I am going to look at a bridgeport"HELP"

rafe

rafe

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I am going to look at a BP tomorrow and to be honest I don't know what I am looking at! It appears to be very old and in very used shape,and I don't think it's going to go cheap, soooo please tell me what i am looking at and and looking for as far as trouble goes ...I think there will be some tooling with it ....what is the model? I was looking at a burke #4 but that didn't pan out....any idea of the value (face value) from photo? Looks kind of rough to me ,but it was in the hands of a talented machinist who passed away ...so it could be a diamond in the rough, I'm looking tomorrow Thanks in advance for the help and insight ...a model and approx. year will help me research it .
Well I can't post photos again ???I'll try later !!
 
Re: I am going to look at a bridgeport"HELP"

Can't post photos , It's (BP) has a M 23xx serial number It appears to be an early one to me , however I know very little about them....I am hoping it's got power so I can run it
The top cap with the bridgeport logo is not flat (vertical) where the script is like most I see it kants back at a 35 degree or so angle . I reported not being able to post pics so maybe it can be resolved ...Any info will help me tomorrow thanks

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Can't post photos , It's (BP) has a M 23xx serial number It appears to be an early one to me , however I know very little about them....I am hoping it's got power so I can run it
The top cap with the bridgeport logo is not flat (vertical) where the script is like most I see it kants back at a 35 degree or so angle . I reported not being able to post pics so maybe it can be resolved ...Any info will help me tomorrow thanks
 
She looks rough. But that means absolutely nothing. You need to check the gibs for adjustment and the ways for slop and sag.You should have a gib adjuster under the alum cover plates that hold in wipers. Run the table to one side and yank on it and see how much slop it has via a indicator. Run it through all the gears and back gears front and back. Note the backlash.

How much any of it matters to you is dependant on what your buying it for and the price. Hell you cant buy a drill press half as useful as a clapped out knee mill for even close to what they should go for. I assume it's round ram and the loos alone would keep it at 1000 or so no matter how great it really is under the ugly
 
It's a M-head so check what spindle taper it is. It may not be a r-8 and some are hard to find tooling for.
 
That’s a M head and a short table. I would NOT buy it at any price. The M head does not take R8 collets. But what is that big and heavy fly wheel. A drop hammer maybe? Now that’s worth buying!
 
Rafe,

A round ram Bridgeport in that shape is less than $500.

Ray
 
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With the availability of J heads out their cheap I would stay away of any M head in that kind of shape.
 
Well like I said in the first post , I was going to get a Burke#4 with a vert. Head, this will likely do all the Burke could and more, If I can get it at a real low price I'll take it. I am hoping there is a lot of tooling with it collets and the like. He thought it was worth $3500 I told him I thought that was really high and with a good bit of tooling and accesories it it might be worth $1500 max in pristine shape. I'd like to get it for $500but that is quite a jump down from his expectations,but I don't think I'll go higher, I'll let you all know thanks ...oh and yes there are lots of other interesting machines
 
Mack sure you check the spindle bearings. Alot of the time they are pushed too far and just rattle like crazy. Also look at the scrapings on the slides, if they are wore off that will tell you that its been used to death
 
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