Inspired by Brad Jacobs beautiful restoration, I decided to follow his lead with my new bridgie. Hopefully the details I add will be useful for the next guy and not a repetition of what Brad has already done better than I can.
Picked up my new machine 2 weeks ago from a tool and die shop about 30 miles from my house. Pulled my son out of school for the day to help me. We rented a U haul trailer, just like everybody else, but because my shop is not super easy to get stuff into, we disassembled the mill in place. This was my first time taking apart a bridgeport. I was armed with the right tools and lots of books including the original user manuals. I'm sure these will be helpful in the future, but I didn't need them to disassemble the major components. Only snag we hit was a stuck ram.
The mill is a series I j head, built in 1967. It had what appeared to be a factory installed coolant pump in the column.
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It also appears to have been originally painted green!
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Wondering what you all think. Is it worth trying to restore the mill to this color? Is this the pre-OSHA/vista green? It's very light and pretty blue.
The seller inherited a tool and die shop from his grandfather. Apparently the mill I bought was in the shop when the grandfather purchased shop many years ago. The seller noted that the mill was missing a few parts and that the y axis was not working. As I had guessed, the y axis didn't work because the $7 nut retaining screw's head broke. But I got the sense they just didn't need or want this old machine. He advertised it for $500. I didn't bother negotiate. I thought it was a steal, told the seller so, and thanked him for his generosity. In my experience, people who buy tools and sell tools are always honest, terrific, interesting people. I've bought and sold many tools and have never had a bad experience buying or selling.
Disassembly took the better part of a day. My son and I unloaded the trailer the following morning.
Picked up my new machine 2 weeks ago from a tool and die shop about 30 miles from my house. Pulled my son out of school for the day to help me. We rented a U haul trailer, just like everybody else, but because my shop is not super easy to get stuff into, we disassembled the mill in place. This was my first time taking apart a bridgeport. I was armed with the right tools and lots of books including the original user manuals. I'm sure these will be helpful in the future, but I didn't need them to disassemble the major components. Only snag we hit was a stuck ram.
The mill is a series I j head, built in 1967. It had what appeared to be a factory installed coolant pump in the column.
It also appears to have been originally painted green!
Wondering what you all think. Is it worth trying to restore the mill to this color? Is this the pre-OSHA/vista green? It's very light and pretty blue.
The seller inherited a tool and die shop from his grandfather. Apparently the mill I bought was in the shop when the grandfather purchased shop many years ago. The seller noted that the mill was missing a few parts and that the y axis was not working. As I had guessed, the y axis didn't work because the $7 nut retaining screw's head broke. But I got the sense they just didn't need or want this old machine. He advertised it for $500. I didn't bother negotiate. I thought it was a steal, told the seller so, and thanked him for his generosity. In my experience, people who buy tools and sell tools are always honest, terrific, interesting people. I've bought and sold many tools and have never had a bad experience buying or selling.
Disassembly took the better part of a day. My son and I unloaded the trailer the following morning.