# Looking? Shaping Attachment For Bridgeport Mill, Attaches On Spindal



## Mike8623 (Mar 2, 2015)

Recently I saw a shaper/slotter attachment on ebay. It attached to the spindle of the mill and must have used some gearing so that the shaper spindle went up and down by use of a spiral cut into the side of the spindle on the shaper. The product was made by Chien Dai. Anyone know anything about these or a similar shaper that utilizes the spindle on the milling machine to operate the attachment? Or where to get them.


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## Holescreek (Mar 2, 2015)

Bridgeport made an "E" head shaper that mounted on the opposite side of the ram.  I've never seen an import model.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_kw=bridgeport+e+head

Seems funny to see those prices, a few year ago they were going for <$400 and no one wanted one.


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## Mike8623 (Mar 3, 2015)

Yah, pie in the sky.....anyway I've looked all over the internet and can't find anything on these shapers.

Surely someone out there can chime in and help with finding these things. Come on guys!


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## Mike8623 (Mar 3, 2015)

Here is a picture If I can figure out how to get it in


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## w9jbc (Mar 3, 2015)

all slotter attachment I ever saw went on the back side of the ram I used to see them at auctions reasonable.


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## Mike8623 (Mar 3, 2015)

Yah, this one has a r8 spindle that fits right on the mill spindle, uses a gear system and spiral flutes on the sides for a downward motion.

Someone must know about and how to get these.


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## chips&more (Mar 3, 2015)

Volstro made a slotting attachment that mounted onto the quill. I have the Bridgeport slotting attachment. And to be honest, have never used it yet. If I need to do that type of operation, I just run the quill up and down...Dave.


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## Andre (Mar 3, 2015)

Holescreek said:


> I've never seen an import model.



Well now you have 
http://www.taiwantrade.com.tw/EP/ea...g_Attachment,Accessories_for_Milling_Machine/


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## Holescreek (Mar 3, 2015)

Andre said:


> Well now you have
> http://www.taiwantrade.com.tw/EP/eastar/products-detail/en_US/145792/Machine_Parts,Accessories,Slotting_Head-Tapping_Attachment,Accessories_for_Milling_Machine/


 
The shipping charges alone would make the Ebay priced E heads look cheap by comparison!


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## Mike8623 (Mar 3, 2015)

I can't find anything on this shaper/slotter. I've looked everywhere I could think of looking even alibaba with no luck


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## george wilson (Mar 5, 2015)

I have both the Bridgeport slotting head and was lucky to find a Volstro slotter that slips on oner the spindle years ago at the Cabin Fever Expo. It was a little shop worn,but never used. When I took it open,the red grease inside was completely undisturbed.

The Bridgy head has a 4" stroke,and a small 3 phase motor. I was very fortunate to have an identical 1/3 H.P. motor in 1 phase on hand. I have been afraid of breaking off the end of the ram where it is mounted,so have been quite content with just the 1/3 HP motor. The Taiwan made one seems a lot more powerful. Perhaps TOO powerful.

We used my B.P. slotter to cut the throats of many,many wooden planes we made for the museum where i was toolmaker. I had thought for quite some time about how the complex escapement of wooden planes could be cut in a reasonably short amount of time,as opposed to laboriously hand chopping each one as I had done in the past to make planes for myself.

We made powerful wood cutting chisels with round shanks to fit the slotter. Then we made sharp,large toothed saws to saw out the deeper grooves where the wedges jam the plane irons into place.

First,the escapements were drilled out as much as possible with Forstner style wood bits. The throats of the planes where the irons came through were routed out with a long router bit I was lucky to have,for they are not common. A small machine shop where I used to live made router bits for the furniture industry,and I picked up a lot of odd router bits that were not to req'd specs,but were perfectly good to use.

Then,the slotter was used to chisel away the inclines of the planes,and the other angular parts of the escapement. Sorry about the huge and tilted image. I can't find the regular one. There were 5 planes in a set,and 80 craftsmen in Williamsburg who used planes. I only have this picture of a batch. Wish I'd been more diligent in making pictures. That's my journeyman Jon on the right. Roll the screen to get the whole picture.

The slotter worked out very well,because it left straight chisel cuts,like the originals would have had,rather than router bit cuts,which would not have been acceptable.



Here's a picture of a batch of planes,and a jack plane made to 18th. C. style. The blacksmith's shop made the blades. You can see the multi angled escapement that had to be cut in each plane.


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## george wilson (Mar 5, 2015)

The little Volstro cost big bucks when they were still being made. I was lucky to get a NOS one,as mentioned. It has a 1" stroke. You make your own slotting cutters out of 3/8" HSS lathe tools. I also make them smaller,and fill out the slotter's groove(where the cutters are held) with smaller square stock,like 1/8" square if I use a 1/4" tool.

