Bridgeport help with pics and q's

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Russell Shigeoka 22 years ago

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

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Jon Elson 22 years ago

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

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Dick Streff 22 years ago

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:

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Marty Escarcega 22 years ago

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:

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Anthony 22 years ago

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.

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Bridgeport help with pics and q's

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