# Buying a mill...Help!



## BTG (Dec 8, 2010)

So my Dad just called me and told me he met with his acountant and that he "needs" to spend some $$ for shop equipment before the end of the year. We've been thinking about buying an older but capable Bridgeport or similar mill for light shop duty for some time. We're just getting our South Bend lathe up and running, and this would be a nice complement. We would use it mostly for hobby use in hot rod and engine building, as well as for some other light machining projects. Since buying a lathe was always thought of as a future purchase, I've not gotten into too much research on the best models/components to get for our needs. Now my time table is a bit accelerated. My inital thoughts are an older working Bridgeport with some tooling included. 3 phase is not an issue as we can wire either way. Any thoughts on good american machine that a novice can start work on, not break the bank, and yet not need to be upgraded down the line? DRO is not necessary, but would be nice.

There is a local auction (closed machine shop) tomorrow with the Bridgeport you see below. I haven't looked at it in person yet, but we may head down there in the morning and check it out. If it is is good running condition, any thought on the value of it? Anything specific or in general to look for when inspecting it? 

Any and all thoughts are welcome! Thanks in advance!


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## BTG (Dec 9, 2010)

Thanks for all the info and input...we passed on going to the auction as some stuff came up this morning. I've been scanning craigslist and seeing whats out there. We may just wait after all and keep our eye out for the right one. I'm afraid of rushing into the wrong machine.  I'm now pushing for a 48" shear and finger brake by if we can swing it! We'll see.


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