Bridgeport help with pics and q's

Hi, I'm new to the group. I am venturing over from the rec.ww and owwm. I recently got a Bridgeport knee mill at auction. It has a round ram and short table and I have no clue what type of head it has on it.

I am very comfortable restoring woodworking machinery and I own a 9" southbend. However, I am unfamiliar with Bridgeport's. Would you mine helping me out with the following pics and q's?

To unload it I took apart the motor from the head, the head from the ram, and the ram from the turret.

Here is a pic of the head without motor:

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Here is another pic of the head highlighting a small nub of broken casting. What was this piece?:

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I know it's probably unanswerable just from a pic, but what type of collet or taper would this head have?:

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Here is a pic of the motor assembly. The motor is positioned directly above the spindle assembly. Of the pics I have seen on the web, I have never seen a Bridgeport with this type of configuration:

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Here is a close up shot of the motor nameplate:

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Finally, here is a pic of the ram. The rear of the ram seemed to be able to accomodate mounting something else. What went or goes on here?

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I do not see "Bridgeport" anywhere on the head. Is this a Bridgeport head at all? If yes, what model. If no, what type of head is it?

Thanks for taking the time to look at this.

Aloha, Russell

Reply to
Russell Shigeoka
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If it has 6 grooves in the pulleys, it is the M head.

Some of it looks sort of like the M, but yours seems like it has just 4 grooves, and then a 2nd level of belts, which looks like it will give a VERY slow range of speeds. Or, is the 2nd level of belts for the power feed, on that pulley in front? It isn't a "C" head, or an M head. Does the Jacobs chuck come off, or is it permanent? Is the spindle hollow with a drawbar, or solid?

I hate to tell you this is probably not a milling head, but one made for drilling, I think.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Elson

Howdy, Aloha Russell. What you have there is (most of) a step pulley head from a Tree milling machine. I can only guess how it found its way onto your Bridgeport. Somebody probably jettisoned a little Bridgeport M-head off the round ram in favor of the heavier Tree.

I believe that head would take the seldom seen Z collets. The good news is the head has a nifty quick change system. The bad news is the collets are sort of oddball and somewhat spendy from the manufacturer. I was doing some research on just this dilemma the other night and found another source mentioned for the collets for a much more reasonable price. Try:

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I don't see them listed on the webpages, but you could try calling.

Lastly, the other end of the ram is for holding another head. Could be a shaper head, an M-head, or another of the many styles Bridgeport produced.

Dick

Russell Shigeoka wrote:

Reply to
Dick Streff

Does not look like a Bridgeport Head. Tree perhaps? Tree had odd ball collets. If you didn't get any collets, I would watch for a used Step pulley J Head for your machine. I know you live in Hawaii, the Government Liquidations seem to crop up a lot there. Might be pricey buying a used head from the main land.

The tang on the back is for other heads/attachments. Like a shaping attachment, cherrying attachment.

Marty [posted and mailed]

snipped-for-privacy@hawaii.rr.com (Russell Shigeoka) wrote in news:uHwDb.18087$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.socal.rr.com:

Reply to
Marty Escarcega

snipped-for-privacy@hawaii.rr.com (Russell Shigeoka) wrote in news:uHwDb.18087$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.socal.rr.com:

Looks like where the depth stop was located. This is typically a threaded rod with round nut and locknut.

Reply to
Anthony

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