BP knowledge-base, 36" table & 9" knee availability

I am now the proud owner of a Bridgeport Series 1 pulley J head mill with a 36" table. It has a 12" travel Y cross feed, not the 9" version that I thought I wanted. With over 4' of front to back depth, I guess 3 more inches won't make much difference. But 12" of Y travel, wow.
Yes, the pulley J head 32" table and 9" cross-feed knee models are out there, but they are typically round ram versions and early dovetail versions, all usually with zerk oil fittings. Being from the 1950s, the tables are usually beat up and the oil passages are gummed up with grease from zerk use.

I will say that I looked into the example referenced above in Morgan Hill, CA. via telephone as a 6 hour trip was a concern and the price was an obstacle. The table did look OK, and it had zerk fittings.

So, I finally found a serial # just over 100,000 dating 1967 with a one shot oiler in New York state. I arranged the freight on my end to CA and the total was way less than that Morgan Hill example above. I'm sure I will need to replace various parts, but this re-build or whatever you want to call it is going to be fun. And if I can't get it into my small workshop space, I'll just have to sell it.
 
Cut to a bit over a year later and I did find room in the shop for the Bridgeport. It turned out pretty nice. The VFD uses an old Furnas contactor switch with a speed control pot for the low voltage signals. I had a capacative scale TouchDRO setup that I'm trying out. The usual parts have been replaced like the table screws and nuts. The spindle is giving nice facing finishes which is testament to the precision bearings installed.

I still need to level the table. I've heard of operators threading the 4 base holes for 3/4" bolts and using them as leveling feet. I haven't committed to trying this yet as the bolts would need to be a minimum of 6" long and I'm unsure how much bolt flex could occur under 1800 pounds pressure.
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Nice Bridgeport! I leveled my mill with sheet metal shims under the base.
 
Levelling a mill can be helpful if you want to use a level to orient parts, but is in no way as important as levelling a lathe. Being a monolithic casting, the mill is not subject to flex the way a lathe is.
 
Yes, I have some sheet metal shims ready to go. Some times the best idea is the simplest and cheapest.

While an average 5'11" operator, I do like the idea of the spindle just a bit higher, but the cost would be a higher reach to wrench the drawbar.
 
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