machine)?

[ubooze]

help uppyface: