What's this Bridgeport worth?

I'm listening. As it stands right now, his price is an obstacle. He seems to think it's worth $5K. I knew hands down that was way too much, but he is very anxious to close his production business, so maybe he'll get realistic. (He's 86 years old.) I think he has one too many zeros on his price. That's exactly why I posted this thread in the first place.

I'm still chewing on this. It would be nice to have a second mill - especially if it's a genuine Bridgeport - and fortunately, I have the room. I will start by ballparking cost of parts with H&W, then see if I can get him down to something realistic.

Thanks, guys.

More comments appreciated.

Regards
 
My favorite response to any variant of the question "what's it worth?" : whatever someone is willing to pay for it. And that goes for the convoluted hydraulics on it. Others said parts for these were not available; if that's true, and if there folks out there still running these machines for production, they might be willing to spend more than you would expect on those parts that everyone here (myself included) would be in a hurry to yank off and throw away. It could be that the cost of that machine is $0 or better, once you've sold the unneeded parts on eBay.

The fact that it's hydraulically controlled piques my interest. If it were in my area (where is it BTW? If you're not interested) I would be looking to buy it and see if I could slap some servo valves on it and turn it into a hydraulic CNC. That would be super cool and unique, and probably less work than converting it to a manual mill.
 
tjb said:
About twenty miles from where I live in Madison, GA. It's roughly 40 miles east of Atlanta.
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Only a 27 hour round trip for me :D. I'm only slightly interested in free machines at that distance.

Sorry if it was bad manners for me ask, the last thing I saw from you was post #6:
tjb said:
Sounds like the best thing for me to do is pass.

Thanks to both you guys for what I anticipated would be the case.
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This was posted while I was typing:

tjb said:
I'm listening.
[...]
I'm still chewing on this. It would be nice to have a second mill - [...]I will start by ballparking cost of parts with H&W, then see if I can get him down to something realistic.
[...]
More comments appreciated.
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I wouldn't have asked if I thought you were still interested.
 
Not bad manners. 'Interested' at this point is a slight overstatement. I'm still in the information-gathering stage; I don't need it; and he may throw me out of his warehouse if I make him an offer.

My guess is that this will NOT work out. I will post the consequences as they materialize. If I don't get it and you're interested, let me know. I'll put you in touch with him.

Regards
 
H&w advertises 7500 for a refurbished Bridgeport 3-4 weeks lead time.
 
I would treat it as a rebuild/ salvage job, with the difference that you know you'll have an unworn machine at the end of it. It's not currently useable. It'll need stripping down to clean all the old gunk out. You'll need to buy handles and end plates and various bits'n'pieces (does it even have screws?). And you'll still be out the nod/ tilt function, which is one of the things that makes BPs so versatile.

It would probably be a fun project and putting a price on that isn't easy. It's certainly not worth $5k though. I'm not even sure it's worth $1k
 
What's it worth: whatever someone is willing and able to pay for it.

If this is your first machine, unless you can get it for a song (<$1k), just walk away. If he's stuck on his $5k number, he may sell it, if he gets lucky and the right person comes along. They'd probably be interested in the parts only.
 
sdelivery said:
2 HP was the standard motor on the Bridgeport head.
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The step-pulley J-head, which this mill has, was standard with a 1hp motor. I don't know if 2hp was even an option and all that I have seen with the shorter motor like this one are 1hp. The first variable speed J-heads (2J1) came with 1.5hp motors and the later variable speed heads (2J2) came standard with 2hp motors.
 
About the lack of a tilting head:

Just how often would you tilt the head? I have run machines that did not have the head tilted in years.

Some jobs that are done with a head tilted can also be done with a fixed head if the work is positioned to the angle instead of clamped square and the head tilted.

The extra work and expense may not be necessary if you do not need the head to tilt.
 
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