Trying to ID Bridgeport mill

[Pcoghlan]

Might be buying a nee toy and was wondering whether anyone had experience with Bridgeport mills and could ID this one.

I have been looking at some videos on YT relating to indexing the head for shipping but the head on this one looks a little different to those in the vids.

I have included a few photos in case someone can help. Says Model No H9824

 

[rsanter]

This is an early round ram mill
Good unit but not as popular and not worth as much as the later J and 2J models you are thinking of.
These are not as rigid in holding the index of the head.

Worth $500 to $1500 depending on condition and wear....etc

 

[ttpete]

Is the spindle taper R-8?

 

[Pcoghlan]

Many thanks, glad I checked. It is only @$1k and I thought it was a bit too good to be true.

Sorry, ttpete cannot confirm the spindle taper.

 

[larry_g]

That might be a steal at $1k. I see a tilting table there, rotary table, quickacting drill press vise, some drill chucks, and scales for a DRO. If the DRO is there and working then I would not have many reservations in that set up. If it has a collet set and a few other bits with it then your almost getting a free mill and paying for the accessories.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[dr_clyde]

Round ram mills are a bit harder to keep in tram, but otherwise are fine for hobby use. I believe that is a "M" head, not 100% sure, Bridgeport made many odd heads before the ubiquitous "J" head.

I agree with Larry, that's a good deal at 1K. Lots of tooling there.

 

[ttpete]

Round ram mills are a bit harder to keep in tram, but otherwise are fine for hobby use. I believe that is a "M" head, not 100% sure, Bridgeport made many odd heads before the ubiquitous "J" head.

I agree with Larry, that's a good deal at 1K. Lots of tooling there.

M head is what I was thinking too. I don't know if the spindle is big enough to convert to R8.

 

[tool_scrounge]

Most Bridgeport M heads were Morse Taper 2. Tooling is available last time I looked. But you want to confirm the collet size to be sure. But if it comes with enough collets, you might not care for a home operation.

 

[rsanter]

Many thanks, glad I checked. It is only @$1k and I thought it was a bit too good to be true.

Sorry, ttpete cannot confirm the spindle taper.

What is said is correct, ok for hobby use and lighter work.

My price quote was based on the mill only. If you are getting all the other stuff for that price, then it could be a decent deal

 

[matt_i]

I had one of those.

It could be MT2 or B&S#9. Need to get or acquire split collets for those, I think they are still available but not USA made anymore. You might get them with the mill.

I think the biggest possible cutter is 1/2" dia and 3/8" is a stiff cutter for this size of mill. It has very small spindle bearings.

The table is likely to have some slop in screws and ways, check backlash in X and Y leadscrews. Approaching 1/2 turn is a lot. The DRO, if working will mitigate the need for reliance on the precision of the screws.

But still can do good work. Not as much utility as a J-head step pulley or J-head varipitch sheave. But, world wars were won with machines like this and without the DRO!

Edit: the quick-lock vise is a drill press vise at best. The rotab and the Angle plate are useful accessories. Also I recall that I never had a drawbar adapter (external MT2 and internal thread 3/8-16) for my drill chuck. I just popped the MT into the quill just like a lathe. But, it can have problems and slip or fall out when you are not expecting it. I think the tang & core of a jacobs MT to JT adapter is soft enough to drill and tap but I never attempted this.

 

[Pcoghlan]

So here is the deal.

I have started to get into casting aluminum pieces and realized pretty quickly I needed a mill to finish the pieces.

It seems that the Bridgeport is considered a top quality item and only now am I seeing there are differing levels in terms of capacity/quality etc. My bad.

I let this one go, it actually went for $770 in the end.

I am in WV and this was part of an estate sale. I only saw it at the last minute and hadn't had time to explore shipping options for such a heavy beast.

Looking at the auction co here it looks like these do come up from time to time so next time around I will be better prepared. This one didn't have a DRO but a Grizzly being sold from the same house did. Curiously the grizzly made $1800.

Thanks for the replies guys, I see I need to do a little more research into these machines.

 

[OccupantRJ]

The DRO is what sold the Grizzly.

 

[rsanter]

The early Bports are classified as a lightweight milling machine.
They were designed for the military for install on ships for maintence Work

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