Looking at this Bridgeport that is FAR away

J

joec2000

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Hey Everyone,

I am fairly new to this group. I did a bit of machining in college (20 years ago) and am looking to get back into it - starting with the purchase of a Bridgeport mill for personal use out of my home garage. I've gone back and forth between a Bridgeport knee mill and a benchtop mill/drill and I feel like I would be setting myself up for disappointment having only used full size Bridgeports in the past.

I've been on the lookout for a couple of weeks, and there just isn't much in my area (South FL) that match what I am looking for, and local brokers have confirmed that, and tried to sell me mills from Taiwan. In a perfect world, I am looking for a Series I J head (step pulley, since I would need a VFD anyway) w/ Tibon chrome ways in overall good shape - not looking for a major project, but I realize these machines are old, so some tuning, tweaking and minor fixing is expected. Any obvious problems? Anything obviously missing?

I found this one on eBay. I haven't seen one of these in person in 20 yrs... can any of you spot anything broken/missing that I might not be seeing? Thoughts on buying it sight unseen and having it freighted down? For what it is worth, the seller is very communicative and got me what feels like reasonable freight quotes. The seller recommended trying to find a way to get it from the freight truck at the street, up a short, mildly sloped stamped concrete driveway, into my 2 car garage - he said a local rigger would likely be crazy expensive.

So I guess this boils down to:
1. Does this seem like a good machine from the pics? I am OK with the smaller table and a potentially broken DRO (might do TouchDRO in the future)
2. Any advice for how to move the machine up my driveway when it arrives?

Thanks!

- Joe
 
I'd pass on this.. dont be in too much of a hurry.. There are other brands besides Bridgeport. (Lagun, wells, excello, etc)
36" table.. Look for 42"
Way flaking looks suspiciously re-done. (to me)
Too much money by the time you include shipping, tax, etc
Dont buy unless you can see, feel, hear
Keep checking FaceBook marketplace, craigslist, local auctions

You can rent a drop bed trailer and pallet jack to move.
 
Last edited:
Hello and welcome,

I wouldn't buy any machine without checking it in person. This one looks like it was used in a production environment, my preference is something from a hobbyist or small job shop, not a factory.

You don't say how long you've been looking but if you're patient I'm sure something will come up. One of our members @wachuko is also in Florida and faced the same dilemma as you, just as he was about to give up some great equipment came available and he swooped on it.

Patience is your friend here. Have your cash ready, you know what you're looking for so when it comes up be ready to go look and buy if it's a good deal.

John
 
joec2000 said:
Hey Everyone,

I am fairly new to this group. I did a bit of machining in college (20 years ago) and am looking to get back into it - starting with the purchase of a Bridgeport mill for personal use out of my home garage. I've gone back and forth between a Bridgeport knee mill and a benchtop mill/drill and I feel like I would be setting myself up for disappointment having only used full size Bridgeports in the past.

I've been on the lookout for a couple of weeks, and there just isn't much in my area (South FL) that match what I am looking for, and local brokers have confirmed that, and tried to sell me mills from Taiwan. In a perfect world, I am looking for a Series I J head (step pulley, since I would need a VFD anyway) w/ Tibon chrome ways in overall good shape - not looking for a major project, but I realize these machines are old, so some tuning, tweaking and minor fixing is expected. Any obvious problems? Anything obviously missing?

I found this one on eBay. I haven't seen one of these in person in 20 yrs... can any of you spot anything broken/missing that I might not be seeing? Thoughts on buying it sight unseen and having it freighted down? For what it is worth, the seller is very communicative and got me what feels like reasonable freight quotes. The seller recommended trying to find a way to get it from the freight truck at the street, up a short, mildly sloped stamped concrete driveway, into my 2 car garage - he said a local rigger would likely be crazy expensive.

So I guess this boils down to:
1. Does this seem like a good machine from the pics? I am OK with the smaller table and a potentially broken DRO (might do TouchDRO in the future)
2. Any advice for how to move the machine up my driveway when it arrives?

Thanks!

- Joe
Click to expand...
You might take a look at Precision Mathews They carry a number of Knee mills, Taiwan and Chinese that you would likely find meet you expectations new at reasonable prices. I have owned several Bridgeport mills over the years and a used mill can be a mixed bag if you are just wanting to work with them to do machine work; however, if tinkering and working on them is what you are after.....
 
Thanks for the feedback, everyone - much appreciated. From the sound of things, I should limit my search to the state of FL then, so I can reasonably easily see it, feel it, etc. I was looking at this one yesterday, which is about a 2 hr drive from me, but it has the varidrive 2J head, which is expensive to fix from what I hear. Looks like it has that "Tibon" badge on it too. Thoughts on expanding my search to 2J heads as well?

Thanks!

- Joe
 
matthewsx said:
Hello and welcome,

I wouldn't buy any machine without checking it in person. This one looks like it was used in a production environment, my preference is something from a hobbyist or small job shop, not a factory.

You don't say how long you've been looking but if you're patient I'm sure something will come up. One of our members @wachuko is also in Florida and faced the same dilemma as you, just as he was about to give up some great equipment came available and he swooped on it.

Patience is your friend here. Have your cash ready, you know what you're looking for so when it comes up be ready to go look and buy if it's a good deal.

John
Click to expand...

Curious - are there any dead give-aways that the machine was used in a production environment? The machines I used 20 yrs ago were in a student machine shop and were pretty well destroyed long before I got to use them lol.

Thanks,

- Joe
 
joec2000 said:
Curious - are there any dead give-aways that the machine was used in a production environment? The machines I used 20 yrs ago were in a student machine shop and were pretty well destroyed long before I got to use them lol.

Thanks,

- Joe
Click to expand...
That is really why you want to be able to touch the machine. Check the play in the ways and look for wear. Wiggle the knobs and levers (not turning) back and forth, do they seem to be loose? extend the quill and see if it has any lateral movement. inspect the draw bar, does it appear to be the original? how do the threads look? Is best if you can run the machine to listen for gear noise and vibration at both low and high RPM. run the table and knee from one extreme to the other, does they feel smooth through the full travel? Are there any outward wear signs? places where its been handled so much that even the metal appears to be worn? Is the table flat and smooth or beat to hell? are there any fasteners on inspection plates and access plates which appear more worn than others or excessively worn from being removed and reinstalled often and are all such plates present and accounted for?

That's my 2 cents worth....
 
joec2000 said:
Curious - are there any dead give-aways that the machine was used in a production environment? The machines I used 20 yrs ago were in a student machine shop and were pretty well destroyed long before I got to use them lol.

Thanks,

- Joe
Click to expand...
It just looks like it’s worn to me. Also, why is the spindle all the way down? Lots of wear on the paint, etc.

Also agree that if you have the room for a full size machine why get a short table.

Could be great, could be a pig in a poke. But why take the chance, if nothing else ask if someone on the forum can look in person.

John
 
Lol I honestly don't have any room for any sort of mill. Every square inch of wall space in my ~500 sq ft garage is pretty much jam packed with "stuff" already... everything from plumbing, electrical, HVAC, automotive, welders and woodworking tools - and everything in between. I will conjure space out of thin air for a mill (and eventually a lathe) though. That was part of what I liked about that first machine - smaller table is kind of appealing.

As far as asking someone here to check it out for me, I am brand new here and I don't think I've earned enough "street credit" for that type of ask, but it was a great idea :)
 
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