Crappy BP Clones?

[MrWhoopee]

Ganesh. There's a Ganesh dealer down the street from me, used say Ganesh on the building but has since changed to Expand Machinery. The local college when I attended had a few BPs, a Sharp, & a Ganesh. I never got to use the Ganesh cause it was always broken down. One thing would get fixed, something else would break. The toolroom guy hated that thing, said it was one of the worst machines they've ever had.

To be fair, not sure if it was just inexperienced students that were breaking it but none of the other mills (vertical & horizontal) were ever out of commision while I was there. Most of the BPs were borderline clapped out too. And again I never got to use that Ganesh & never took a close look at it either. It could have just been a lemon also if there's such a thing for machinery. The Sharp was really nice, new students didn't get to use it so I would imagine new students didn't get to use the Ganesh either cause it was a newer machine.

Now we've entered a whole new realm, Indian (dot, not feather) machines. I only recently heard of Ganesh and will admit to being skeptical. Not surprising that they've changed their name to something less culturally specific. Ganesh is the elephant-headed Hindu god. I suspect they will follow the pattern of Japan, Taiwan, Korea and China, with early products being less than stellar but with rapid increases in quality as the reviews come in. Maybe.

 

[BGHansen]

I looked at an Alliant and a Trump before settling on a genuine Bridgeport from the same seller. The price for the imports was a little less than the BP. He had no issues with either of the import machines after 20 years of use. I settled on the Bridgeport so I could say "I have a Bridgeport", not "I have a mill that's a copy of a Bridgeport". In use, they likely perform the same.

Bruce

 

[projectnut]

The only mill knee I've personally owned is a Bridgeport. In my professional life I've run Bridgeport's, Sharp's,, Tree's and even a Webb. Of all of them I liked the Tree's for ease of use, and the Webb for size and power.

I took a class at the local technical college several years ago when I was looking for a surface grinder for the shop. At the time they were flush with cash and it showed. In one shop they had about a dozen Series 1 machines and 4 Pro Tracks. in another shop they had another dozen Series 1 machines and several Bridgeport Series 2 machines.

Throughout the school they had in the neighborhood of 60 Bridgeport machines and they all looked like brand new. When I asked how they kept them in such pristine condition I was told they usually send out ten or so each summer to be "refurbished". The longest they go without returning to the rebuilder is 6 years.

Maybe I should have put mine in one of the shops for a few days to see if they would have sent it out to be refurbished.

 

[projectnut]

I looked at an Alliant and a Trump before settling on a genuine Bridgeport from the same seller. The price for the imports was a little less than the BP. He had no issues with either of the import machines after 20 years of use. I settled on the Bridgeport so I could say "I have a Bridgeport", not "I have a mill that's a copy of a Bridgeport". In use, they likely perform the same.

Bruce

If you bought a Trump mill you'd have to buy 2 mills. The trump mill would only be able to move the table to the right. You'd need a Pelosi or Schumer mill next to it since they would only move to the left.

 

[Buffalo21]

Jet

 

[Provincial]

Back in the mid-1980's, I bought a used Ram (Ramco) Bridgeport clone. It was made in Taiwan, had chrome ways, and was practically unused. The prior owner had used it in his shop that repaired farm equipment. I put it in my 3-car garage-sized shop, but never ran it because I didn't have 3-phase power and never got around to installing a converter system.

A couple of my friends started a machine shop, and I loaned them the mill to help them get going. They used it a little, and about five years later bought a real Bridgeport and returned the Ram to me. Again, it sat for years.

My friends had told me that the quill "bounced around" and eventually, I checked it out. The quill would move if you applied side pressure to it. I dismantled things enough to get measurements, and determined that the quill was fine, but the bore of the head was tapered, and about .005" oversize at the bottom end.

I finally got around to addressing that problem. I had the quill hard chromed about .010" oversize, and took the head to a precision machinery repair shop that honed the bore to match the quill. Now everything was tight.

About ten years later (I started a business, got married, and started a family) I got my electrical service upgraded to 3-phase 240 Volt. I wired up the Ram, and it works perfectly. In essence, I have a brand new mill! I recently bought a 3-axis DRO, and will be installing it soon.

So my Bridgeport clone started out as a crappy copy, and is now a perfectly good machine.