Shout out to H&W! They are THE place for any info , problems or parts you need for your genuine Bridgeport mill! From their rebuild kits with high-quality parts , belts and bearings w/diagrams and step by step instructions , to Barry's excellent step by step instruction videos. We bought 2 top end kits and the videos here made the rebuilding so simple. We didn't realize one of our machines was a 1 1/2hp and the other a 2hp. No problem! A very pleasant phone call to Debbie(?) got the different parts explained and exchanged.
Man, these videos you do are pure gold sir. It simply amazes me. These machines are so interesting from top to bottom. It really shows how well things were made back in the day. Compared to the throw away society we now live in. Everything is so cheaply made nowadays.
Perfect timing! I'm getting ready to tear down my head and rebuild it. Got a call from Debbie today to inform me that my elevating shaft is 4-6 weeks out....ruined my day! This video made it better.
Back in the late sixties to the late '80s My father I and my brother use to do this for my father's business..most of the time we did it at the shop where the machines were we had a roll around table and a box truck out side that had all the necessary parts motors and accessories to pull the head mount it on the cart.. and have all the spare parts needed to go through it... Or if it was real bad and pressed for time we had spare heads that we could just swap it out and then do it at our leisure,,, The company would pick a low production day to come in and rebuild them so that machine could be down for the day in order to get it done lots of times on a Saturday if it led into Sunday if we needed something special and had to get it we could do so and not just bridgeport's,, horizontal grinders vertical grinders lathes, basically anything that got crashed or was worn out we could go in and service it for them... I have literally had bad dreams like you couldn't get it back together in time or people were waiting for you to get it finished so that they could go back into production crazy stuff over doing this.... They send the stuff to you guys you rebuild it and send it back... We didn't have that option.... Guys do nice work
Very helpful video! This helped me tear down a 2HP Enco which is a close copy of the Bridgeport. It would have been helpful if the video described the screw length and compression procedure of the motor pulley. The pulley needs to be compressed with short screws installed - short enough that the pulley clears the belt when installing the motor, but not so short that the belt doesn't support the spring when the compression screws are removed (?). I used 1 inch screws, however it did not appear to be as compressed as in the video when the screws bottomed out. When we went to put the motor in we could not get the belt around the pulley. The solution was to remove the bearing cap and unbolt the cover, which allowed the cover to slide forward a bit. One person just pulled forward on the cover while pushing back on the belt with a stick (through the speed control mouting hole) while two other guys put the motor in while getting the belt on. I'm not sure if the pulley was not compressed enough, or the belt was too short, or the hole was not machined out enough on this chinese copy.
Lots of master craftsmen do not like to share the tricks of their trade. Or their just BS artists. Barry is definitely a Jedi master of machine rebuilding.
You have saved me a lot of grief. I have always wanted a mill but really know nothing about them, then I found a mill in a barn and the owner tells me there is nothing to them, so easy to fix. I am running away.
Absolutely fantastic instructional video Barry. I have a question though. I am currently reassembling my head and for some reason I am struggling to set up the High \ Neutral \ Low lever wherby it rubs in High on the underside of the ally plate or in Low gear it rubs on the top of the plate. Can you please advise the correct set up procedure of this lever to me?
It can be done, but you would need to completely replace the entire top half of the head. None of the parts other than the timing belt pulley is the same between the two types. If you would like to discuss it you can give us a call. 1-800-285-5271
When you say variable speed rebuild what section specifically? We almost have a video for every section of the head already done. We also are going to be working on a video for our solid state phase convertor in the next week or so. If you have any questions about the phase convertor in the mean time you can give us a call at 1-800-285-5271
I bought the rebuild kit from you for my 2hp J head Bridgeport. I did the disassembly/reassembly per the written directions. Powered the machine up and in low range there is considerable noise (gear whine). Or could it be the timing belt whining. Hi range is pretty quiet. Do you have any insight? Figure I’ll be pulling it apart again to recheck everything.
Still working on mine, but what about the alignment (height) of the small gear at the back that mates to the bull gear? The only other thing I can think of is alignment of the bull gear with respect to the spline handle that raises/lower the bull gear. H&W give pretty good directions on setting it up as well. Good luck
At 1.14 if you can help. I can't get my lever to engage low speed only high and neutral. Any suggestions what to try without stripping it down.. thanks if you reply. David.
I've noticed that Bridgeport does not use a bearing on the bottom end of the motor/pulley shaft. Some of the clones do - I have one of those clones with a bearing and I get a ton of vibration/odd harmonics from that area. When I unscrew the plate that supports that bearing I notice a decrease in noise and vibration throughout the whole machine. Is there a reason why Bridgeport decided to leave the bottom of this shaft unsupported?
I don't know if they have a technical reason. I think that Bridgeport does not like to change anything so they go with the same set-up they have forever. I personally think a support bearing would be good but I see you have had problems with it.
After replacing bushings and bull gear bearings and reassembling the head on a 2 hp Bridgeport, I'm have trouble with the high-low speed change lever trying to slide out when changing from high to low speed or vice versa. Could you please tell me what I need to adjust on the speed change lever to prevent this from occurring?
I will need to speak with you over the phone to discuss the problem and solution. I will be back in the office this afternoon so you can call me at 800-285-5271. We are on eastern time and I should be back in the office by 12:30.
So I'm confused. Yer saying this is a 2hp. But the 1 1/2hp I'm rebuilding has the same fine tooth timing belt/pulley as you are showing. The rebuild kits we ordered were for 2hp , but contained flat tooth , wide pitch belts. I'm doing our 2hp after I get this one done.
The 2HP belt has the 74 round tooth belt (1536). The 1.5 HP & 1HP has the 42 flat tooth belt (1115). Sometimes people changed the motors around on their heads so then it becomes what we like to refer to as a "Frankenstein" head, where the timing belt no longer matches the HP that it installed on it. Usually it's 2HP motors with 1.5HP timing belts, but we have also seen it the other way as well. If you think you received something in error you need to contact our office so we can get it straightened out. 1-800-285-5271
No, if all the socket head cap screws are tightened down you will not have any shifting and sometimes you need to be able to slightly shift housing during the dialing in process in order to get the head to operate optimally. I have been rebuilding heads this way for 35 years and have never had a housing shift after completion. -Barry
The bull gears are sitting in a vat of grease, so I am going to assume you are talking about the castle gears, let me know if I'm incorrect. The short answer is because Bridgeport doesn't require it, so we don't do it. Any place that is greased in an open area like that is going to be a magnet for debris, which is going to make the parts wear down faster. If you would like to discuss it further you can give us a call 1-800-285-5271 -Barry
@@HWMachRepair Hi Thanks for the response My machine is a Tos From Czechoslovakia its about 25 years old The castle gears are at the bottom they were stripped so I had the welder where I work tig weld them up and I re machined them I Didn't know if it was supposed to be greased so I came to RU-vid and came across this video But I think from what you said since the gears I'm referring to are totally enclosed That I should put some grease as you have done on your Bridgeport rebuild. Thanks for the video.
You would have to swap everything from the quill housing up, and only if its another Bridgeport. The bolt pattern may or may not work with another head that isn't a Bridgeport. If you have specific questions you can give us a call 1-800-285-5271