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Bridgeport 2J

That-Guy

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Well its time for the big reveal!!!! ITS DONE!!!!!!!! (ish)

Over the last few weekends I've managed to put some good time in on completing this mill. I guess I'll try and pick up where I left off.

I took the x lead screw to work and cleaned it up real nice like, installed it on the the table, (after polishing anything I could) and discovered that once again order of operations was imperative. The brass nuts that are used to adjust the backlash in the X Y nut, have to be installed onto the screw separated from each other (DUH, right?). Well guess who didn't do that and spent an hour trying to figure why there was 3 turns of backlash. haha. Once I figured out my silly oversight I got the nuts adjusted to the point where there is ZERO backlash (!!!) and the table does not get tight at ether end. This tells me that the lead screw has almost no wear. This made me very happy.
20230304_101945.jpg
20230304_110503.jpg
20230304_174821.jpg

After this triumph, my ego got checked, by of all things, oil lines.... Those silly little plastic oil lines are a ROYAL PITA!!!!!! If I am ever to do another Bridgeport I will be replacing these with news ones. These ones were hard and reluctant to go into their spots. So lessons.....

I moved back to working on the head. I installed the adjusting bracket on the forward vari-drive pulley. And then the nice top cover. It's starting to look like something. The motor also went on without a hitch. I took the two bolts out of the motor shaft that were holding the pulley in the full low speed position and with a nice click, there we were. I placed the vari-drive worm and gear assembly on the front (we'll revisit this) and set to work on the electrical... This honestly could be another post. Is anyone interested in my 600V setup?? As for the electrical on the mill, I checked the insulation on the motor when I got it, but I also have gone through and inspected every component and replaced anything that looks arced or burnt. The contactor in the motor starter was questionable so that got tossed to the curb. 600V is still "low voltage", but it should always be treated as if its trying to kill you all the time, like a polar bear, or my wife when I forget to take out the trash on Sunday. The reversing switch was mint so I left that alone and wired everything up. The first motion was getting close!!!

20230126_173957.jpg

20230304_150559.jpg
20230304_150553.jpg
A Before I was too get power happening, I made sure I had good ground continuity from the mill to the panel, and that each phase was independent. I also made sure that I didn't have high resistance anywhere (indicating a poor connection). At this point I was ready to fire it up. Late on a Sunday evening the RPC came to life with a growl, settling into a satisfying buzz. I grabbed my meter and made sure the mill wasn't live, and turned the motor starter on. A little click is all I heard. "Good, no arky sparky" I thought. Once again I made sure that there was no shorts and that the mill was not live (I recommend using the one hand rule with this kind of stuff). Now, I confirmed I was in high gear, and that the down feed was disengaged. With a little trepidation I twisted the direction control to forward and without any hesitation, and a small squeak from the belt, the mill jumped to life. As anti climactic as it was to see an empty spindle turning, it was the culmination of months of work. Satisfying was an understatement. I then proceeded to do the spindle bearing run in. I just kind of went with what I know on that, but imminently I found an issue. The speed control was working in reverse. Easy fix though, pop off the worm gear cover and move the gear to the other side of the stop screw, then wind the chain up the other way. Back in business! I checked the power feed at this point as well. Everything working as it should. After two hours of running in the bearings and some touch up paint where I was clumsy I poured myself a pint and revelled in the new toy. "Now the cheap part is over, time for tooling" I thought.

20230304_174814.jpg

And with this, my mill is complete (minus a fine down feed handle, gotta make one of those), and while I will continue to post any updates or changes made, (like a power draw bar as was suggested... and DRO), I just want to say again thank you all for following along, for the input and suggestions. This forum is fantastic, and helped me stay motivated to do the best I can.
So from the shop, THANKS!!!!
 

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TorontoBuilder

Ultra Member
Well its time for the big reveal!!!! ITS DONE!!!!!!!! (ish)

Over the last few weekends I've managed to put some good time in on completing this mill. I guess I'll try and pick up where I left off.

