# Bridgeport Base with wheels



## bobdog (Apr 29, 2017)

Anybody have plans for a wheeled base like this for bridgeport ?    What wheels and size steel to build it out of ?


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## RandyWilson (Apr 29, 2017)

I just looked into building something like this to skate the new mill into place. Those look like the wheels I had in my hand at Northern. 3" wheel, 5" O/A height.  Based on that, I'd say they built it out of 1.5" box, 0.125 wall.

The question is how do you keep level and true when it's on this base. My mill's manual calls for leveling within 10"  (that's seconds, not inches  ) I just don't see those little landing feet being stable/stiff enough.


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## Uglydog (Apr 29, 2017)

My Cincy Toolmaster vertical mill sits on a 2x2 1/4" angle steel frame with cast wheels I retrieved from a low end scrapped hydraulic floor jack.
The front just uses pegs welded in place. In retrospect I should have used threaded rod so I could level her easier. As is I just use some scrap sheet shims. 
Works well! 
Note: if leveling your mill is important to you then the idea of a cart like this is problematic. 

Daryl
MN


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## RandyWilson (Apr 29, 2017)

That's the thing. I don't know how critical micro-leveling  a machine with 60 years of service and wear is. I'm glad to hear you're not obsessed with it. I like the jack wheel idea (and I have the perfect donor). Northern has some sub-$10 3" cast iron casters with more than enough capacity for the Cincy, so ought to be fine for a BP.


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## Bob Korves (Apr 29, 2017)

RandyWilson said:


> That's the thing. I don't know how critical micro-leveling  a machine with 60 years of service and wear is. I'm glad to hear you're not obsessed with it. I like the jack wheel idea (and I have the perfect donor). Northern has some sub-$10 3" cast iron casters with more than enough capacity for the Cincy, so ought to be fine for a BP.


Leveling a mill is really only useful as an aid to leveling setups parallel with the table.  If the mill is square with the world, you can use bubble levels, combination squares, and other simple tools for quicker setups of non critical jobs.


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## Uglydog (Apr 29, 2017)

Agreed on the mill leveling.
However, I need to confess that I've used a plumbers adjustable level to get a few angles.
Because I haven't leveled my mill, I needed to first identify how far she was off and add/subtract the difference.

Daryl
MN


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## bobdog (Apr 29, 2017)

Still wondering if anybody has plans for this picture . I posted ?


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## Terrywerm (Apr 29, 2017)

I have seen that photo before, and I want to say that it was in a post on this forum. Sad part is that I don't know for sure who posted it or what the thread may have been named.

EDIT:  Scratch that!  I think somebody was selling plans for that dolly on eBay.

I would think that using 2" square tubing with .125" wall would be sufficient, as already mentioned. 1.5" square tube might be fine, but my gut tells me it might be a tad bit too light.

Have a look at this thread for some other ideas that worked well: http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/mobile-base-for-a-mill.53405/#post-459024


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