One of my neighbors is moving back down to sea level and clearing out his shop. I scored this Series 1 J-head Bridgeport (with a DRO and power feed), a rotary induction motor (for 3-phase power!), a 12" rotary table and huge dividing head, 2 milling vises (Bridgeport and a Kurt), a boring head, tons of end mills/collets, a clamp set, and other things.

It's very similar to the one I use at work, except that one has the variable speed head. Lucky for me my other neighbor restores old tractors and has a gigantic fork lift. I managed to get it into my garage after rearranging the entire room. Now I actually have more space than I did without the machine in place. I'm still building a shop...eventually.







He also threw in a VERY hefty set of 12' steel beams and feet. He had them mounted to the floor and connected with 1" threaded rods and tensioner chains to make a nice parallel work/welding surface. He used to use it to weld car frames and other larger items. This will have to wait for the shop to become fully assembled.




I had a question come up:

Unlike the Bridgeport at work, this one doesn't have an oiler system; it has zerks. The owner was using grease for the ways. Some research shows that some older Bridgeports may have used grease for the ways, but they generally all used oil later. I'm considering cleaning out the ways and using an appropriate oil. Thoughts? Everything moves just fine, though the ways feel a bit stiffer than the unit at work, which uses an oiler system.

I was planning on cleaning the entire machine up, anyway. It's got lots of gunk and sawdust on it.

Before moving to my place:

This message has been edited. Last edited by: flesheatingvirus,

OMG. That's beautiful.

I've seen post in the past on machining forums concerning the zerks. They are meant to accept way oil and not grease if I remember correctly. All the vrease needs cleaned from the passages and ways. Taking the table and saddle off is pretty easy. The knee will need an engine hoist or similar to lift off.

Cool addition, epecially with all the tooling.

I'll admit it! I'm a little envious.

I picked up a copy of this book, which looks very helpful so far.

quote:

Originally posted by shiftyvtec:
I've seen post in the past on machining forums concerning the zerks. They are meant to accept way oil and not grease if I remember correctly.

I read things about that, too. I was looking for oil guns that couple to zerks, but keep coming up with grease tools.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
I'll admit it! I'm a little envious.

Yah, he's a cute kid.

I think you can get a drip oiler for it and buy way oil. Those beams would be dandy to mount a hoist or chain fall. You got a baby lathe hiding on the shelf. That needs a sturdy base cabinet. You have a nice clamp block set for the mill.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
I think you can get a drip oiler for it and buy way oil. Those beams would be dandy to mount a hoist or chain fall. You got a baby lathe hiding on the shelf. That needs a sturdy base cabinet. You have a nice clamp block set for the mill.

It's like Where's Waldo in my garage. The lathe is an older PowerKraft that I inherited. I will be getting it up and running in the future. I started looking into the oiler kits, too. Perhaps...

The hoist may be a future upgrade if I ever get the shop started. And finished.

Geez the dividing head, rotary table and vises look in fine shape and they hurt nothing milling wood. I milled the internals of a M1 stock on a Bridgeport.

They all spin very smoothly, too. I just added fresh oil to them.

https://machinerypartsdepot.co...98xUAZoaAtcCEALw_wcB

Above is a link to a way oiler (zerk).

This site has lots of Bridgeport stuff.

Well, crap! I wish I had seen that when I bought the book from them. I see that they also sell an entire oiler system to replace the zerks.

 
MOBIL VACTRA OIL NO. 2 Way and Slide Lubricants

Ooooooooooooooooooh...

Very, VERY nice! I would so love to have a full-sized Bridgeport, with or without DRO.

But no room and no cash...

Do NOT use grease on any of the zerk fittings - oil only. Vactra #2 is always a good choice for that usage. Clean it and run it...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MaSigchist,

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
OMG. That's beautiful.

Machine porn.

Keep it up.

So to speak.

I bought one about 8 years ago that had been sitting for about 20 years. These things definitely separate you from the average hobbyists with the capability you now have.

I’ve found that in todays world I didn’t need real books with all the online stuff available. There a few specific pages to print out like the oiling points and which lubes for each location. Print others as needed that you find are used frequently. Otherwise watch some of the better online videos for helpful information.

The stiffness may be due to all the sawdust since that’s not the normal debris these would have. When ways or screws get wear there are adjustments to tighten them up some but they could be over tightened too. They tend to wear most in the center of their range and if you tighten things up there, they will be too tight a bit off center where there is less wear.

For oils, I bought a kit that has the various types and weights that is packaged specifically for these machines. My machine came with a Hotshot oiler that covers the most used points.

Being such a universal standard and with thousands produced, there are lots of aftermarket items and a huge library of information.
Getting all that tooling and accessories is a big plus as you may know. Otherwise it’s easy to spend more that the machine itself just to do the things you want. There are some great deals that pop up on new surplus tooling on eBay sometimes.

Congratulations. Now you have a new sub-hobby to use up some of that spare time.

What a score!

Congrats … totally jelly

quote:

Originally posted by MaSigchist:
Do NOT use grease on any of the zerk fittings - oil only. Vactra #2 is always a good choice for that usage. Clean it and run it...

Already on it. I'm going to remove the table, knee, and saddle, clean the ways, blow out the lube channels/zerks, install a lube kit for the X-Y screws, and new way covers and wipes. I'd love to install a complete Bijur lubrication system, but that will be a bit over $700. I'll clean out the system and hand oil the fittings for now.

Lots of sawdust, grease-gunk, and aluminum chips.

You'll be having to do Gib adjustment after you reinstall saddle and table. How many R8s did you get? You got a nice mill package all around.

Wow, just wow. I worked as a machinist my senior year of high school and 2 years after that. I decided it wasn't for me and chose a different career part. I've always dreamed of having a Bridgeport again. The shop I worked at had at least 10, at least 10 lathes, 3 CNC Mazak lathes and a Mazak CNC milling machine.

I miss not having access to those machines.

Awesome score.