Just picked up a BP

I had no choice on the base to go to bare metal, once I got the grease off there wasn't much paint left. Just spots of paint that were raised and needed to be knocked down. Most of the original paint was gone. And yes I will have to get some bondo and work on the bottom of the base. But I can't spend a ton of time on this, it has to go to work for me soon.

I'd love to take it completely apart and clean and paint each part individually, but can't. I've been using a friends mill and my business is taking off. I just added a new product and it has the potential to increase my sales 90% or more. I've been modding the parts Friday and Saturday's, but I need to be able to do them here after work, and he closes his shop an hour after I get off work so can't do much during the week.

I wonder if there is some kind of sealer that might help on the base?
 
alloy said:
New here. Saw a low of good information here so I joined up. I picked up a Bridgeport step pulley this week for $1300. Got it out of a paper bag company that used it for machine maintenance. It was very dirty, I looked at the base and remember thinking don't all Bridgeport's have holes in the base to mount then to the floor???? Well it does, just had to get through the 1" of grease and grime to find them. The plant has a guy that walks around and every four hours lubes every machine in the plant. Didn't matter if it wasn't a constant use machine or not. so that's about 99% of the reason there was so much grime on it. But on the other hand that's what kept it in such great condition.

The machine is in great shape, just not wild about the green brushed on paint on it. The company bought it new in 62 and painted it the same day they got it. Everything in the plant is green. I only found a couple of small problems on it. No bad for a 52 year old machine. I got it home and have started cleaning it. Boy what a chore that is. First I bought some Simple Green heavy duty cleaner. It didn't do squat. I scrubbed for 3 hours with it and just moved the grease around some. Then my girlfriend walked out and tried some Awesome cleaner from Dollar Tree on it. In 10 mins she did more than I did in three hours and with a $1 bottle of stuff verses a $14 jug of Simple Green. I went and bought 4 bottles of the Awesome stuff.

I have a lot of the grime knocked off now. I'm working on the base now. My biggest concern is on the base, what can I use to get the oils out of it so it won't leach out and ruin the paint I put on it? On the smaller parts I'm running them through the hot parts washer at work and then bead blasting them in my cabinet at home. I picked up a swivel base awhile back at an estate sale for $10. It was under a bench and was so rusty they didn't even bother to price it. I threw it in my bead blaster last night and put some primer and paint on it. Looks pretty good compared to what it was. Now I'm going to do the same thing to a Kurt vise I have.

So any ideas anyone has on getting the final prep done on the base would be appreciated.

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You may need a pressure washer to cut the grease. BP usually are painted a light gray. Nice find.
 
YUP, she's a beauty. Just keep the updates coming. And thank you for posting your find.
 
Nice find and welcome to the forum. Keep the pics coming of your restoration.

Mike.
 
Well I'm not sure if I'd call it a restoration, more like a beatification :)

Got a little more done today. Took a few parts in and ran them through the hot parts washer. It's a great way to remove the green paint, wish I could put the entire machine in and clean it that way.

I also found my oil feed line was crushed. I thought I'd just stop by Autozone and grab some copper line and a couple of ferrules on my way home. Well that was the plan, got there and asked the kid for copper line like is used in an oil pressure gauge. He said...............oil gauges use sending units and not copper line. I asked is there was someone older there and he said no. I left and went down the street to a mom and pop parts store and they asked how much line I needed and how many ferrules. Should have went there in the first place.

I'm not going to get much done this week, I only have after work tomorrow and Wednesday. Thursday I'm going to a swap meet in Spokane for the weekend to try and spread the word about my business.

I am going to try and order a VFD tomorrow. I really like this one. http://www.electricmotorwholesale.com/9630F-KBAC-24DF.htm

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Yea! for access to a hot tank/parts washer. Really makes it a lot less labor intensive.

Boo! for the nasty looking kink in the oil line. Glad you were able to suss replacement line(s).

When you were chatting with Jr. @ AutoZone all I could do was picture the Rock Auto commercial where the kid at the computer says: "Maybe we get it from the warehouse." The incompetence today just slays me.

/rant
 
alloy said:
I asked is there was someone older there and he said no. I left and went down the street to a mom and pop parts store
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I get so tired of Jr. at the store telling me how the world works. I love that bumper sticker that says "Hire a teenager while they still know everything."
Love the machine btw.
Dave
 
Now at Autozone they ask you what are you working on when you walk in.

I missed the oppertunity to say........ a Bridgeport. Love to see him try to look that one up on his computer :)

Thanks everyone for the nice comments and likes on my thread.
 
alloy said:
I found this on Ebay. I read that the seller is very helpful and has really good feedback.

At first I thought why do I need the K axis readout, but then realized I'm constantly moving the knee up and down doing my trans conversions and the extra readout would be very helpful.

Anyone here us this brand of DRO or have personal experience with this seller?


http://www.ebay.com/itm/231135159329?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
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Alloy,

Yes, I have that exact 4 axis DRO on my Birmingham mill. It's all Tpack says it is and has performed flawlessly. Like any other DRO you're going to have to fab some of your own brackets as well as the chip shield for the Z, but not a biggie really. My machinist buddy laughs at me but I really dig the calculator function. I use it ALL THE TIME! It has all the bells and whistles of the high dollar units and in the hands of a capable operator (not so much me yet) it will do it all. I've mic'd and measured by digital calipers and the numbers are spot on. I believe that coincides with attention to detail on initial installation.

I can highly recommend this product and supplier by personal experience.

Almost forgot; when I first purchased my unit the "K" scale and reader was on backorder and wasn't expected for several months. I didn't throw a hissy or anything and a few days later, it shows up, he'd gotten it from a competitor (different brand markings, same thing) in order to take care of me. After he'd credited me for having not received it. When he saw it had been signed for, he rebilled.

Could not be more pleased.

Hope that helps.

Dale
 
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