Bridgeport M Head any info?

[nine4gmc]

Okay, I made a deal on a small Bridgeport M Head 3ph machine today over the phone after seeing pictures online. The machine looks decent and was sold as good working condition so it should be fine for a beginner like me. Does anyone have one and what should I look out for? The machine will be here sometime next week and I have a VFD already that I can use on it. It has an MT2 spindle, a 6" vise, few collets and cutters.

 

[EdT]

I have a similar machine that is pretty old and tired, but I get a lot of useful work from it. Even though it's a "small" head, the whole machine is around 2000# so it's not too fun to move around. The main limitation of the machine, in my experience, is the limited tooling available. The MT2 taper limits you to 1/2" shank cutters if you're using collets while a machine with an R-8 spindle has a lot more stuff available. the M head won't fit an R-8, but there were some other spindle tapers that existed which are fairly obscure so be glad it's an M-2 machine. I think it has been some time since the M heads have been made so the machine itself is probably "mature". The best accessory I have on mine is a DRO. Unfortunately, I busted one of the sensor heads and I am on the hunt for a new DRO set up. I feel lost w/o it. It's especially useful if the lead screws are a bit worn since you don't have to keep track of the slack and count turns all the time. Another thing to look for is whether it's a round ram machine or a dovetail ram machine. I think they came both ways over time. The round ram is the older design and has some limitations associated with keeping the spindle trammed to the ways. Mine is a dovetail machine and, I'm told, I can ditch the M head and bolt on a J head. I keep looking for a decent step pulley J head for a decent price, but no luck so far. It's kinda on my background hunt list. Maybe I'll trip over one someday. Good luck with the machine. You can do a lot of cool stuff once you get the hang of it.

 

[nine4gmc]

Thanks EdT, the good thing about the mt2 imo is it will work with my Atlas horizontal mill and 12" Craftsman lathe though I do see a lot more r8 cutters available. I'm pretty sure this is the round ram machine from the pics. I would like to add a DRO pretty soon but first I need to get it and get it running.

 

[IndyGarage]

The most noticeable difference from the M head to the J head is the power downfeed, which is not used often in my experience. Most of the M machines had smaller sized tables - I think most were 36 inch, rather than 42 or 48. Most also had 3/4 -1hp motors rather than 1 or 2hp.

If it's your first machine, you should be able to do a lot of work on an M head.

 

[nine4gmc]

Yeah, this one is a 1hp with a 9x32 table I think, perfect for my shop size.

 

[Maui]

Nines, is there any tooling? If it comes with a Bridgeport vise, I'd suggest swapping it out for a Kurt style vise instead.

Maui

 

[nine4gmc]

It comes with a 6" Brown and Sharpe vise, a few collets and couple cutters.

 

[astroracer]

I picked up an old Franken Mill a couple of years ago. Its a Cincinnati Horizontal mill base with an M head adapted to it. The table is 42".
I put a Tpac Tools DRO on it a year or so ago and it was the best thing I did! here is a link to the install.
http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/threads/66866-Tpac-Tools-DRO-for-the-FrankenMill
For around 400 bucks you cannot beat this set up. it works well and the program has some very useful features...
Mark

 

[Maui]

The first thing that I would buy is a thick set of rubberized floor mats to stand on in front of the mill. Your back will thank you. A set of digital readouts as others have mentioned will make life much easier, but they most likely will not be cheap. You'll want a drill chuck to mount up in the mil, as well as a few wrenches to loosed and tighten the quill and make adjustments to the belt positions to raise or lower the speed. You'll need some cutting fluid (tap free works pretty well), and a set of micrometers for making measurements if you don't have a set already. Vernier calipers will also be useful to have. In order to tram the mill you'll need some dial indicators. A few sets of parallels will also come in handy for positioning work in the milling vise. Lots of tooling is on the horizon. Don't be surprised if you spend more on it than you did on the mill itself.

Maui

 

[Maui]

By the way, post up some photos when you have the chance. We'd love to see the mill!

 

[nine4gmc]

I have lots of measuring tools I have been picking up for years so I should be almost straight with them. The mill has a small looking chuck mounted in it now, plus I have several MT2 jacobs chucks for my lathe that should work in it. I have a few different mats and stools around my shop from having a bad back already, should be okay there. I don't have any parallels atm so I will be looking for a cheap set of them and my friend Merc has a tram gauge he offered to rent to me in exchange for some taco bell...It's the dual dial indicator type so I'm good there. I have a random assortment of end mills from various garage sales and auctions so I can play with them before buying/breaking any new ones.

 

[nine4gmc]

Here are pics from the seller. I will get better pics when it arrives next week.

