I'm A Retired Machinist And A...

[projectnut]

The mill shouldn't be much of a problem. I disassembled a 1972 , 2J2 head machine by myself and moved it piece by piece from the garage shop to the new basement. Originally the garage seemed to be the place to have it. However after a couple years of warm spring days and the machines sweating and rusting I decided to move everything to the basement.
The only thing I hired out was to have the column moved because it weighs slightly over 1,000 lbs. I couldn't rent a stair climber dolly in the area so a local moving company came over with one and did the job for $50.00. I used an engine hoist to disassemble the entire machine and hauled the pieces to the new shop on a refrigerator dolly. In the new shop I attached a winch to an overhead beam and lifted all the parts back into position. Once it was a complete machine I rolled it into place using 1 1/2" pipe for rollers.

If the machine hasn't been used for years you might want to disassemble it for moving, cleaning and lubricating. It doesn't take nearly as long as you might think. I had mine disassembled, cleaned , moved lubricated, and reassembled in about 3 days. The cleaning took longer than the disassembly, moving and reassembly. If you find you need parts give these people call.

http://www.machinerypartsdepot.com/

They specialize in Bridgeport machines. They are very knowledgeable and friendly. They'll give you all the technical advise you need, and have a good price on any replacement parts. Their website includes parts diagrams of the machines so you can make a shopping list before you call them. I've done business with them for over 10 years and have had very satisfactory results.

 

[brino]

Hi Treetop,

Welcome to the site!
Based on your experience and continued interest I am sure that you will be giving as much as you get on this site.

There are a number of threads here about moving equipment, definitely good background reading. Here's just a few:
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/thre...re-transporting-heavy-gear.37144/#post-317178
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/machine-moving-indiana-to-mn.33588/#post-283456

I know there were a few more, but they didn't come-up in my present search.
I'll post back if I find them again......

We also have many members from your great state, so:
1) you will likely get some suggestions on places to buy tooling, and
2) I bet it's not long 'til you have a volunteer to help you.

When you do pick up the machines be sure to look thru every nook and cranny and any little boxes, it is likely your cousin's husband was collecting all kinds of useful bits before his collecting was interrupted.

Be careful and have fun!
-brino

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Just for fun, I'll post these pictures of how my 5000# Cincinnati milling machine got transported with a pallet jack, 2 pieces of plywood for the gravel driveway, 2 pieces of flat stock (1/8" x 6" x 8") to transition from the garage to the driveway, and a tow truck.

 

[brino]

not to hijack this thread, but.....

pictures of how my 5000# Cincinnati milling machine got transported with a pallet jack, 2 pieces of plywood for the gravel driveway, 2 pieces of flat stock (1/8" x 6" x 8") to transition from the garage to the driveway, and a tow truck.

Mark, that's a fantastic machine! Got any more info (year of mfg), have you posted any more pictures here?

Thanks,
-brino

 

[brino]

a couple more links:

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/new-guy-looking-for-info.18665/#post-155172

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/how-do-you-lift-big-stuff-in-your-shop.16393/

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/moving-a-monarch-10ee.9057/#post-76189

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/shipping-tips-for-a-bridgeport-mill.8444/

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/loading-a-j-series-b-port.15674/

-brino

 

[coolidge]

Just for fun, I'll post these pictures of how my 5000# Cincinnati milling machine got transported with a pallet jack, 2 pieces of plywood for the gravel driveway, 2 pieces of flat stock (1/8" x 6" x 8") to transition from the garage to the driveway, and a tow truck.

Did your house tilt forward when you set it down?

 

[Treetop]

Wow! I just checked back to see if I had any replies to my post and already a wealth of information! It's going to take some time to go through all of the links and older posts that you guys have provided but I"m sure that I'll enjoy every minute of it.

During my career, I have seen two Bridgeports tip over. They were both essentially destroyed. They are indeed top heavy so I will probably rent an engine hoist and take the round ram and turret off before trying to move the old J head.

One of our Bridgeports actually got dropped off a truck by two apprentices trying to unload it during lunch. The riggers were coming back after their lunch break and there was no hurry to unload it... This was in the mid 80s. It was a fairly new Series 2, so we sent it back to Bridgeport and 6-7 months later we got it back, but it never ran right after that. The quill was just hard enough to move that you lost your "feel" when tapping smaller holes from the drill chuck. I think the head casting "sprung" when it fell.

The other Bridgeport was not anchored to the shop floor and fell over when one of our machinists cranked the table all the way to one side and set a heavy die shoe out on the unsupported end.

I have some pictures of the two machines that my cousin sent me, but suppose that I can't share them until I have 5 posts. Is that correct?

Thanks again for all of the replies, I can already tell that I'm going to like it here.

Semper Fi, Treetop

 

[Treetop]

Yep, that lathe is in Pro territory...

Folks have taken that size mill apart and moved them with an assortment of die carts, pallet jacks, dolleys, portable engine hoists, etc.

More important, what project area interests you??? That 16X72 lathe might be a poor choice if you're doing all very small parts like say model steam or IC engines.

I'm semi retired too. For myself, I settled on buying old cut up military weapons (called parts kits) and rebuilding them into functioning rifles. I got enough work to keep me busy till I'm 120. If old firearms interest you, might be a good fit. There's are hundreds of different designs and you need to refit it back to semi auto. i find it quite the challenge - keeps me thinking about how to do it all night long.

Karl, I am indeed an amateur gunsmith, bullet caster, and reloader, both metallic cases and shotshells. I'll agree with you that 16" x 72" is bigger than I need, but I can't beat the price! In my experience, it's easier to do small jobs on bigger machines than big jobs on smaller machines.

My old boss and I have built several FN FALs and AKs from kits back when it was economical to do, Now days, parts kits are getting hard to find and expensive!

Semper Fi, Treetop

 

[Treetop]

Welcome, Treetop, I retired from the toolroom 15 years ago after 30 years, hung around the house feeling sorry for myself until I found this site. Since then I've bought an unused 35 year old Clausing Atlas lathe and what you would call a mini-mill (new from Taiwan). Never had so much fun, didn't realize what I missed.

An unused 35 year old Atlas Clausing, Tom? I'll bet there's a story behind that find! What size is it? I have run a 6" and a 12" before.

And here I thought I was lucky stumbling on to these two, most likely, well used machines!

Semper Fi, Treetop

 

[Treetop]

Just for fun, I'll post these pictures of how my 5000# Cincinnati milling machine got transported with a pallet jack, 2 pieces of plywood for the gravel driveway, 2 pieces of flat stock (1/8" x 6" x 8") to transition from the garage to the driveway, and a tow truck.

Mark, I have many hours on that exact same model of Cincinnati mill! We used it for our "roughing" mill because it could take such big cuts. At the end of each day, it was most likely surrounded by thick blue chips from flycutting material down to rough sizes. I never did manage to bog that big monster down!

Semper Fi, Treetop