BP "J" with Step Pulley

Here's another development...This morning, I went into low gear on the mill...engaged the back gear...and the machine is quiet as a mouse!

The flow chart Pontiac offered says "Castle Gears". I'm looking around and not seeing much information on this gear set.

Whata'ya guys think??
 
plongson said:
The flow chart Pontiac offered says "Castle Gears". I'm looking around and not seeing much information on this gear set.
Click to expand...

I don't know exactly, my mill has a lot of updates vs. BP, but I have found a lot of useful information and video posted by H-W on the subject. That was a chart from their guide on troubleshooting BP head noise. You should probably check their site out, they are in business only because people like to keep their BP mills running. There was more to the resource than I linked, I meant to drop that as a suggestion.
 
pontiac428 said:
I don't know exactly, my mill has a lot of updates vs. BP, but I have found a lot of useful information and video posted by H-W on the subject. That was a chart from their guide on troubleshooting BP head noise. You should probably check their site out, they are in business only because people like to keep their BP mills running. There was more to the resource than I linked, I meant to drop that as a suggestion.
Click to expand...
Just don't let them actually work on your machine. They do a terrible job.
 
They offer very good information, but watching Barry install bearings makes me cringe. Pushing/pounding on an outer race to set on a shaft or vice versa is a great recipe for bearing failure...additionally, the unrestrained application of the ball peen is somewhat unnerving. lol...
 
I think they mean the dog teeth that engage the pulley directly to the quill drive. It's a weak spot of the Bridgeport, particularly if it's been pushed hard with large cutters. It's about $1000 for the upper and lower IIRC.
However, check that the pulley fully seats down and the slotted collar isn't holding the pulley up from fully engaging.
 
It looks like your back gear is engaged, which will lead to a lot of noise.
 
Many times after someone has not used the correct procedure for changing from high range to low range the head will be locked in both ( sort of)
then of course comes the shock when the motor starts. Something took that force....you need to look at at debur and dress the hi/ lo coupling. Only one way to inspect it.
I have been using/rebuilding bridgeport for decades. I have seen the HW videos....I would suggest you visit the bridgeport manual then disassemble the head.
Clean and dress all parts and replace what you need to. These heads can get expensive if you just want to replace everything.
There are a ton of sources for new and used stuff.
These heads are quiet when in good shape.
One thing to pay attention to for noise reduction is the gears. I can quiet almost any gear train down by careful debur and dress of the gears. yes, tooth by tooth.
 
Well, I found out why the top of the BP-J is/was so noisy... I started pulling the top end apart, first to just replace the "V" belt that was too frigg'n short and started working my way down and discovered the spindle bearings were dry as a bone. Not necessarily damaged, but DRY. They must be the original, not sealed or shielded. The machine has not seen hardly any use in probably 8 years and who even knows before that. I pretty much know the history back to about 1980 and it was never a "production" machine, but a mill in automotive crank grinding shop.

I cleaned and flooded the bearings with oil and even jabbed a bit of grease on the top bearing. I'm gonna fire it up this morning, hopefully it will quiet down.

If it comes to replacing these spindle bearings, can the spindle be removed without complete disassembly of the quill. I've been through most of the items associated with the quill and feed etc. and sure would like a short-cut and just repair the spindle.
 
On a BP, the spindle can come out the bottom of the quill without removing the quill. On some clones, the bolt securing the quill stop to the quill extends too far and stops the upper spindle bearing from moving past it. In that case, one needs to remove the quill stop, which means removing the reverse trip ball lever and some other associated parts.
 
Thanks for that! It's a genuine BPJ and not a clone. I'll study it further but that would be great if it came out the bottom!
 
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