Just bought my very first machine - I found a 1990 2hp (purportedly) varispeed Bridgeport with 48" table. Found it in a nearby town for sale sitting in the back of an 18-wheeler trailer along with other machine tools. No power there so couldn't listen to it run but was told everything was fine (of course they said that!). The Y-axis ways have almost all of the scraping. Worn in one area near the back, not too bad and not all the way across. Can't see the X-axis but assume it's in good shape also.
Got it home and thanks to a very nice neighbor who brought over his backhoe got it off the trailer and into the shop. Yesterday got it wired to shop power via a Phase-o-Matic.
They took it off the 18-wheeler with a forklift and in hindsight should have picked it up with the rear of the machine facing outwards - so they tweaked the power feed for the Y-axis. The housing is split at the top where it was forced rearward but this I can repair.
I'm a complete noob at this, been watching Abom, This Old Tony, etc and waiting for my chance to jump in. So this is literally the first machine I've ever seen in person.
My plan right now is to take apart the table and saddle and clean them up, make sure the one-shot is working properly and nothing is plugged up.
Three or four things jump out at me right off the bat. First, The machine came with a set of collets. Never worked with these before but I have the idea. The head of the machine was upside down for transport and the drawbar was riding in the spindle. So I get it home and get the head upright and am trying to insert a collet from the bottom. the collet won't go in- the quill is all the way up and when I insert the drawbar into the top of the housing it drops far down inside the top of the housing. the collet is not able to insert more than a half-inch up into the spindle, and it's not the key way keeping it out. There is something else hanging down inside the spindle that's keeping the collet from moving upward. The drawbar is far enough down that I can screw the collet into it, but the head of the drawbar is well below the top of the housing so I can't tighten it. Again, the quill is all the way up. Looking up inside, it's a smooth metal ring of some kind, not sheared. Could something up inside the spindle have dropped downwards?
Next thing I find is that the spindle speed is opposite of what the speed indicator says- when I run the speed indicator all the way down, the spindle is running at max RPM and vice versa- There is a tinny-sounding rattle coming from what I assume is the varispeed belt area when running at max spindle speed - but 60RPM indicated. The rattle drops out at about 90 indicated as the spindle slows down and the indicator says it should be going faster.
I am just starting on this thing - it's quite dirty, and had a zirk fitting in the 'A' lube hole on the right side of the machine looking down. Said Zirk has grease in it. So maintenance has been questionable from what I can tell. I'm not sure it's ever been apart for maintenance.
This will be a hobby machine for me, and while I might one day aspire to sub-thou cuts, I'll be happy right now to get it all cleaned up and learn how to use it.
It came with a Kurt vise, but of course the seller forgot to give me the T-bolts to hold it down so that's the first thing I'll need after cleaning the vise and table.
Any advise on the above issues will be greatly appreciated. I'm looking forward to learning a bit about this machine and starting to use it.
Best to all,
Petrolero
Got it home and thanks to a very nice neighbor who brought over his backhoe got it off the trailer and into the shop. Yesterday got it wired to shop power via a Phase-o-Matic.
They took it off the 18-wheeler with a forklift and in hindsight should have picked it up with the rear of the machine facing outwards - so they tweaked the power feed for the Y-axis. The housing is split at the top where it was forced rearward but this I can repair.
I'm a complete noob at this, been watching Abom, This Old Tony, etc and waiting for my chance to jump in. So this is literally the first machine I've ever seen in person.
My plan right now is to take apart the table and saddle and clean them up, make sure the one-shot is working properly and nothing is plugged up.
Three or four things jump out at me right off the bat. First, The machine came with a set of collets. Never worked with these before but I have the idea. The head of the machine was upside down for transport and the drawbar was riding in the spindle. So I get it home and get the head upright and am trying to insert a collet from the bottom. the collet won't go in- the quill is all the way up and when I insert the drawbar into the top of the housing it drops far down inside the top of the housing. the collet is not able to insert more than a half-inch up into the spindle, and it's not the key way keeping it out. There is something else hanging down inside the spindle that's keeping the collet from moving upward. The drawbar is far enough down that I can screw the collet into it, but the head of the drawbar is well below the top of the housing so I can't tighten it. Again, the quill is all the way up. Looking up inside, it's a smooth metal ring of some kind, not sheared. Could something up inside the spindle have dropped downwards?
Next thing I find is that the spindle speed is opposite of what the speed indicator says- when I run the speed indicator all the way down, the spindle is running at max RPM and vice versa- There is a tinny-sounding rattle coming from what I assume is the varispeed belt area when running at max spindle speed - but 60RPM indicated. The rattle drops out at about 90 indicated as the spindle slows down and the indicator says it should be going faster.
I am just starting on this thing - it's quite dirty, and had a zirk fitting in the 'A' lube hole on the right side of the machine looking down. Said Zirk has grease in it. So maintenance has been questionable from what I can tell. I'm not sure it's ever been apart for maintenance.
This will be a hobby machine for me, and while I might one day aspire to sub-thou cuts, I'll be happy right now to get it all cleaned up and learn how to use it.
It came with a Kurt vise, but of course the seller forgot to give me the T-bolts to hold it down so that's the first thing I'll need after cleaning the vise and table.
Any advise on the above issues will be greatly appreciated. I'm looking forward to learning a bit about this machine and starting to use it.
Best to all,
Petrolero
