BP "J" with Step Pulley

To remove quill there is a set screw on the backside of quill endcap. Remove setscrew and spin off quill endcap. Then tap draw bar down and quill will come out.
Spindle bearings are a total lose lubrication. If bearings are bad you could replace with a sealed type or open like original. Depends if you wanna lube or not.
This would be the time to check the collet Anti-rotation screw. If it needs replacing adjusting or some just take it out completely.
When reinstalling the quill cap you DO NOT want to tighten that setscrew to much as it will distort the quill. Then the quill will not move up and down smoothly. Just lightly seat the setscrew.
 
Thanks Cadillac! So what you're saying is...drop the bottom quill end cap and essentially the entire spindle assembly can come out the bottom? If so, that great news. I've messed with he collet anti-rotation screw and finally backed it off so it does not interfere with the collet (just my preference).

With the table all the way down, there is room to drop it out? And just to be clear, the only thing holding the spindle assy. in is the bottom cap?
 
There is room for the cartridge to come out.
The quill cap should have a diverse in the threads where it should be tightened to, this will leave a little clearance between the quill cap and the housing...it should be that way.
 
plongson said:
And just to be clear, the only thing holding the spindle assy. in is the bottom cap?
Click to expand...


More or less. If you're going to do the job, I highly, highly recommend watching this:


Really important to understand that the bearings are ground as a matched pair, but Nachi sets can be bought for less than half the price they're charged at as Bridgeport spares.
Check that your wicks are in good shape from the oil cups, both for the bull gear and bottom spindle bearings.

Check the driven pulley bearings. If these are loose or worn, it'll accelerate wear on the high range clutch dogs.
 
The spindle bearing Assy is held in by the bearing fit to quill. It will be a snug fit rubber mallet on drawbar will free it. To reinstall I used a combination of the table and quill lever to seat spindle stack in the quill. Quill endcap does not get tightened tight just seated same with set screw.
I recommend you watch some h&w machine repair videos on YouTube. They have videos on about every process of rebuilding a Bridgeport. At least to get you familiar with it.
 
Dang, thanks so much for this very valuable information! I'm going to get it going in a bit but I can see bearing replacement in my future. H&W is pricey on the three bearings...is there another preferred choice for precision matched bearings?
 
Look for Nachi DB ground pairs with the same part number that come out of your machine. As I said, "Bridgeport part" tax is heavy. I saved myself a small fortune when I did mine, might have even been 1/3 the price. Nachi are a decent brand too.
 
Try eBay and cross reference the numbers. I’d watch out for just the sealed bearing setups which is also sold but wouldn’t trust with runout.
 
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