There is a cylindrical cam inside the unit,with an angled groove that runs clear around it. A ball bearing follower(which is a standard part available in the MSC catalog),runs in it. The little unit is not for real heavy work,but neither is the Bridgeport slotting head. Both were intended for slotting things like grooves for keyways in gear bores,etc.. My use of the big slotter for making wooden planes was unique.


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## Inflight (Mar 5, 2015)

Shaping & slotting attachment for milling machine. R8 bore in spindle. Unique design, spindle rotation moves the tool head up & down. Clamp keeps attchment from spinning. Quality tawain import mfg by chen dai. Includes 1/4 & 3/16″ wide slotting tools w/ 5/8″ shank. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NICE-SHAPIN...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557


Winning bid:  US $270.94  [ 15 bids ]
Shipping:   $33.74 Standard Shipping
Item location:  Ellington, New York, United States
Seller: stm_surplus


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## Doubleeboy (Mar 5, 2015)

Volstro made wonderful tools, shame they are gone but cnc did them in I am afraid.  I love my rotary milling head what a wonder!


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## Mike8623 (Mar 5, 2015)

So Inflight, did you win the one on ebay? Does anyone have a clue on where to get these, or if someone takes one a part could you send  or post pics so I could get a look at all of it on the inside?


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## Inflight (Mar 5, 2015)

Mike8623 said:


> So Inflight, did you win the one on ebay?



No, I did not win this item, I just watched it.


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## george wilson (Mar 6, 2015)

Great deal,inflight!! I paid twice that for  my Volstro.

Volstro was bought out by another company,and for some reason was never allowed to make any more tools. Seems like a waste of money on the part of the other company. I think Volstro's line of tooling was pretty obsolete anyway,except for guys like me,though I WOULDN'T have paid their prices for new products. Their rotary milling attachment was over $3,000.00 near their end. I spoke to the guy who made the first one I bought,which was new,but had the spindle snapped off.

I can't recall the price of their slotter,but I'll bet it was over $1500.00 anyway. So,I was very happy to find mine much cheaper than that.

Most commercial machining is CNC these days,so most companies would not be buying their attachments. They probably would have gone out of business soon anyway.  I have found the circular milling unit to be very useful. With it you can do work that would be a lot more complex with a rotary table alone. But,the unit is delicate(as is most of their things). Only ever use a maximum of 3/8" end mill in it,and take light cuts only. Forget using the power feed at all. It runs WAYYYYYY too fast. I don't know why they added it anyway. It cannot be altered as it runs off the powered wheel on the Bridgy's head(which is for power downfeed when engaged.) It runs so fast,it leaves big chops in the work as the unit whirls around.

The first one I bought had the spindle snapped off. I think their spindle was left way too hard.Replacing it was what I talked to their tech about. At the time a new spindle was about $119.00. I made my own. Turned out it was not very complicated. I liked my new spindle better than the original,which seemed fully hardened and hardly tempered. Plus,it had a 3/8" hole up the center which weakened their spindle. I left mine solid. He said the hole was where they gripped it for grinding. Some ham handed machinist apparently broke the spindle right off the new unit,and it was never used again. Subsequently,I found 2 more units. One for the shop at work,one for Jon,and found a brand new one with collets in their cardboard boxes for me.

The unit is a bit heavy for me to get onto the spindle. You need 3 hands. What I do is lay a piece of wood on top of the vise,set the unit on top of it,and bring the spindle down into the hole. Then,tighten the screws to clamp it to the mill's spindle. Then,raise the spindle back up till the attachment butts up against the mill's head. Then tighten the drawbar.


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## george wilson (Mar 6, 2015)

Thanks for the link to the Volstro slotter at $999.00. Mine is a lot nicer,but that gives me an idea what I could ask if I ever decide to sell it.

Last time I noticed,Bridgeport slotting heads were running $1400.00 range. Now apparently they are  more like $2400.00. More info for me to store,though when I decide to sell it,I probably will be too messed up with arthritis to crate the thing!

I don't know why the Asian copies have such large motors. The original Bridgy ones have a 1/3 HP as I mentioned. I'd MUCH rather have my unit stall out than snap off the end of the cast iron ram. Even with 1/3 HP,geared down,my unit has performed very well. Too much power encourages the ham handed to take too large a cut and damage something. Ever seen a Bridgy ram for sale? NO!!! Wouldn't work anyway on my clone.