I took the x lead screw to work and cleaned it up real nice like, installed it on the the table, (after polishing anything I could) and discovered that once again order of operations was imperative. The brass nuts that are used to adjust the backlash in the X Y nut, have to be installed onto the screw separated from each other (DUH, right?). Well guess who didn't do that and spent an hour trying to figure why there was 3 turns of backlash. haha. Once I figured out my silly oversight I got the nuts adjusted to the point where there is ZERO backlash (!!!) and the table does not get tight at ether end. This tells me that the lead screw has almost no wear. This made me very happy.
View attachment 32275
View attachment 32277
View attachment 32281

After this triumph, my ego got checked, by of all things, oil lines.... Those silly little plastic oil lines are a ROYAL PITA!!!!!! If I am ever to do another Bridgeport I will be replacing these with news ones. These ones were hard and reluctant to go into their spots. So lessons.....

I moved back to working on the head. I installed the adjusting bracket on the forward vari-drive pulley. And then the nice top cover. It's starting to look like something. The motor also went on without a hitch. I took the two bolts out of the motor shaft that were holding the pulley in the full low speed position and with a nice click, there we were. I placed the vari-drive worm and gear assembly on the front (we'll revisit this) and set to work on the electrical... This honestly could be another post. Is anyone interested in my 600V setup?? As for the electrical on the mill, I checked the insulation on the motor when I got it, but I also have gone through and inspected every component and replaced anything that looks arced or burnt. The contactor in the motor starter was questionable so that got tossed to the curb. 600V is still "low voltage", but it should always be treated as if its trying to kill you all the time, like a polar bear, or my wife when I forget to take out the trash on Sunday. The reversing switch was mint so I left that alone and wired everything up. The first motion was getting close!!!

View attachment 32272

View attachment 32279
View attachment 32278
A Before I was too get power happening, I made sure I had good ground continuity from the mill to the panel, and that each phase was independent. I also made sure that I didn't have high resistance anywhere (indicating a poor connection). At this point I was ready to fire it up. Late on a Sunday evening the RPC came to life with a growl, settling into a satisfying buzz. I grabbed my meter and made sure the mill wasn't live, and turned the motor starter on. A little click is all I heard. "Good, no arky sparky" I thought. Once again I made sure that there was no shorts and that the mill was not live (I recommend using the one hand rule with this kind of stuff). Now, I confirmed I was in high gear, and that the down feed was disengaged. With a little trepidation I twisted the direction control to forward and without any hesitation, and a small squeak from the belt, the mill jumped to life. As anti climactic as it was to see an empty spindle turning, it was the culmination of months of work. Satisfying was an understatement. I then proceeded to do the spindle bearing run in. I just kind of went with what I know on that, but imminently I found an issue. The speed control was working in reverse. Easy fix though, pop off the worm gear cover and move the gear to the other side of the stop screw, then wind the chain up the other way. Back in business! I checked the power feed at this point as well. Everything working as it should. After two hours of running in the bearings and some touch up paint where I was clumsy I poured myself a pint and revelled in the new toy. "Now the cheap part is over, time for tooling" I thought.

View attachment 32280

And with this, my mill is complete (minus a fine down feed handle, gotta make one of those), and while I will continue to post any updates or changes made, (like a power draw bar as was suggested... and DRO), I just want to say again thank you all for following along, for the input and suggestions. This forum is fantastic, and helped me stay motivated to do the best I can.
So from the shop, THANKS!!!!
i'd say that is a well deserved beer!
 

Tomc938

Ultra Member
Premium Member
Thanks for sharing the journey. I'm not sure if I would call the anything about this "anti-climactic".

As Hannibal Smith used to say "I love it when a plan comes together"
 

That-Guy

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
@That-Guy great thread! I've been following along and learning from it. You mentioned an RPC. Did you build it yourself?
I didn't build this one myself, but it has been heavily modified. I originally had built a 5Hp, 600v RPC (single phase transformer stepping up the 240 to 600 before the RPC, and all controlled by an arduino), but this came up on kijiji and was twice the HP of what I had. So I modified this to run my shop. Now I've got 208, 440 and 575V. I've also got remote on and e-stops planned.
 
I didn't build this one myself, but it has been heavily modified. I originally had built a 5Hp, 600v RPC (single phase transformer stepping up the 240 to 600 before the RPC, and all controlled by an arduino), but this came up on kijiji and was twice the HP of what I had. So I modified this to run my shop. Now I've got 208, 440 and 575V. I've also got remote on and e-stops planned.
IMO a separate thread on this RPC journey would be even more interesting!!!
 
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