How to Remove & Install a Bridgeport J head Mill Spindle Shaft 

Danny Chavez - Yea, normally have to "bite the bullet", As I mentioned, be very careful to not remove much actual material from either the quill, or the bore.Polish only. We chuck the quill in a lathe and use a very fine emery cloth to polish it, and you can also hear if there are high spots on the gear rack... But... a little Dangerous ;-). Due to all the openings, a 4" ball hone (4-600 grit) is about the only way to hone the bore, but again, be careful, it can remove material fast! Due to the close fit, the quill can be a major pain to get lined up and back in the bore. Rotating the head sideways helps a lot. I also should have mentioned that very (very) occasionally, I have seen a quill lock plunger stuck causing drag. Make sure you try taking these out first - both front and back. Disengage the power down feed lever, and remove the three nuts at the bottom of the drive, and the entire drive will lift off the head. Putting it back on, you will have to align the spindle splines - another little annoyance. After removing the screws for the dust shield/oil felt, the only other thing holding the quill in is the quill shaft itself. This can be pulled out after removing the downfeed clutch assembly and the grip ring on the left side, as well as the clockspring - either the entire spring assembly, or disengage the spring from the pin on the shaft... I'm sure I forgot something ;-)

The Machinery Repair Shop And, I forgot, a "little minor part" - which I am sure is obvious. The feed stop screw has to be removed, and then the stop block around it - that is attached to the front of the quill.. I really want to do a video on repairing the head itself.. To remove the stop screw, you will have to remove the trip ball lever (barbell/dogbone) at the top of the screw. It is under a screw in cap at the top of the stop screw. The end of the lever has threads - screw in a 6-32 (might be 4-40) screw into the end, and wiggle it out. If the barbell is broken (common) that's another book - compressed air sometimes helps... Then remove the trip lever/transfer lever at the bottom (held in by a shoulder screw in front/middle of the lever) and the screw will come down and out. Then you can remove the cap screw that holds the stop block to the quill.

I appreciate the note about the stop nut bolt getting caught on the upper bearing. I have an Enco knockoff and sure enough as I was driving the spindle out it stopped so that most of the bottom bearing was exposed. It was a hard stop and I didn’t want to apply a large force to the head. I found your video and it properly addressed the problem. In the process of getting to that nut I encountered that stinkin’ little dog bone reverse trip lever. Mine had broken. It took 45 minutes to get the first half of it out. It took 3 1/2 hours to get the second half of it out. As much as I hated to do it I ended up using a small burr in a battery drill motor to wear enough of the edges away so that it came free from the micro screw. It was an exercise in patience. The Enco also has a left hand thread on the nose piece in case anyone was interested. Thanks for your video.

Danny Chavez No, the set screw normally only affects the first inch or so of quill travel (if it is too tight). Being in the business we are in (refurbishing machines) we see a lot of binding quills. The quill is an extremely close fit in the bore, and very often it is just grime and crud built up around it. Normally we would remove the quill, clean & polish it by putting it in a lathe and using very fine crocus cloth, and possibly lightly hone the bore with a ball hone. Extreme care has to be taken though to not enlarge the fit as any slop here will directly affect the accuracy.You could try just flushing it with WD40 and PB Blaster, but that normally only works so-so. To remove the quill requires removing the drive off the top to remove the screws that retain/move the dust shield and then removing the cross shaft (that the quill handle operates). The quill (with spindle) will then slide out the bottom. Removing the spindle first makes it more manageable, but it is not necessary. If you can wait till later this spring, I hope to be making some more videos about rebuilding the head, but we are totally swamped right now, and the video budget is very tight.

can the spindle/spindle bearings be rep[laced without removing the upper casting and motor/pulley assembly?

ME 1207 DL Is The New Hampshire Ball Bearing Number