Bridgeport series 1 j head vs lagun ft-2

2 mills have come up for sale locally.
Bridgeport 1 J head with servo x axis drive and a Lagun Ft2 (with busted DRO).
Both have some issues of course.
However in an "All things equal" and have to tear down, clean up and replace some parts such as handwheels or other external parts. Which should I go for?
In either case I will break it down and rebuild/ clean up and scrape some if necessary.
Anything special to look out for in either one?

I'd choose whichever one is newer and/or has less wear.

If the busted DRO only has a malfunctioning display but the scales are good you could get a new display with all the cool milling functions and not have to mess with mounting scales.

If condition and price are comparable on both machines I would give the edge to the Bridgeport based on parts availability
and the wealth of knowledge about them. I haven't had any problems finding parts or info for my 1 J head.

Thanks for the replies. I went with the bridgeport.

Flaking looks good on all the ways, negligible spindle runout.
Now have to get trailer and friends...
Then let the clean up begin.

Hardinge is really pushing parts right now offering discounts on all parts. Check them out.
B.J.

The Bridgeport is finally reassembled. I tore it down, cleaned and painted. It slowly made its way in pieces from the garage to the basement whether hand carried, on a snow sled or cart. Reassembly was single handed with the help of a chain hoist suspended from the floor joists above. The cart was one I made for the SB13 and has the 6 wheels to stay within the HF $5 wheel capacity and not dig into the lawn but it does not turn worth a darn as you might expect.

Everything except for the ball bearings came apart. The bearings were clean and well oiled so I did not want to risk damage for naught. Everything was degreased with either Simple Green or Mainco citrus strip or lacquer thinner. Bare metal parts were (re)-blackened with caswell blackening solution. One shot oil jets had to be replaced. Everything was lubed up again and reassembled over the last 2 weekends. Reassembly was single handed with the help of a chain hoist suspended from the floor joists above.
The shot of my hand with the key next to the head was my discovery of a reassembly error. I had the head all back together and find a key under the paper on the bench. It of course was for the hardest place to get to - the power downfeed reversing gears!
As you can see in several of the shots, the original scraping marks are still VERY visible evidence of very little wear on this 40 year old school machine (came out of MATC - Milwaukee Area Technical College) .

It is powered up with a TECO VFD. Direction control is done via modifications of the original drum switch to select the direction on the VFD. It is on a mobile base I made with ebay steel casters (nice). I also added a 1400 lumen LED light bar (FEIT). Last shot shows it in its temporary position until I can sell my RF30 (with x axis power feed and DRO).

Very nice. You did a nice job on the Bridgeport.

Hey Bronk, I like what you did with it, but then I am a bit partial to that scheme.

Nice job, very well done.

:thumbsup2:

Looks sweet man

Really looks like you got a honey of a machine, we all dream of the no wear, power feed one shot oiler machine! Dro should put you ready to go.