# Bridgeport head lubrication



## Cadillac (Jan 9, 2019)

So I have a mid seventies Bridgeport j head step pulley mill. I decided to replace the bearings in the head Assy. Ordered the rebuild kit from h&w and had at it. I wasn’t having any problems it’s just the v belt was looking sad and figured the 40 yr old grease wasn’t up to snuff. So I disassembled the head removed all the bearings and cleaned all the parts. The bearings originally in the head were FAG bearings and open no seals. At least the two bigger sets. The new ntn bearings are all shielded. Okay so I reassembled the upper half and thinking about the oil wick system. 
So the oiling is a total loss system. Putting oil in the top Oiler drains onto the bull gear and whips the oil in the housing hopefully lubing everything then it drains to the bottom of that section and goes to the top of quill for the spindle bearings. Two questions
So am I right that the spindle bearings are the last to get lubed by oil that picked up contaminates from the upper housing? Seems backwards
How does oil get there after the upper housing has had the open bearings replaced with shielded and the housing now is half full with #1 grease. When I disassembled the head there was dried up grease in there but only acouple globs so oil was able to drain through. 
 My concern is the spindle bearings won’t get the proper lube as before that I can see. Should I look into replacing or packing spindle bearings and get away from the total loss system? Can I grease the spindle bearings after a life of oiling them? Do I need to put seals to contain the grease in spindle bearings? Any experience on the subject would appreciated thanks.


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## Technical Ted (Jan 9, 2019)

I've read multiple times that H&W is more than happy to answer any Bridgeport questions. I suggest asking them. That's what I would do. 

Ted


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## Cadillac (Jan 10, 2019)

Thanks for the reply ted. I ended up talking with Barry at h&w yesterday. The top oil port is for the bull gear assy. And it does drain into the spindle  Assy. housing. After looking yesterday when I got home it was a little clearer what was going on. The Oiler above the quill lubes both quill and spindle bearings. I have the machine back together except the motor. I ended up disassembling motor which I was surprised it’s as clean as 74 when built. So I cleaned it up just have to put back on. Thanks again.


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