Two new toys...Bridgeport mills...cleaning advice?

[Tim Hancock]

I just bought these Bridgeports from my new boss, as he was selling off some old equipment from work and i got them for $500 ea

The manual one is 1.5 hp variable speed with a power feed on the x-axis and a digital readout.

The other is 2 hp variable speed and had been converted to a Dana Summit CNC back when it was new in the early 80's I believe. The CNC still works, however the guy at work who used to run it, said it occasionally blew cards and occasionally would lose it's zero. Mechanically it has very little wear and of course has ball screws installed.

I will use the manual one for sure as a mill and as a big drill press, but I may hold off on the CNC for awhile as I simply bought it because it was such a good deal and solid machine. Someday I may look into putting modern servos and drives on it, then control it with a PC.

These SOB's were a b@stard to haul home! I had a buddy with a big truck and trailer help me, but they are tippy when sitting on a fork lift!

I need to clean these things up and possibly paint them. Anyone have any tips on how to properly clean them without doing any damage? Is it OK to degrease then powerwash? Just thought some of the machinists here might know. Anyone here make their own phase converter? I think I am getting a 2hp three phase motor for free to make one with.

[berettafan]

i dunno what those things are but they look like a lot of fun!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Damn Tim, that's some pretty serious hardware!

[jcommin]

Use Simple Green to clean. Alcohol also works to remove oil. There are plenty of spare parts available for these mills; they truly have stood up to the test of time.

[RickM]

Nice score there.

I would stick with hand cleaning with a mild solvent. Too many nooks and crannys to hold water and bite you in the A$$ later.

I take it these are 3-phase and you have single phase service. Your options are a static phase converter, rotary phase converter or a frequency drive.

A variable frequency drive is the modern, "solid state" solution that would be my first choice. Not only do you solve the phase switch with a compact instrument but you can digitally control RPMs in forward or reverse. If you sniff around Ebay you can find some great deals on them. Shop for one by HP capability. Ebay item number: 130153468786 is up there in price but outlines the benefits.


Add: I may have some phase converter build plans. I'll take a look.

[Porsche_monkey]

As a person the rebuilt machines as a teenager:

I would use varsol and a brush, followed by a clean dry rag. Then paint it with a good machinery enamel. Lube the ways and oil any up unpainted/machined surfaces.

I would also check out the bearing clearances on the head, see how loose the ways are on the cross-slides, and see it the nuts on the screws are worn out. These machines should last you several lifetimes of occasional use.

Buy a phase converter to run them.

You should also know that we have about 15 of those where I work, we never clean or paint them. And they all work fine. Although they do have built in manually activated lube systems.

[many944s]

"drip, drip"
^ The sound of tears dripping in my coffee.

You may have scored the deal of the century in my book, congrats Tim!!

[vlocci]

Tim,

Some thoughts from someone with a few B-ports in his past.

Degrease with something like kero, mineral spirits or simple green. I've powerwashed a few in the past without issues. Be sure to blow them dry to prevent surface rust. Don't strip the existing paint, as you will likely fine 1/2 of bondo under the surface, and will be stuck with what to do next. If repainting, just prime and paint. I'm a fan of the rustoleum industrial finishes which are a good tradeoff between cheap and good.

Phase converters are simple using a spare 3 phase motor (i.e. rotary converter). At the same time, this will allow you other 3 phase purchases in the future. Check out http://www.homemetalshopclub.org/projects/phconv/phconv.html

Forget the static converters is you have a spare motor around. The price difference is virtually nil.

VFD are getting cheaper, 250.00 will get you one of suitable size, and give you 100% more usefullness. Single phase in, 3 phase out. Dealerselectric is a good source, as is ebay.

The ballscrew machine is an EASY conversion to PC control. Check out gecko drives, which are cheap, easy to use, and interface with a PC without issue. EMC is a linux cnc controller package that is free and VERY powerful. Google EMC BDI (Brain dead install) and start looking for an old laptop to run it on. I think you can get away with a 486 machine. To go full CNC your probably looking at under 700 bucks.

Shoot me an email if you have any questions.

[GDSOB]

Try WD-40. It cleans all the major gunk and won't corrode bare metal or the electrical connections.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by vlocci

Tim,

Some thoughts from someone with a few B-ports in his past.

Degrease with something like kero, mineral spirits or simple green. I've powerwashed a few in the past without issues. Be sure to blow them dry to prevent surface rust. Don't strip the existing paint, as you will likely fine 1/2 of bondo under the surface, and will be stuck with what to do next. If repainting, just prime and paint. I'm a fan of the rustoleum industrial finishes which are a good tradeoff between cheap and good.

Phase converters are simple using a spare 3 phase motor (i.e. rotary converter). At the same time, this will allow you other 3 phase purchases in the future. Check out http://www.homemetalshopclub.org/projects/phconv/phconv.html

Forget the static converters is you have a spare motor around. The price difference is virtually nil.

VFD are getting cheaper, 250.00 will get you one of suitable size, and give you 100% more usefullness. Single phase in, 3 phase out. Dealerselectric is a good source, as is ebay.

