What did I do? Bridgeport purchase

[Defender92]

To keep it simple… I’m currently a hobbyist but plan on turning my home shop into a side business and retirement job. Probably making unique small pieces (probably gun related) that I can sell.

I’ve been looking for a good deal on a Bridgeport to replace my Clausing 8520. I stumbled across this Bridgeport with a 2J head on eBay from a large machine seller. It was priced at $1399. Most 2J head Bridgeports were $3000 - $4000 from the same seller. I messaged the seller and who ever replied didn’t know why it was so cheap.

I received an offer for $1000 and accepted it. I plan on picking it up this week.

I have never touched a Bridgeport!

My questions are….

Can anyone see anything obviously wrong with it from the photos?

They have a return policy. What should I look for when I arrive to pick it up?

For this price I’m fine with a worn out bed. To a degree. I would like to attempt scraping myself.

Maybe lots of spindle runout?? Can I turn it by hand and check it with an indicator?

I should buy an R8 collet and check if it fits well??

I’m assuming this is a 36” table?

Hopefully this wasn’t a big mistake! But I figured the price was worth the gamble.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

Looks nice, if they can power it up se how the motor runs, does it turn quietly and smoothly? The motor can be expensive to replace and negate any savings. Just at a glance the rest is a bit rough looking but not bad in photos. Look for cracks in the housing around high stress areas (joints such as the head rotation and nod , base connections etc...) you might take a magnifying glass, blue shop towels and WD40 to clean areas of interest for inspection and turn the gears over to feel the mesh, do they feel chunky do all the lead screws turn easily and feel good or crusty/grind? I have rehabbed one of these, Bearings are cheap enough and grinding and scraping are doable; but, a bad motor, a messed up gear box or bad screws can become expensive very quickly.

Not to rain on your parade but if they volunteered to drop the price easily without prompting they have likely had it a while which means folks who are use to these and in the market have probably passed it over for reasons not so obvious. It may turn out to be a gem or it may be a small hand full of spare parts, I would approach it with great caution.

 

[Charles scozzari]

To keep it simple… I’m currently a hobbyist but plan on turning my home shop into a side business and retirement job. Probably making unique small pieces (probably gun related) that I can sell.

I’ve been looking for a good deal on a Bridgeport to replace my Clausing 8520. I stumbled across this Bridgeport with a 2J head on eBay from a large machine seller. It was priced at $1399. Most 2J head Bridgeports were $3000 - $4000 from the same seller. I messaged the seller and who ever replied didn’t know why it was so cheap.

I received an offer for $1000 and accepted it. I plan on picking it up this week.

I have never touched a Bridgeport!

My questions are….

Can anyone see anything obviously wrong with it from the photos?

They have a return policy. What should I look for when I arrive to pick it up?

For this price I’m fine with a worn out bed. To a degree. I would like to attempt scraping myself.

Maybe lots of spindle runout?? Can I turn it by hand and check it with an indicator?

I should buy an R8 collet and check if it fits well??

I’m assuming this is a 36” table?

Hopefully this wasn’t a big mistake! But I figured the price was worth the gamble.

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Electronics aside I would be concerned with the head bearings in need of replacement. Another concern is how much backlash the feed screws have. No "OOPs" marks on the bed, that's a plus.

 

[markba633csi]

Looks like a nice package for a grand- any problems will likely be in the head. The variable speed models tend to wear the drive system parts.
Keep that old power feed unit, those are nice and can be overhauled to work like new
Looks like a short table mill but I like those
Great score! I'm jealous- should be fun to fix up
Run it on a static phase converter for cheap- get 1.3 HP which is plenty for hobby use

 

[Defender92]

Looks nice, if they can power it up se how the motor runs, does it turn quietly and smoothly? The motor can be expensive to replace and negate any savings. Just at a glance the rest is a bit rough looking but not bad in photos. Look for cracks in the housing around high stress areas (joints such as the head rotation and nod , base connections etc...) you might take a magnifying glass, blue shop towels and WD40 to clean areas of interest for inspection and turn the gears over to feel the mesh, do they feel chunky do all the lead screws turn easily and feel good or crusty/grind? I have rehabbed one of these, Bearings are cheap enough and grinding and scraping are doable; but, a bad motor, a messed up gear box or bad screws can become expensive very quickly.

Not to rain on your parade but if they volunteered to drop the price easily without prompting they have likely had it a while which means folks who are use to these and in the market have probably passed it over for reasons not so obvious. It may turn out to be a gem or it may be a small hand full of spare parts, I would approach it with great caution.

Thank you for the good advice! I like the WD40 and towel idea.

Electronics aside I would be concerned with the head bearings in need of replacement. Another concern is how much backlash the feed screws have. No "OOPs" marks on the bed, that's a plus.

I don’t know much about replacing head bearings. I’m assuming I could accomplish replacing them. Is there a nut that can be adjusted or replaced to reduce backlash?

Looks like a nice package for a grand- any problems will likely be in the head. The variable speed models tend to wear the drive system parts.
Keep that old power feed unit, those are nice and can be overhauled to work like new
Looks like a short table mill but I like those
Great score! I'm jealous- should be fun to fix up

I don’t know anything about the drive system parts. Hopefully they are fixable or replaceable for not an arm and a leg.

Yes! I prefer the shortest table. I’m very limited on space and I don’t ever see myself needing a full 48” table

I do enjoy fixing stuff! As long as it doesn’t bankrupt me

Let’s say I get it home and find out the head is shot and not practical to repair. I
Much prefer the J2 head, but would a regular J head bolt up to this ram?

 

[markba633csi]

42" I believe was the most common, but they made 36s and 32s also
You'll want to invest in an engine hoist or cherry picker to remove and replace major parts
(if you don't have one already)
If the head needs work it's hard to say how much it will cost till you start investigating
I think several members have rebuilt those

 

[Defender92]

42" I believe was the most common, but they made 36s and 32s also
You'll want to invest in an engine hoist or cherry picker to remove and replace major parts
(if you don't have one already)

Oh yeah! My harbor freight engine hoist has been handy.

I’m assuming the Bridgeport is more top heavy. So maybe more challenging than my Clausing Colchester lathe. I moved my lathe alone.

 

[rodm1]

For that if it run and I had the room I would buy it worst case it would make a good drill press. Parting it out you could make that from it make a 4x4 pallet and bolt it to it.

 

[Defender92]

For that if I run and I had the room I would buy it worst case it would make a good drill press. Parting it out you could make that from it make a 4x4 pallet and bolt it to it.

I have to agree. Although inconvenient, I could part it out and get my money back. I believe the power feed goes for $1000-$1500 on eBay??

But I’d much prefer to have a working mill.

 

[pontiac428]

At $1000, even if you had to rebuild the head you'll be... "ahead". The versatility gained from a full-sized the knee mill beat out anything else in the category. Clean it up, get it adjusted, and give it a go. I think just about any noise in the head can be remedied for a few hundred dollars with a rebuild kit from H-W. If you get it all cleaned up and running, you could always try to triple your money by selling it if it's not for you.