# Bridgeport-Clone interchangeability



## Wdnich (Aug 6, 2014)

Can anyone provide overall interchangeability between the bridgeports and the clones? I have heard so many different opinions and comments, gives me a a migraine to think about it. Started tear down this morning on mine. Has a Birmingham head, and not quite sure on some part ordering. My first casualty in disassembly, the spindle clutch ring has a crack in it, and the clutch pin was stripped and apparently pounded in at one time.

I can get a complete upper assembly with pulleys, gear and all for $150 bucks, but it is a Bridgeport. My biggest fear is the pulleys. The Bridgeport is 80-2720 spindle speeds , my Birmingham is 80-5440.  Three versus 4 pulley setup.

Any input is greatly considered. Thanks for any help.


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## xalky (Aug 6, 2014)

I've seen bridgeport heads on clones and vice versa. I think that you will have to take some careful measurements of your head, particularly where it bolts up to the ram, and write them down and then check them against your prospective new head. 

Unless someone has done that particular swap, I'm afraid that any information will be erroneous at best.

Marcel

EDit: I just saw that you just want to change out the upper assembly. Same advice applies, even more so.


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## JimDawson (Aug 6, 2014)

I suspect that your head is made by Topwell, model 3S and is branded as a Birmingham  http://www.birminghammachines.com/

I think yours has a 3HP, 2 speed motor, that's how you get the 5400 RPM.

This is where it gets interesting, because Topwell did a redesign on a lot of their machines, and many of them are all metric internally.  Some Bridgeport parts will fit, some won't.  I went through this on my Eagle mill, made for an interesting head rebuild.

The good news is that Birmingham Machines appears to still be in business.   Topwell has a primary distributor in Ontario, Canada,  H.H. Roberts Machinery Limited, and there are a couple of dealers in the US.  http://www.hhrobertsmachinery.com/about_us/Distributors/distributors.html

I hope this helps


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## Wdnich (Aug 6, 2014)

Thanks Xalkey and Jim.  Made a few calls this afternoon. Going to do some comparison. If it looks like going to run into a ton of money to rebuild the head with new parts, will buy a used Bridgeport head and go the same route.

Parts will start arriving Friday, will pull out the measuring instruments and go to town. Friend has a spare head assembly at his shop, will make a run go get it and use it for comparison also. He seems to think the head case/guill is Bridgeport, and the upper gear/pulley assembly is Birmingham. Will decide from there.

Only time and patience will well, in the end.


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## Wdnich (Aug 7, 2014)

JimDawson said:


> I suspect that your head is made by Topwell, model 3S and is branded as a Birmingham  http://www.birminghammachines.com/
> 
> I think yours has a 3HP, 2 speed motor, that's how you get the 5400 RPM.
> 
> ...



Out of curiosity what parts did you find that were interchangeable?


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## JimDawson (Aug 7, 2014)

Wdnich said:


> Out of curiosity what parts did you find that were interchangeable?



The only parts I replaced in the lower head was in the quill stop area, the upper kick out lever and quill stop screw.  I also found that the quill pinion shaft is metric and built differently than the Bridgeport shaft.  The Bridgeport clock spring seems to be the same.

The upper head/drive is totally different than the Bridgeport, I would say that none of those parts interchange.  I bought all of the bearings locally.


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## Wdnich (Aug 7, 2014)

After 14 different phone calls, two to Canada. I found a company, that is sending me a complete breakdown of all the parts, measurements, plus an actual interchange list. When I get the info, I will gladly share the information with anyone that might want this.


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## xalky (Aug 8, 2014)

That's good info to get. I'm sure someone will find that info real handy someday. Post it here when you get it.


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## dflower (Aug 10, 2014)

JimDawson said:


> The only parts I replaced in the lower head was in the quill stop area, the upper kick out lever and quill stop screw.  I also found that the quill pinion shaft is metric and built differently than the Bridgeport shaft.  The Bridgeport clock spring seems to be the same.
> 
> The upper head/drive is totally different than the Bridgeport, I would say that none of those parts interchange.  I bought all of the bearings locally.



I have a "PK 1-1/2" that I went through some of the same questions about interchangeability. Fortunately I did not need much, and was able to modify a couple of Bridgeport parts to fit. 
The best explanation I got when I spent countless hours researching this last year was when I spoke with an older, very experienced parts guy in Kentucky. He explained these machines were manufactured in Taiwan by a hand full of companies, each of which produced the main castings. So you will sometimes see what appears to be the same machine from Enco and Grizzley. However, these casting companies only made the castings, and all the remaining gears, shafts, levers, etc. etc. are made by a large number of very small companies. Many times these smaller companies only make a few (sometimes only one!) part. So even though the castings might be the same, the internal parts for a Grizzley may not match what appears to be the exact same machine from Enco. Check the size of the spindle bearings as an example of this issue. To make matters worse, these small companies lack strict production standards, and therefore sometimes the one of the small companies will change the specifications on their part in the middle of a model run. 
This was his explanation for why it is hard to get any parts at all for these machines - at least any that fit your machine. 
The result is, the value of these machines on the used market is significantly lower, particularly if they are more than 5 years old. And if you check with a couple of the larger suppliers such as Grizzley or Enco, you will see that they typically only inventory spare parts for about 5 years after they start shipping a new model (I keep thinking, why do they bother, AFTER 5 years is about when we start needing parts!). 
Let us know how it turns out....my recommendation would be to put a Bridgeport head on there if it will fit...


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## Wdnich (Aug 13, 2014)

Although I have yet to get the information. Over the last few sessions of working on the mill, I have been taking measurements of clone parts and the actual Bridgeport parts. After I have compared everything, I will make of list of the measurements and what I find to actually be interchangeable


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