The ballscrew machine is an EASY conversion to PC control. Check out gecko drives, which are cheap, easy to use, and interface with a PC without issue. EMC is a linux cnc controller package that is free and VERY powerful. Google EMC BDI (Brain dead install) and start looking for an old laptop to run it on. I think you can get away with a 486 machine. To go full CNC your probably looking at under 700 bucks.

Shoot me an email if you have any questions.

Thanks for all the info guys! I have plans for a "simple" rotary converter and I found 1-3 hp static converters on ebay for about $80. From what i have learned thus far, I can use a static converter to start and run the idler motor (that I am getting for free), then pull my three phase off that which supposedly gives cleaner power than using either one by itself (basically I would be duplicating a store bought rotary phase converter).

I have been at a few websites that discuss home brewed CNC conversions using PC control and gecko drives etc. I am hoping that when I decide to start messing with the CNC, I can possibly use the existing servo motors with new or existing drives, but control it with one of my old PC's with something like mach2/3 software.

The CNC is not a big deal right now, but it would make a fun project someday. I am just going to have to be careful that I do not go too far with the cleanup/repaint. I have a habit of going all out (bare metal/epoxy rime/Imron/etc/etc) These machines both work as is and the CNC ways/screws are like new. The manual one was still being used in the shop at work a few times a week typically, so it is ready to use as is, but I just have to give it a "spruce-up" first. Both machines have auto oiler gizmos on them.

[stevepaa]

Darn , $500 is a steal..My son wants one of those for our garage

[Porsche_monkey]

Once you have one (or access to one) you won't want to live without it.

You need a machinist quality vice and some quick change tools would be nice.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by PBH

Once you have one (or access to one) you won't want to live without it.

You need a machinist quality vice and some quick change tools would be nice.

Each comes with a huge heavy duty dovetailed machinist vice (not pictured) and a rotary base to bolt the vice to when needed. Both also came with a set of collets and a set up setup studs and blocks. We have tons of cutters lying around at work so I should be able to grab a few here and there. Both have multiple lights and one has a little mister/coolant contraption.

My new boss was going to let a used machinery dealer have these and some other non-used machinery for dirt cheap just to get rid of them quick for some quick cash influx and to start cleaning up/organizing our machine shop. These two are easily worth $1500 each, so I could not pass them up. Too bad I don't have room for a massive Union boring mill or a Fadal machining center.

[VINMAN]

Sweet score Tim!!

[1982911SCTarga]

Nice score, Tim!

During my summers between college years as a millwright at South Bend Lathe, my collegiate colleagues and I were often dispatched to do the initial cleanup of machine tools prior to their repainting, refurbishing and reinstatement for parts production on the various lathe lines. This was -- surprise -- dirty, nasty work (as in "this job is perfect for the know-it-all college pukes to do"). As a cleaner/degreaser we used a trisodium phosphate-type product that was mixed with hot water. This worked well, but it would still take two of us several days to completely clean a large machine like a grinder or similar using various brushes, rags, sponges, etc. We were supposed to wear gloves, but in a matter of an hour or so, the gloves would be worthless.

After we were done, the machines were inserted in the assembly line queue for the paint shop. Those guys worked wonders. When all was said and done -- reassembly, reinstallation and recalibration, these refurbed machines were probably better than new. There were two Blanchard grinders in particular that I got to know way too well.

Brian

[jim72911t]

Not to sound like a broken record here, but you got an amazing deal!

(As a point of reference, I'm buying a 9x42 BP copy for $650, and I'll have to provide a motor and fix the back gear. No DRO on mine, either. Even with the work it needs, I still feel like I'm getting a bargain.)

As far as cleaning goes, those look pretty nice as is. I'd use Simple Green, making sure to keep it out of the ways.

Nice score!

Jim

[RickM]

Now that I think of it I'd probably use a citrus based cleaner. I used on a Clausing vertical knee mill (just sold) and it worked wonders.

FWIW, I sold my Micropaq frequency drive for $125 and it would have handled one of these mills. Can't beat that as they are superior to static or rotary converters.

[Tim Hancock]

Thus far, I moved the manual machine into my workshop area and am about 90% finished with cleaning it. I used mineral spirits, rags and brushes. It is looking pretty nice and allthough I hate the cream color that all of our machines from work are painted, I may just leave it for now as it is Polane paint and has a decent shine (too bad the numbskulls at work had not spent a little more time prepping and a bit better job of masking).

I will probably leave the CNC mill in the other big bay of my hangar/shop untouched for quite some time. It is in really good shape and appears to have very little use (it was purchased new in '78 I believe and was immediately converted to CNC by the original owner of the company I work for. It was only used sporadically for about 10 years by our top machinists).

Here is the manual machine as it sits in my workshop room now.









I just ordered a "static" 1/4-3hp phase converter on-line for $79.00 and will probably eventually hook it to a 2-3hp idler motor to basically have a low cost "rotary" phase converter. I still need to run some conduit from my welders circuit breaker box and probably add another breaker to it.

[Joeaksa]

Really makes me wish I lived a lot closer to Ohio! Great deal you got and hope you get them all setup and working.

What I would give for a hangar/workshop like yours!

Joe

PS Thanks again for the help on the airplane parts earlier this year!

[kach22i]

Your wife must really love you Tim.