Easy fix for worn out Bridgeport (style) spindle brake shoes

I'm not familiar with the innards of a Bridgeport, but maybe this will help. My Rockwell mill has a phenolic brake shoe. It was shot so I made a new one when I refurbed the mill.

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There's a cam that goes in the slot. When you turn the lever it expands the shoe into the pulley.

Hope that helps.

Steve

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Senna, my 9J has the same brake system as yours but my shoes are still good. I had to go thru the gear box when I bought mine because several of the gears on the big cluster were worn off. Arky made me a new gear cluster and it works great now, but the other day when I turned it on, I noticed neither the X drive shaft or the Y drive shaft would turn when I energized the table motor. I thought, crap, now I have to go into the gearbox again. Later on I realized I had the gearbox in neutral. Checked it today and put in gear and it worked perfectly. Its hell getting old!!!!!
Pat
 
.....Later on I realized I had the gearbox in neutral....

I remember doing that a few times on the 9J's we had. I've also sheared off my share of those 6 penny nails on the feed rod coming out of the gear box, too!:whistle:
 
Was doing a quick maintenance job on the J-Head today ... it needed a new belt and the spindle brake just wouldn't brake (I guess the previous owner had 'ridden' it), but I couldn't afford a long down-time waiting for (expensive) brake shoes to arrive.

I was doing what I do best (standing over it and pondering) when I came up with a really nifty way of getting a few more years out of those old brake shoes....

I made a 1/2" bushing, drilled to be a close fit on the brake pivot screw that is opposite of the brake shaft. It pushes the 'hinged' side of the brake shoes out far enough that the brake lever now only has about 25 degrees of movement before the brake engages, rather than just freely flopping around as it did before.

A 20-minute, 10 cent fix ... I like it...

Now, just a $9 belt from ebay and I'll be back in action!!

When I get all the crud cleaned off the top housing and get the brake shoes back in there for good, I'll post some pics.

Sure would be nice to get some more info on this modification and maybe a picture would help thanks.
 
These are the brake shoes from my Gorton 1-22. They are just a normal looking brake pad material. 20180601_081504.jpg
 
I was surprised to learn that asbestos-containing brake pads are still being sold- the cheaper ones are especially likely to contain it, particularly import pads. I thought they had banned them years ago
MS
 
This is on my to-do list for my BP Vari along with the belt. But I'm assuming/anticipating that there will be other issues once into the tear-down.
 
Big truck brake converted to non-asbestos linings in about '87. Would think cars changed over about the same time. With the legal issues, it be difficult to get any in this country and the demand may be so low that no one mines it anymore. Although, importers may have less issue for a machine tool part - China put some odd filler material in milk for awhile. Any car pad getting repurposed or a shoe getting relined would be safe. But interesting thought, some of our tools are much older than any ban that happened 30 years ago.
 
When I was in my jhead which is a late 70 early 80’s model it has a phenolic brake shoe which is original looked unworn.
 
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