Hello All:
I finally got a Bridgeport! Woohoo! It is a 1961 J-head in pretty decent shape.
I have a nice Align 250A power feed that I bought as part of an auction lot 6-8 months ago. I sold off most of the other stuff, but kept it in the hope that I would someday have a Bridgeport to put it on.
I don't know how long it sat on the shelf, or if they're any better now, but the manual is one of the worst examples of "Chinglish" I've ever seen. Basically, there are no instructions for installing it on the X-axis, just a single diagram. Not too big a deal, but I do have some questions:
- The brass drive gear - how can you tell how many shims to use for the gears to mesh correctly? Actually, mine fit so tight on the shaft that I had to drive it on anyway - I can't tell if it's touching the shims or not. Should it slide on easily?
- If you use the handle for manual feed, you can really hear the gears in the drive unit as they seem to be back-driven all the way back through the gear train. Is this normal?
Thanks, Wally