Closed Looking for a 4" or 6" Bridgeport riser

[mmcmdl]

He sold all he has , seems like a hot commodity lately he said . He's making a pick up soon and will check back with me . I don't need one but I have a BP and willing to go down to his place and get whatever . He has tons and tons of tools and accessories for most any machines . My trouble is I want/like it all .

 

[Winegrower]

So I went back to the eBay riser listing, defeated, and chose “Buy Now”. Message comes up “Seller only allows buyer 1 purchase every 10 days”. Having never purchased from this seller before, I thought I would contact the seller and see what’s up. Contacting the seller attempt results in “Because of the large volume of messages, the seller is unable to respond to individual contacts” or words to that effect. Huh, that’s a new one.

Still looking.

 

[seasicksteve]

So I went back to the eBay riser listing, defeated, and chose “Buy Now”. Message comes up “Seller only allows buyer 1 purchase every 10 days”. Having never purchased from this seller before, I thought I would contact the seller and see what’s up. Contacting the seller attempt results in “Because of the large volume of messages, the seller is unable to respond to individual contacts” or words to that effect. Huh, that’s a new one.

Still looking.

Winegrower I am sending you a pm with some info

 

[mksj]

Why not just purchase one from a reputable source for $375, and shipping will probably be less than eBay sellers (also not there are some differnce in size/diameters so make sure you check that the item is corretly sized to your mil):

Milling Machine Riser Block 4" for Bridgeport-Type Knee MIlls 4inch

Milling Machine Riser Block 4" for Bridgeport-Type Knee MIlls 4inchMilling Machine Riser Block 4" For Bridgeport-Type Knee Mills.Includes 4 bolts and cross member (spider).The bolts (qty: 4) are hex head bolts 1/2" in diameter and can thread into the spider.The base diameter is 15 inch...

eisenm.com

 

[Winegrower]

Why not just purchase one from a reputable source for $375, and

Ummm…I don’t really have a good answer for that, Mark. I indeed assumed the diameters were all the same…gulp.
Plus, the total price is still lower from eBay. I will try to verify the size, thank you for the comment!

Seasicksteve played Lt. Colombo, () tracked down the Seller, we’re in phone tag now.

 

[Winegrower]

Well, deal is done…seems like it will fit, but if not, there’s a “for sale” forum here.

Thanks, everybody for your comments and suggestions.

Curt

 

[ttabbal]

Well, deal is done…seems like it will fit, but if not, there’s a “for sale” forum here.

Mine had a slightly small ID on the top. I was able to bore it out with a boring head and a long boring bar. So if it's at least close, you might be able to adjust it to fit.

 

[Winegrower]

It came, looks like it will fit. Now I just have to commit to taking the mill down to do this.

 

[Winegrower]

Well, surprise, the riser did not fit, but it’s real close, seems like in this case the OD of the ring that fits down into the big base is just a few thousandths too big…it starts to go in, feels like it could be hammered in, but that is where the rotation happens. Of course now the mill is in-op, so I’m taking my rotary table, the riser and everything else I can think of to a friend’s shop, will use his Bridgeport to trim a bit off the riser.

I’ll report further.

I used an engine hoist, worked OK, but I think if I ever do this again, I will lift with the knee. Oh, also, the bolts that came with the new riser were too short by an inch or so, and worse, the spider is a 1/2-12 Whitworth, apparently. I could not find long enough 1/2-12 bolts, so I cut up 12” lengths of 1/2” rod, single pinpoint threaded the 12TPI end and used my Geometric die and zipped through the 1/2-13 ends. I will use a nut on the upper end of the bolt. And so it goes.

 

[Winegrower]

So the riser is in. I set it up on the rotary table, which was 12" with a 15" diameter riser...the hole was bigger than the table, so it took some thinking to hold it properly. Dialed it in with a DTI, and milled 0.01 off the radius. It just popped in like a cork. It was a bit of a struggle to get the spider attached, but eventually it caught. There are some interesting tabs in the casting that can keep the spider within an inch or so of proper height, from there it's trial and error to screw in the new shop made bolts. I also made some slightly fancier quarter inch thick washers, just for the style points.

All's well that ends well.