Hi guys, new member here. My dad bought this Bridgeport J head milling machine a couple years back but never got to use it as he fell ill. I finally decided I will learn to use it but I've got a couple of questions. I have absolutely zero experience machining but I've been getting into building and welding in the last year or so and I figured milling would be a good skill to have in my arsenal. We have an old Italian lathe as well but I figured I'd tackle getting the Bridgeport working first.
1) Which model is this? Here's a couple of pictures:
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2) I have a small set of end mills and R8 collets but I can't seem to get them to tighten up when I screw them on to the drawbar. When the drawbar is fully tightened the collet still hangs out about 1/4" or so, maybe less. What am I missing? The collets look like this:![]()
3) I got some way oil and a manual pump and squirted a few pumps into every zerk fitting I could find on the machine. The table seems to be moving fairly smoothly now on all axes. I noticed though that lots of little bits of metal and junk keep coming out with the oil as I move the table back and forth. Should I keep oiling and cleaning using the pump until it seems like no more junk is in there, or should I try to disassemble and clean all of the ways by hand?
4) Could someone point me to a supplier that would sell the hardware to fasten the vise to the table? I think I need those T-shape nuts and some bolts to go in those but I don't know the size yet. What is the best way to measure the slots? Will I need to remove the table to do that? Here's a picture of the side of my vise, at first I thought those bolts went with it but I can't find any nuts that correspond:
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Thanks for reading my post, I appreciate any answers in advance. I've been trying to figure out as much as possible by doing and by reading the manual but I thought that these few things warranted some questions so I don't damage something or injure myself.
1) Which model is this? Here's a couple of pictures:
2) I have a small set of end mills and R8 collets but I can't seem to get them to tighten up when I screw them on to the drawbar. When the drawbar is fully tightened the collet still hangs out about 1/4" or so, maybe less. What am I missing? The collets look like this:
3) I got some way oil and a manual pump and squirted a few pumps into every zerk fitting I could find on the machine. The table seems to be moving fairly smoothly now on all axes. I noticed though that lots of little bits of metal and junk keep coming out with the oil as I move the table back and forth. Should I keep oiling and cleaning using the pump until it seems like no more junk is in there, or should I try to disassemble and clean all of the ways by hand?
4) Could someone point me to a supplier that would sell the hardware to fasten the vise to the table? I think I need those T-shape nuts and some bolts to go in those but I don't know the size yet. What is the best way to measure the slots? Will I need to remove the table to do that? Here's a picture of the side of my vise, at first I thought those bolts went with it but I can't find any nuts that correspond:
Thanks for reading my post, I appreciate any answers in advance. I've been trying to figure out as much as possible by doing and by reading the manual but I thought that these few things warranted some questions so I don't damage something or injure myself.