# a few general questions



## dcheff (Aug 3, 2014)

If this is in the wrong spot please move it to the appropriate forum.

hello all, its been a while since i posted on here, I am very busy getting my company up and running so I have only been machining as needed around the shop to make tooling or what not. I have a few simple questions I would like some input on.

1. For my rockwell 14" lathe and my bridgeport I am in need of some rubber isolated feet for them, to stop vibrations and level them out, any suggestions?

2. My bridgeport is one of those old round ram models, the center of travel is heavily worn on the table making it not machine very well at all. Also the variable speed head I put on it needs to be rebuilt as it has some slop in it. I would also really like a dro for this unit as that would help me immensely. My questions is, should I send this machine out to get the ways scraped? and spend money on the dro and rebuild the head or should i just look for a unit in better condition and sell this one? I dont know how long it would take or how much it would cost to get mine fixed up right.

3. I am also having trouble with my rockwell 14 " lathe, when I go from the back gears to high speed it does not want to engage, I have to sit the rattling the chuck around for a long time until it finally kicks back in, any ideas? it goes into what i call low gear or low rpms just fine but when i switch it back to high gear it wont engage.


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## OldMachinist (Aug 3, 2014)

Isolation mount can be bought from McMaster Carr but if the machines are really vibrating around then something is wrong. My nearly 70 year old South Bend lathe is just sitting on steel shims and hasn't moved a bit in years. 40 year old J head Bridgeport is the same.

As far as rebuilding a round ram Bridgeport I don't think it would be worth it. The cost for a proper knee mill rebuild would be $3000 and up plus parts.

You might want ask about the Rockwell lathe down in the Rockwell section. 
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/forumdisplay.php?f=93


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## dcheff (Aug 3, 2014)

yes if i shim them up they are fine, but in my shop I have to move them around fairly regularly so isolation mounts would be a lot easier for me. and about the mill thats exactly what i was thinking, I figured it would cost way more to rebuild this one.


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## DMS (Aug 3, 2014)

I have seen folks use old hockey pucks for isolating feet

http://www.cnccookbook.com/CCMillEpoxyFill.htm

(feet are near the end).

Is it a leveling problem? Neither of my machines have vibration problems (9x42 bpt clone, and a Monarch 10EE). My mini lathe and mini mill before them also did not. If this is a leveling problem, you may also look at these

http://www.footmastercasters.com/

Regarding re-building or buying another, you can get a quite. From what I have seen full rebuilds are around 3weeks and around $3-5k. That is older info from other threads. I'm sure it will vary by you location and the extent of the wear.


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## dcheff (Aug 3, 2014)

yes because I have to move them around it would be nice to just use a wrench to adjust them real quick. the mill doesnt vibrate but the lathe does if its not shimmed up.


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## chuckorlando (Aug 3, 2014)

You can try to shim the table up if you need to mill something in the mean time. I guess it depends how short the really bad area is as to how much end travel you will lose. On my 59 BP I shimmed it up and it gets tight at about the last 2in. It's not the solution but a band aid till a solution is reached. Cost about 20 bucks and it's night and day. I dont think it will fix the sag so much as the table chatter


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## Wobbles (Aug 6, 2014)

Casters with urethane wheels may solve your moving AND vibration problems at the same time.  Check out McMaster-Carr.


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