Brought The Bridgeport Br2j Home Today

[eodcoduto]

So I picked up my mill and tooling which I purchased on Sunday, but I had to wait until today to rent a trailer and an extendable fork lift. I'm tired from the 300 mile round trip, but having a 1 ton Nissan Van made it bearable! Now it is time to inventory cutters and start cleaning, my rotary phase converter doesn't come in until Tuesday. Here are some pictures:

 

[Martin W]

Nice! Getting a new machine is the greatest. The rotary table is a fantastic addition. Good times are waiting.
Cheers
Martin W

 

[Cheeseking]

Hey congrats on your new machine! Dro and drawbar upgrades are nice as is abox of cutters to get you going.

 

[Paul in MN]

Congrats on the find. I fully remember a few years ago when I bought my BP at auction and then transported it home on a 12,000 lb capacity trailer. The roads were rougher than a dry Iowa corn cob, so I stopped often and tightened the straps frequently. It sounds like your trip went a bit smoother (I sure hope it did!). I had never seen the BP head turned upside down as your picture shows. Due to some health and work issues, mine has sat unused by me for a few years. I did get a VFD for the 1/2 Hp motor and have run it a bit. You might give consideration to a VFD instead of a phase converter, as the VFD can change the spindle speeds quite easily. Best Wishes for much enjoyment with the BP!

Paul in MN

 

[eodcoduto]

I bolted the machine to the floor of the trailer and I used more than enough straps to keep it still, growing up on a farm pays off once in a while. The reason I went with the phase converter is that this mill is already a variable speed, up to 4200 RPM and I didn't want two control systems for the old motor. I hope to start inventorying the tooling and then cleaning the machine tomorrow after work.

 

[Paul in MN]

EO,

After I had written the above reply, I realized that you did get a variable speed machine, and thus the advantages of the VFD over the phase converter are questionable. Truely I do not know the fine points of this comparison. By now you have probably received your phase converter, and I'd like to hear what you think of it while operating the BP. A few guys I know dislike the sound of the running rotary phase converters, so they have located them in a remote location. One fellow located his in the attic of his garage/shop, another guy located his in the loft/haymow of his shop/ barn. I would guess that different brands and sizes create different amounts of noise, and of course we each have quite different individual tolerances for noise and frequencies. I know that my Baldor brand VFD does create a high frequency pitch when connected to my BP. I haven't determined whether the noise is generated by the VFD box or maybe the BP motor windings (but probably both??).

Hey, you grew up on a farm, my youth was spent in crowded cities, but 45 years ago wife and I bought a place in the country, but close enough to work in the suburban schools. I began part time small time farming with a Ford 8N tractor, and the farming bug bit hard. My oldest son and I are still farming together, and facing the many challenges of the equipment maintainence, marketing, and climate change. I enjoy the challenges, but they sure can be frustrating at times. 2 of my kids have degrees in ag engineering, so the farming bug bit them too.

Best wishes for a good Labor Day weekend!

Paul in MN

 

[Cheeseking]

Good luck getting it all set up. I'd go with a RPC if you have 3 or more 3ph machines. Ya turning head upside down and lowering knee to a block of wood and tighten gib locks is good standard practice. Keeps the cg low as possible and the pounding off the elevating nut. I also wedged a rubber pad between the motor and table.
Amazing how similar yours and others photos of bringing home milling machines are. The strapping LOL. When I saw yours it brought back great memories. I remember well how exiting the whole process of getting her home was and then the setup.

 

[eodcoduto]

EO,

After I had written the above reply, I realized that you did get a variable speed machine, and thus the advantages of the VFD over the phase converter are questionable. Truely I do not know the fine points of this comparison. By now you have probably received your phase converter, and I'd like to hear what you think of it while operating the BP. A few guys I know dislike the sound of the running rotary phase converters, so they have located them in a remote location. One fellow located his in the attic of his garage/shop, another guy located his in the loft/haymow of his shop/ barn. I would guess that different brands and sizes create different amounts of noise, and of course we each have quite different individual tolerances for noise and frequencies. I know that my Baldor brand VFD does create a high frequency pitch when connected to my BP. I haven't determined whether the noise is generated by the VFD box or maybe the BP motor windings (but probably both??).

Hey, you grew up on a farm, my youth was spent in crowded cities, but 45 years ago wife and I bought a place in the country, but close enough to work in the suburban schools. I began part time small time farming with a Ford 8N tractor, and the farming bug bit hard. My oldest son and I are still farming together, and facing the many challenges of the equipment maintainence, marketing, and climate change. I enjoy the challenges, but they sure can be frustrating at times. 2 of my kids have degrees in ag engineering, so the farming bug bit them too.

Best wishes for a good Labor Day weekend!

Paul in MN

The RPC doesn't come in until Tuesday, but I have heard others run and it won't be loud enough to bother me. The ones I have been around sound like a dryer or washing machine running but once it is installed I will give everyone my opinion on how things are working.

I left the farm at 18 when I joined the Marine Corps, and I have 3 years until retirement. Then it is off to the south and we will be starting a small organic/non-gmo with a couple of heritage pigs, cows, and chickens. Maybe by the time I am 50 it will turn a profit. I plan on using the mill and eventually a lathe to repair parts on old tractors and farm equipment that was built for the 20-40 acre farming of the 40's-60's.

 

[eodcoduto]

I've been cleaning and cleaning in order to get the mill ready for the RPC tomorrow. Did you know that the power feed should be aluminum and gray, not black? This thing has a healthy film of funk on everything. I pulled the gibs and all oil passages were plugged, so that was fixed and adjusted. I got the x-axis backlash down to .011 instead of the .036 I started with, and they y-axis down to .006. The vice is apart soaking in simple green, and it had about 2lbs of aluminum shavings in the swivel channel. I am off tomorrow so hopefully the FedEx man shows up early!

 

[eodcoduto]

It is up and running! The phase converter only took two trips to Home Depot, and about $120 in wire and connectors. The RPC is very quiet, similar to a pool pump or well pump, and you cannot hear it over the mill. I am still happy with the mill, the head is quiet all the way to 4200 RPM and the powerfeed from right to left (+ to -) works great. I does not like to work going the other way so I will have to do some digging on that. Also, I now have reverse on the motor if the switch is in "Low" while the drive is in high and the other way around. When in high gear and the power switch in high everything works normally, same with low speed. Are these Br2j heads supposed to have a reverse?