Bridgeport rebuild guide

[darth442]

I'm picking up a series 1 J head. In addition to the original manuals, I saw a few rebuild guides on ebay. Are there any rebuild guides you would recommend? I'm not trying to regrind to spindle, I just want a good guide to tear down and assess the components. Ballscrew conversion info would be a plus. Thanks!

[79TigerPilot]

A good Google search will bring up pdf copies of the operators manual as well as parts list and exploded parts view drawings. Not seen any how to take it apart documents. I just completed my retrofit and it was fairly easy to take apart, but you do need a shop crain or engine lift. I had my BP apart for almost a year while I did other things and even after that amount of time I got it back together with little problems.

The head is a little harder than the rest of the iron and it is worth some net searching the forums for hints. An example: some of the set screws in the head that hold some of the bushing in place are actually two screws back to back with the locking screw only .25" long. with the hex key hole going all the way through. Easy to loose the small locking screw if you don't know it is there.

Best think I found for cleaning all the old gunk off parts is a strong solution of TSP and ammonia. Paint stripper takes off the old paint but the BP used some sort of body filler that softens with the stripper but does not bubble up like the paint and was a pain to remove. Bondo would not stick to the old filler so it had to be removed.

I have some pictures at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cschaffter/CNCMillProject#

For ball screws I can recommend the LeadTeam (Tiawan) ground screws that can be had for about $825 from:

Jeff Broussard
BROUSSARD ENTERPRISES INC
562-921-4300




Craig

[woodrowhales]

Check out the Practical Machinist forum. I'm not sure if the moderator will let me say that cause I know the CNC zone url gets censored from the PM site. With the help of other users and searching threads I have rebuilt both a 1943 round ram and a 1963 Southbend lathe. The other suggestion I'll give if you already don't know is that the serial number stamped into the saddle will be helpful in IDing the exact model and make. Below is link a rebuild, more pictures then tech info but a beautiful job. good luck and keep us posted.

Woody

http://www.neme-s.org/shapers/bp.html

[productservice]

give the guys at H&W machine repair a call 1-800-285-5271 or go to their website www.machinerypartsdepot.com ,they have the best parts and most info i have found any where.

[darth442]

Thanks for the tips. The galleries really help. BTW, what paint did you use? Most of the recommendations I see just recommend epoxy based, which isn't really specific. I'm kind of tempted to use a urethane paint I'm just concerned how it will hold up against degreasing.