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## Reeltor (Mar 6, 2015)

Keith Fenner on YouTube has several posts  where he uses his slotting head on his K & T mill.  He calls the slotter a Jumping Jack.  You might  want to add that to your saved searches on EBay


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## merkelerk (Mar 7, 2015)

I have the original slotter attachment for my BP collecting dust in the corner of my shop. It works fine, used it once just to try it out (wired for single phase 110V).
If anyone is interested in acquiring it let me know (it is in Southern Ontario, Canada).


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## benmychree (Mar 9, 2015)

chips&more said:


> Volstro made a slotting attachment that mounted onto the quill. I have the Bridgeport slotting attachment. And to be honest, have never used it yet. If I need to do that type of operation, I just run the quill up and down...Dave.


I think if you tried out your slotter attachment, you would use it often; I have a slotting attachment for my #2 Brown & Sharpe universal mill with 3" stroke, and also a 6" Pratt & Whitney vertical shaper; both are wonderful tools that give accurate results with little effort on the part of the operator; the only hard part is finding tools for them ---- I recently made a 3/8" square tool from HSS, and it is pretty time consuming, even with a Tool & Cutter grinder.  I have been able to find some on E Bay, but they come up rarely.


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## chips&more (Mar 9, 2015)

benmychree said:


> I think if you tried out your slotter attachment, you would use it often; I have a slotting attachment for my #2 Brown & Sharpe universal mill with 3" stroke, and also a 6" Pratt & Whitney vertical shaper; both are wonderful tools that give accurate results with little effort on the part of the operator; the only hard part is finding tools for them ---- I recently made a 3/8" square tool from HSS, and it is pretty time consuming, even with a Tool & Cutter grinder.  I have been able to find some on E Bay, but they come up rarely.


It all depends on what your HM needs are. With the slotting projects that I have had. I use the quill on my Bridgeport mill. Yes, it ain’t made for that operation. But, I take it slow and it works for me. Turning the Bridgeport ram around to get at my slotter is too much work, especially when I put the head back in front and have to tram it. But it’s good to have the slotter, if that big slotting job ever happens, I’ll be ready!...Good Luck benmychree, Dave.


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## benmychree (Mar 9, 2015)

chips&more said:


> It all depends on what your HM needs are. With the slotting projects that I have had. I use the quill on my Bridgeport mill. Yes, it ain’t made for that operation. But, I take it slow and it works for me. Turning the Bridgeport ram around to get at my slotter is too much work, especially when I put the head back in front and have to tram it. But it’s good to have the slotter, if that big slotting job ever happens, I’ll be ready!...Good Luck benmychree, Dave.


I just remembered another thing; in my shop, I had a Induma Bridgeport type mill; someone tried to broach with it, and broke a tooth on the quill; they then tried to weld it up and made an awful mess of it, I then bought it, and was able to order a new quill from Italy and replace it.  Induma makes a good machine, this was a model 1-S, and had larger way surfaces than a Bridgeport.  The only drawback was that it had a larger diameter quill than the Bridgeport which would not allow the use of the usu8al Bridgeport accessories.


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## george wilson (Mar 9, 2015)

I hope the new Induma quill fit properly. Bridgeport lapped them to fit each head,I believe.


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## benmychree (Mar 9, 2015)

Yes, the new quill was slightly oversize; I used an adjustable Sunnen hone to size the bore, and achieved a nice fit.  These are not the common glaze breaker hones, with the Sunnen, you can achieve a round straight bore without bellmouthing.


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## cjtoombs (Mar 9, 2015)

I just bought a sloter attachment, hasn't arrived yet. It is a Universal Slotmaster, and mount to a round ram.  That's about all I know about it.  There are a lot of the Bridgeport E heads (the sloter heads) on ebay with starting bids or buy it now prices in the 1400 range, but if you see one go for auction, they tend to go for about 700.  People still buy them for the higher price, but I assume those are people who haven't done much research or need one right now for a project.  The one I got I paid 400 for.  Looking forward to seeing it.  Marvin made a small one for the Atlas milling machine that ran from the horizontal spindle.


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## george wilson (Mar 11, 2015)

I didn't find it a huge inconvenience to rotate the ram to bring the slotter to the front. The inconvenience was in having to slightly reduce the thickness of the end of my ram to FIT the slotter!! My clone was a little too thick. I accomplished this by first scraping the paint off the bearing surfaces of the ram. Then,I clamped a carbide lathe tool in the chuck,cutting edge up,and ran the table back and forth many times,slightly shifting it sideways until I got the flat area of the end of the ram the correct,snug fitting thickness to slide the slotter on. THAT was the most trouble,but well worth it as the plane making problem was solved!


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