Opinion on what is wear and what’s not on Bridgeport ways

FTlatheworks said:
Any ideas on how to get one shot oilers working and unclogged
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I spent a LOT of time getting mine working. You can spend a crap ton of money and buy all new bits, but I didn't.

On mine, I have a manifold that has a bunch of one way metering ports. Some are differents sizes for different flows of oil. I took everything apart, cleaned them in solvent and an ultrasonic cleaner. Sprayed the lines with brake cleaner and compressed air until everything was clear. I then hooked it all back together on the bench and ran oil in it until I saw it come out of each line.

The truth is, if you want to be sure it's working right, you HAVE to put in the sweat equity or spend a bunch of money on replacement parts, or spend a bunch of money and have someone else do it, or spend a bunch of money on a new machine. For me, I do not have buckets of hundos, so I don't mind putting in the work. I'm a hobbyist and don't need the machine to make money, so if it takes me a year (I think it DID take me that long to refurbish the whole machine) I'll spend the money only where I need to spend it.
 
MyLilMule said:
I spent a LOT of time getting mine working. You can spend a crap ton of money and buy all new bits, but I didn't.

On mine, I have a manifold that has a bunch of one way metering ports. Some are differents sizes for different flows of oil. I took everything apart, cleaned them in solvent and an ultrasonic cleaner. Sprayed the lines with brake cleaner and compressed air until everything was clear. I then hooked it all back together on the bench and ran oil in it until I saw it come out of each line.

The truth is, if you want to be sure it's working right, you HAVE to put in the sweat equity or spend a bunch of money on replacement parts, or spend a bunch of money and have someone else do it, or spend a bunch of money on a new machine. For me, I do not have buckets of hundos, so I don't mind putting in the work. I'm a hobbyist and don't need the machine to make money, so if it takes me a year (I think it DID take me that long to refurbish the whole machine) I'll spend the money only where I need to spend it.
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I’m willing to spend the time. I’m thinking I’m taking it all the way apart to the knee cause theirs is so much steel packed into all the ways. Idk how or why someone wouldn’t think “I’m probably destroying my machine with this grime”.
 
No idea how that divot got there. it doesn't look cut , and it doesn't look like something dropped on it.
You can probably fill it with something , I just don't know what. Maybe jbweld.. you never want a score across, oil grooves should run the length and mostly zig zag. I was thinking silver solder or silicon bronze, but I don't know how to get the ways hot enough and not mess them up.
 
woodchucker said:
No idea how that divot got there. it doesn't look cut , and it doesn't look like something dropped on it.
You can probably fill it with something , I just don't know what. Maybe jbweld.. you never want a score across, oil grooves should run the length and mostly zig zag. I was thinking silver solder or silicon bronze, but I don't know how to get the ways hot enough and not mess them up.
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It’s not a bearing surface though? So it doesn’t matter right? It looks like it has checkering, like it was done with a tool.
 
woodchucker said:
you are right. sorry, I wasn't thinking.
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What about if the table is 75-100 percent all the way to the left or the right side the y axis gets harder to turn? That makes sense why that would happen, but does that indicate wear, or is that just standard operation for a big knee mill?
 
FTlatheworks said:
What about if the table is 75-100 percent all the way to the left or the right side the y axis gets harder to turn? That makes sense why that would happen, but does that indicate wear, or is that just standard operation for a big knee mill?
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It's really both. It is the first place to show normal wear, it's not a big deal, and it can be adjusted in both the gibs and the trap nuts so that you have full travel without undue effort at the cost of a little more backlash in the middle than at the ends. It only becomes an issue when it is severe, and even then it won't stop you from making good parts. Judging by the wear on your chromed ways, I think you have a good machine that should outlast you. Clean everything out as you're doing, then adjust your lead screw nuts and gibs for the most balance between mid and end travel. All will be well.
 
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