Kind of a crazy idea

[Levi]

I was thinking to myself, what with all the old Bridgeport's, and clones out there that sell cheap,
I wonder if it would be possible to reduce the weight of one of them a significant amount?
The idea is to reduce the weight of each individual component so that when disassembled it could be moved into a basement or some area where you cant get a forklift or such.
The base/body is probably the single heaviest part, weighing I think about 800 lbs.
So I'm picturing making it look like a piece of swiss cheese. Cast iron drills quite easily (messy also), maybe even consider a 2" diameter hole saw. Or you could lay out a series of larger square holes, drill the corners for start holes, and use a saws all. The idea would be to cut the weight in half. In fact on some older models there is already a good sized door opening in one side.
Now I know there will be objections as to why the weight is necessary, but after looking at all the machines listed on Lathes.uk.co and seeing how we use them at work, I believe the main reason they are so heavy is simply so that they won't tip over when putting a large load on the table. ( I think they are rated for 500lbs, but I've seen heavier loads put on them) I have actually seen a rather large Moore jig grinder tipped over when someone had a large die shoe on it and cranked the load too far off center.
It's unlikely that anyone in a home shop would ever put anything over a hundred pounds on there machine.
The next heaviest part would I guess be the knee, I'm sure we could pare it down a little, and next would be the ram. Of course the Milling head (i'm thinking a 1 HP J head) would probably stay unchanged, as well as the table (maybe a 36" If you could be so lucky as to find one.
There is also an even older smaller "M head" but I don't think it has a boring feature built in.
It's not likely that I would actually attempt this, unless I found the machine I wanted close enough to home that I could spend multiple days working on the disassembly to bring it home in pieces, I guess it's more of a thought problem to work on. Maybe someone here has an even better Idea.

 

[Ray C]

A few random thoughts... my "opinions" and certainly not facts..

1) Drilling the holes won't be easy.
2) Drilling the holes will create (or release existing) internal stresses and things might warp in bad ways.
3) It will never be structurally strong enough to do what it once was capable of -and it's value will degrade accordingly.
4) It will take a LOT of holes to reduce it's weight by even 10-15%.

Personal opinion and I hope not to offend anyone: I don't see why a home hobbyist wants a gorilla machine -especially if they don't have the space or ability to move the monster. In the same price range or less, you can get a benchtop machine that, for it's intended purposes, works just as well w/o the hassle of moving 2-3000 lbs. When I was mill shopping I had a chance to get a BP for $500. It was complete but, the critical areas were so worn out, it would have taken a lot e$$ort (effort) to get it working well -and it would take up a lot of precious space. I went with a square column and never looked back. That said, if I had the space and owned a forklift, sure, I'd get a Bridgy... Sometimes peoples eyes and ambitions are bigger than their capabilities. They usually struggle their way through the ordeal and in a few cases, actually restore or improve the machine. A rare few percentage of people can fix them competently, consistently. It is a skill that people work hard for.

Yes, they last a long time and can be rebuilt -unlike a lot of the newer equipment. The problem is that handling, having the knowledge, skill, tools etc to do a machine justice is not a trivial effort. Anything short of doing it right is a great leap toward making it worse. For some people, that's OK -it don't float for me personally.

Ray

 

[Bill C.]

Getting it into the basement normally isn't a problem. Gravity works with you. Getting out is another story. I would be leery about drilling holes. These are made out of cast iron and I suspect it would crack all different way once the hole changed the stress patterns.

I agree, one would have to study the stress patterns. I am sure the engineers have studied this problem.

 

[Levi]

You guys are too serious,
Come on, lets fly by the seat of our pants, it'll be fun...
Think outside the XYZ coordinate box...
As far as cast iron stability? Why it's quite stable, It's practically like rock. Anyway if you want to stop a crack in a piece of cast iron you drill a hole at the start of the crack.
Imagine you built a model of a bridgeport out of a simple wire frame, and then proceeded to ad in only enough structural material to make it physically strong enough to do the job (assuming the job isn't to support a 500lb load at the end of the table). Research the weight's of Genuine Bridgeports vs. the clones- The clones always weigh more for a comparable machine, sometimes quit a bit. It takes more time and skill to create a casting with thinner more uniform cross sections.
I'm just trying to have a little fun....

 

[Dave Smith]

I know the problems of having a basement shop and wanting big desireable machines to fit if dissasembled(I don't have a basement shop). But I think a better solution may be to dig out an adjoining room(maybe 6X6') along your foundation and you could use a A frame hoist to lift heavy things in and out. It wouldn't work for everyone but it would also provide an extra escape out of basement in emergencies, similar to the old stair entrants to basements. If you did it yourself it really wouldn't cost that much but be really handy :thinking:

 

[stevecmo]

Levi,

Rockwell and Clausing already did this. :whistle:

Steve

 

[stern]

Well, seems Im backwards lol Im in the process of adding 1" plate to my home made mill, which will add about 200 lbs to it (its about 200 lbs now) to try to get a bit of vibration reduction. Guess its probably since the smallest thing I have ever put on my mill (not counting a couple of aluminum plates I did for a friend) is about 20lbs. Dont do any really small stuff, most of the stuff I do is big. As for moving it .... it can just stay where it is LMAO

 

[lens42]

I was thinking to myself, what with all the old Bridgeport's, and clones out there that sell cheap,
I wonder if it would be possible to reduce the weight of one of them a significant amount?
The idea is to reduce the weight of each individual component so that when disassembled .........

This makes no sense to me. First of all, you are not making the machine any smaller, which is the main reason a BP can't come home (when it can't). For all the work you going to put into drilling up a BP (and destroying any resale value - but that's not this discussion) you may as well hire a rigger to do the move. Lastly, No one who is selling a machine is going to let you drill it up before you move out, so you still have to get the full-weight machine home and park it somewhere while you butcher it. Maybe I just took some troll bait by replying, but this is nuts.

 

[GK1918]

Putting a Bridgy in the basement? I know the old man banged in my head, no such thing as you can't period. Ya gotta think. How in the world
did they install those five times bigger & heavier boilers in basements back in the teens and twentys? 20 ton steam engines up in the fifth floor in
factorys? We know there were no hydraulics. Only tools they had was ropes & block & tackles and they knew how to use them. Then a grand
piano aint no toy -going up to a third floor apt? Not being dis respectful but I see someone drilling a million holes in a dump truck frame to
lighten it (to beat the scale Wt.) and expect to carry 20 tons of gravel I dont think so.

 

[Bradman]

Crazy ideas aren't crazy until you do them and then look at the results and say, "wow that was a really bad idea". I should know because I do it all the time. Most of the time I learn something in the process that helps with my next crazy idea. Good luck.