New to me Ferro mill (Taiwanese Bridgeport clone)

[zmotorsports]

Very nice setup John and fantastic job on the overhaul. That should serve you quite well for many years to come.

Mike.

 

[johnnyc14]

Thanks guys, I really had my heart set on a new PM949 but with our dollar value right now it would have been over $10,000 CAD by the time I got it here. I've got about 1/3 that amount invested in this Ferro machine including the DRO and VFD. This weekend I will be dismantling the PM mill so the new owner can pick it up on Thursday. Then I'll move the big mill into the spot where the small one was. That will free up some space so I can get back to work on some motorcycle projects.

 

[Techie1961]

Well done! The repairs that you did are excellent and you should get many good years out of that mill. I'm considering to either cut my lead screws so that I can adjust the nuts closer or do as you did and make a new screw. I have to compare pricing since there is a local company that sells First and would have them in stock.

 

[FOMOGO]

Very nice job on the mill. I've got the table ready to come off my Bridgeport to check everything out and go through it. Mine also seems to have a lot more backlash/wear on the Y axis. I will be filing your post for reference for when I get to it. Thanks for posting. Mike

 

[zmotorsports]

John, again, great job on the restoration.

Did you fabricate the tailstock for your rotary table? If so, do you have any more pics of it, I have been wanting to build/buy something similar for my 8" Vertex rotary table.

Mike.

 

[johnnyc14]

Hi Mike, I did fabricate the tailstock to work with both my home-made simple indexer and my Vertex 8" rotary table. I got the idea from a post by Mark F.

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/tail-stock-for-the-indexer.26844/

I changed a few things like dimensions to work with my stuff and materials based on what I could get cheap. The steel plate with the square holes started life as a railway track bracket that I got from a local scrap metal dealer.
Here are some pics of the parts.

 

[zmotorsports]

Awesome. Thanks John, I will definitely be copying that one soon.

Mike.

 

[Leonard]

I'm sure this question has come up a million times on this forum, but I'm a new member. Should a guy buy an old Bridgeport mill, and take my chances with what I get or purchase a new Taiwan knock off? I live in Canada and there's not a lot of Bridgeports for sale that I can see so a purchase would have to be done over the net,not seen in person. It seems I could end up buying a worn out machine. If I go with a Taiwan machine, at least everything will be good. But how is the quality?? I'm looking at a size of 9x49 with a 2 or 3 HP motor.

 

[JimDawson]

I'm sure this question has come up a million times on this forum, but I'm a new member. Should a guy buy an old Bridgeport mill, and take my chances with what I get or purchase a new Taiwan knock off? I live in Canada and there's not a lot of Bridgeports for sale that I can see so a purchase would have to be done over the net,not seen in person. It seems I could end up buying a worn out machine. If I go with a Taiwan machine, at least everything will be good. But how is the quality?? I'm looking at a size of 9x49 with a 2 or 3 HP motor.

I would never buy a used machine that I couldn't inspect personally. Also consider a used Taiwan machine, there are a lot of good ones out there. I don't know what the market is like in your area, but you may have to travel a ways to find THE machine. A quick Craigslist search produced no results.

 

[johnnyc14]

I agree Jim. In my opinion the Taiwanese machine are pretty close in quality to a Bridgeport and in some case have improvements in features that old Bridgeport's don't have. There are currently 3 machines on Kijiji in Alberta that might suit you Leonard.

This Do-All

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-business-ind...ne/1129341436?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

This Excello

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-power-tool/c...ne/1113650356?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

This one sold by King Canada which I believe is Taiwanese.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-other/e...ne/1120996551?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

These could all be potentially great machines. I live in the Edmonton area. if you want to look at any of these let me know. I can go along with you and helps you to determine if they are worth buying.

If you want a new machine you could call Modern Tool in Edmonton. With our dollar in the toilet their prices compete with American retailers like Quality Machine Tools and Grizzly.

http://www.modern-tool.calls.net/pr...-2vs-949-vertical-ram-turret-milling-machine/