 

[IndyGarage]

There's a video online where a guy rebuilt one just like that for his small shop - made it shine like a jewel.

 

[nine4gmc]

I'm hoping I can use/learn to use it a while before having to tear in to it but at some point I would love to paint, polish and change out bearings in it.

 

[bczygan]

Shayne:
http://www.truetex.com/bridgeport-manual.pdf

Bill

 

[Cahark]

Looks like a nice machine. I have a J head round ram machine. It looks like yours has a universal joint between the head and the ram. This will be especially helpful for tramming. Unfortunately on mine it is a solid mount and there is no adjustment for tram except for shims between the mounts. (Not the best idea, but I could see it working) I haven't looked on my round ram machine, but I know on my newer dovetail Bridgeport The nuts on the lead screw are adjustable. There's actually two bronze nuts linked together via screw. That way you can actually tighten the backlash out of the machine. It's sort of works like a jam nut. Have fun! Hope it works out for you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[danbuff]

also: http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/2099/3432.pdf

 

[nine4gmc]

Thanks Bill, I had the one danbuff posted already but that one looks different.

Thanks Cahark, I think they said this one is capable of tilt, swing and nod, should be awesome!

Thanks danbuff, I downloaded that and a few more including the Bridgeport Milling Operations Manual a couple days ago from vintagemachinery, love that site!

 

[MercLSU]

Super happy you closed that deal Nine. I'd be happy to host a shower when your bundle of joy arrives...

 

[bczygan]

Things for a vertical mill:
Setup kit - clamps and blocks
Cheap paintbrush to brush off chips
tool to clean out T-slots
Air hose and gun for cleanup
Pieces of cardboard or thin plastic to act as chip guards for machine ways and personell
Lights mounted for better vision
Rack for collets
Combination wrenches sized for drawbar, other machine adjustments and setup nuts.
Squeeze bottles for lubricants and coolant
Tapping fluid
WD40
Caliper
Micrometers
Parallels
Set up blocks 1,2,3
Rags
Vise and handle
Super saver
L blocks
Jacks
Flycutter
Mills
Collets
Countersinks
Edge finder
V block
Drill chucks and keys
Drill bits
Taps
Scales
Deming drills
Reamers
Tap wrenches
Carbide inserts
Coolant
Deburring tools
Gage blocks


I'll add to list when I can

 

[zkling]

One thing, there are two types of MT2 taper tooling. There is the self holding solid end, sometimes with tang type that goes in your lathe tail stock, but the mill really should use draw bar retained MT2 tooling for chucks and the like. It is also MT2, but is threaded on the end for draw bar retention.

I have a baby clausing with the MT2 taper, it's a nice compact ~1/2" end mill and non ambitious fly cutter machine. Don't use large drills, face mill or end mills and you will be fine.

 

[nine4gmc]

Thanks Bill!

Thanks Z! I have been noticing that there were different types of MT2 while looking for a collet holder for my Atlas. Like you said, some solid end(sometimes with tang) and some threaded(standard and metric). I just noticed going through the BP manual that the drawbar is 7/16" on it but the one on the Atlas is 3/8, both are MT2. I did want to pick up up a 2" MT2 face mill for facing things with light cuts, do you think that is possible?

 

[nine4gmc]

Looky what made it home today. I had it delivered to a business earlier this week with a forklift and my buddy loaded it on another friends trailer today. We got it home and had to nurse the old engine hoist back to health enough to get the BP off the trailer but that's as far as we got today. I think I may go ahead and degrease, strip the paint etc while it's outside and try getting it in the shop next week. It got rained on while they unloaded it, should have took pics of the *** job the seller did "palleting" it.

 

[IndyGarage]

I like the green color. Don't like the rust on the ways. Clean that off asap.

You'll really enjoy it. They are nice mills.

 

[nine4gmc]

anyone have a mobile base under their mill?

 

[OccupantRJ]

My round arm is shorter than the company dovetail model that I use daily, so I lagged mine to 2 pieces of 4x4 to be able to move it with my pallet jack as needed. This has worked out fine for me, as it brings the quill lever to about the same height as I am accustomed to using.

 

[Maui]

I have a full size Alliant (Bridgeport clone) knee mill. It weighs about 2300 lbs. I cut a 4x4 into two pieces and lag screwed them in place underneath the mill to raise it up. They were positioned just far enough apart so that I can slide my pallet jack between them. If I have to move the mill to a new place in the shop (which I had to do recently) it's as simple as jacking it up and rolling it to where ever I need it. I'd recommend doing this Nines if you can make it work with your mill.

