Wouldn't it be possible to make some kind of adapter to engage the center of the x-y handwheels to adapt a variable speed cordless drill?

It's probably wouldn't be the "thing" for watchmaking, but perhaps it could work for facing and rapid positioning.

It might not even be very dangerous : )

[They sell power string winders for guitars; it's almost the same idea.]

Hey Brenda,
I suppose a down and dirty solution would be to take a large socket
(maybe 1-1/2 to 2 in.)Get a cheap one at Big Lots, and grind the sides to fit it
between the splines of the crank handle. Use a 1/2 in. drive socket adapter in
the drill. Don't try to spin the nut holding the handle on since it will just remove it on the backstroke. I'd use a drill/driver that has a clutch so it wouldn't
rip it out of your hand if it hit an obstruction. Craftsman has a nice little
drill/driver with a clutch for about $20 at Sears or Kmart.
Good luck, Be careful Hoss

Hey Brenda, we did something like that, no drill though!
>>We took the handwheel off of the "X" and replaced it with a 10.0" Ø wheel with a crank on it, it makes a big difference, that wheel will take you a long way in one turn as compared to the little standard handwheel on the bridgeport.

We didn't do the "Y" 'cus it gets in the way and hits you where (well, you know where):devious: and besides the "Y" movements are much shorter that the "X" .
If I get a chance, I will take a pic of our Bridgeports and post it here.

happy cranking

:cheers:

Hi Brenda,

I've only had my X-3 for a couple months now but the 1st thing my shoulder grew VERY tired of was cranking the Z up & down to change collets and tools. The X & Y cranking doesn't bother me much but that big 'ol head is heavy and don't wanna go up! The later X-3's apparently don't come with the gas strut inside the column (cheaper and more travel I think.)

I saw on a thread somewhere where a guy made a counterweight setup so I came up with my own. I didn't want to use the ceiling since the mill's not in it's final spot yet so I used some pipe to make a boom that goes all the way to the floor. I was lucky that I had some stout pipe and pulleys lying around the shop. It took longer to remove the rust and paint the pipe than it did to machine up all the pulley mounts & such! Note that the cable loops around the pulley on the head and terminates at the top pulley. This compound arrangement doubles the effective weight and reduces the size of the counterweight needed to do the job.

I bolted some old Jag brake rotors together along with some other scrap for the counterweight, I think it weighs about 45 - 50 lbs. The plastic coated steel cable came from Home Cheepo....one of the few things I ever found there that was reasonably priced.

Talk about a difference! Same effort needed to crank the Z now as the X & Y. My shoulder said HALLELUYAH!:)

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g227/DBAviation/counterweightsm.jpg

Hey Brenda, we did something like that, no drill though!
>>We took the handwheel off of the "X" and replaced it with a 10.0" Ø wheel with a crank on it, it makes a big difference, that wheel will take you a long way in one turn as compared to the little standard handwheel on the bridgeport.

We didn't do the "Y" 'cus it gets in the way and hits you where (well, you know where):devious: and besides the "Y" movements are much shorter that the "X" .
If I get a chance, I will take a pic of our Bridgeports and post it here.

happy cranking

:cheers:

makes sense and less dangerouse that a drill.
To take it to the next level you could leave the stock hand wheel in place for fine positioning and the like and make a larger wheel that fits or snaps over it for the times when you need to rapid position etc, etc....

Hey Brenda, we did something like that, no drill though!
>> that wheel will take you a long way in one turn as compared to the little standard handwheel on the bridgeport.

:cheers:

Isn't it really taking you the same distance but giving you better mechanical advantage and muscle control...or did I miss the installation of a gear.

Chris

Isn't it really taking you the same distance but giving you better mechanical advantage and muscle control. Chris
Whew....I'm glad somebody else saw that too.:)

Isn't it really taking you the same distance but giving you better mechanical advantage and muscle control...or did I miss the installation of a gear.

YESSSSSSSSS U R 1000% correct, makes U strong Instead of weak!!!

Yup, one rev is one rev no matter how big the handwheel, just easier when bigger.