Maui

 

[m_tuttle]

I've got the same machine. I love it. I wish I had a newer and bigger one. But for my first machine it's pretty awesome. Mine takes a number 7 collet. But I'm actually getting a er32 collet holder for it. That's mainly because I get tired of beating on the drawbar to release the number 7 collets. So far mine has done everything I've wanted it to do. For me the worse part was the machine didn't hardly have any tooling with it. No every spare penny I get goes towards buying tooling. But it's a lot of fun. Good luck with it

 

[nine4gmc]

Occupant, that may be the route I take, much cheaper and easier than buying casters and building a drop frame for them. I was unsure a pallet jack would fit between them, do you have any pics of your setup?

Maui, that definitely sounds like it would work, any pics of yours? I'll need to pick up a small pallet jack but I've needed one for a while. My last shop I had a forklift for a while but sold it and the manager had two forklifts and a couple pallet jacks I could use. I never had an issue moving things, over here though I am having to get creative and the machines are getting heavier.

m_tuttle, this one is a MT2 collet and I have a er32 collet holder and collet sets in my ebay cart right now. I want to make sure it works properly before I go buying lots of new tooling though so I'm waiting til I hook it up and try it out. It came with a few collets, cutters and wrenches and an extra draw bar it looks but what I'm not seeing is a knee lift crank so I'll need one of those for sure.

Thanks for posting!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Nice purchase!

 

[larry_g]

Look closely at the top of your spindle and see if it is threaded, or has its screw on cap on it. I believe that most of the MT tapers had a captive drawbar with a cap on the top. This allowed you to unscrew the drawbar and force the collet out without beating on the drawbar. If it is not obvious to you how it works let me know and I'll take some pictures.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[piro222]

Nice find.

I have a J-Head on a "pallet", that I "move around" on a pallet jack. Got to sweep the floor ahead of the pallet jack as any small bit of debris stops the pallet jack wheels, the darn thing is so heavy. I haven't really found a reason to move it since I got it, but I feel better that it can be relatively easily moved, should the need arise. Having the machine on pallet on the ground as opposed to being on dolly wheels will help in stability and resistance to vibration when machining.

BTW it looks like you already have a useful pallet under it ... just remove the cribbing and you got it ... mebbe put in a couple more 4bys directly underneath the base mounting bolt holes for more stability during heavier machine ops ... if they are not in the way of the pj forks.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Occupant, that may be the route I take, much cheaper and easier than buying casters and building a drop frame for them. I was unsure a pallet jack would fit between them, do you have any pics of your setup?

Maui, that definitely sounds like it would work, any pics of yours? I'll need to pick up a small pallet jack but I've needed one for a while. My last shop I had a forklift for a while but sold it and the manager had two forklifts and a couple pallet jacks I could use. I never had an issue moving things, over here though I am having to get creative and the machines are getting heavier.

m_tuttle, this one is a MT2 collet and I have a er32 collet holder and collet sets in my ebay cart right now. I want to make sure it works properly before I go buying lots of new tooling though so I'm waiting til I hook it up and try it out. It came with a few collets, cutters and wrenches and an extra draw bar it looks but what I'm not seeing is a knee lift crank so I'll need one of those for sure.

Thanks for posting!

My timbers run right to left at the base of the machine to allow the spacing for my pallet jack, so the pallet jack comes in from the side to move the machine. Dirt simple.

 

[nine4gmc]

I bought a Cincinnati mill a few years ago and used 1/4" wall 2x3" tubing on edge under it. I welded big nuts to the bottom and had leveling bolts on each corner, wish I still had some of that material, I may go that route again. You can just make out the risers in these pics.

 

[Maui]

Nines, here's a photo of my mill on the 4x4s with the pallet jack in position. I'm in the process of rearranging all of my machines, so the mill is crowded in with other machines which makes it difficult to get a clean photo. The set up is exactly the same as Occupant described for his mill. It works great!

Maui

 

[WhoWhatNow]

Here is mine:

 

[OccupantRJ]

Well done!

 

[WhoWhatNow]

Well done!

Thank you. I wish I could take credit for the design but I came across some blurry pictures on Practical Machinist of a similar design. 3/8" X 6" flat bar, some 900lbs casters from Surplus Supply and a little 6010 rod and call it done.

 

[nine4gmc]

That's pretty sweet WhoWhatNow!

 

[m_tuttle]

Look closely at the top of your spindle and see if it is threaded, or has its screw on cap on it. I believe that most of the MT tapers had a captive drawbar with a cap on the top. This allowed you to unscrew the drawbar and force the collet out without beating on the drawbar. If it is not obvious to you how it works let me know and I'll take some pictures.

lg
no neat sig line

If you unscrew the drawbar how would you remove the collet? Without beating on the drawbar?