Which milling machine model?

Uhaul rents trucks for $19 aday. They have hitch receivers too. (most of them will tell you you can't tow anything non uhaul....but I can't read or at least not well).
1000mi should set you back a few hundred greenbacks. Or make friends with someone with a truck.

 

Uhaul trucks have a price per mile driven though which adds up quick.

 

I have a little Southbend Shaper about that size. perfect for a small home shop. But I paid $300 for mine Guess I need to Maco it and put it up on market place. Use the profit to find a bridgeport.

 

This won't last, but it is what I am seeing in the west. Reno,NV Criagslist. It would be a great starter machine.
https://images.craigslist.org/00n0n_kbRc12fg7emz_0t20CI_600x450.jpg

 

Ok what about this mill? It seems in great shape.

 

Looks promising. That X power feed is great until you need to fix it, then you'll chuck it for a cheap import that is reliable. So that's worth zero to me. I will tell you that is an old mill. Figure mine is a 1981 and the s/n starts with 224. That thing looks like mine with a paint job. Go visit it and set the x and y to mid travel. Set an indicator on the table and start cranking. You'll find out how much it dips on the x and y this way. For that kind of money, I would expect very little loss. Check back lash while you're at it. In typical fashion, I think that thing is a 2750-3000 machine, but it all depends on location which drives the price on mills. Listen for noise running in back gear and check runout on the spindle measuring inside on the r8 like I did in my one video. The spindle can be repaired, but it's big bucks. If all checks out, I'd waive 3200 cash in the guys face and settle at 3500. I dont see a vise and that is gonna be 300-500. A set of r8 collets are cheap. ($100) all the rest of the shit he posted is cut and paste from the specs. Makes it look more impressive than it is.

btw, 42" table is great, under no circumstances do you want anything shorter. Mine is a 42 and a couple of time wish it was 48". Funny how that works.

 

True. Is that a 3 phase converter on the back of it? Thats a couple hundred worth if it is.

I was also a bit hesitant seeing the date it was made but looks like the ways were flaked/possibly scraped again. If there is wear then its definitely not worth it.

 

My dirty old bitch is doing wood duty tonight.

 

nah. that's just a circuit breaker box on the back. worthless.

Get a 90buck vfd.

 

Blah. Fair fair. Or maybe I could build a rotary phase one from all the giant ass 3 phase motors they sell at the scrap yard for $3 each.

What about buying a new import instead? It would be brand new and perfectly ground etc...?

Whatcha making out of wood on the mill?

 

ah.. I used it to mill slots for track going inside a pair of lighted medicine cabinets I'm building. I wouldnt buy a new import mill and here is why. No matter how much they may be clones, I wouldnt put much faith in bridgeport parts fitting them. Take my Taiwanese lathe, it looks like every other shitty chinese machine today, but its not. I've bought and returned more parts for it than I've screwed to it. I'd take a tired BP long before a new import. It's not the machine, it's the machinist. I now know where the slop is in my machine and I've learned how to work around it. I'd love to replace the nuts in it and I've even got them here, but cant live without the machine and I'm up to my ass in projects.

 

Nice work.

Well, I'd like to get a bp as reconditioned and about as new as I can afford. Would love to get one that has been reground back to factory spec with new lead screws and split nuts. That way no slop and no messed up ways.

I could just keep saving until I can afford one like that but I wonder what something like that would cost? 6 to 10k?

 

Thats right get what you want, it is sure a clean looking machine, the mill at the high school auction I was watching it was Taiwan clone with a DRO and it went for $4300 and it wasn't that clean as this one the auctioneer told me that it was $12,000 machine. The seller really should know and tell you what it is. looks as they are in the business. Running it will tell the story on the gear train. I wish I had a DRO but you know it is just a little more work with out one. Having and knowing the machine is the biggest battle.

 

A decent Bridgeport milling machine from the 80s or 90s (with out a DRO) should run you $2000 to $3000 (a steel is a dollar a pound or less). There should be very little bad damage. With a decent DRO in good working order, add $500 for two axes and add $750 for three axes. Now, I do live in an area that does have almost a 6.5 million population within a 1 Hour drive. So, it's hard to compare apples to oranges. My Bridgeport milling machine I picked up for $1750 Canadian which might be $1400 US. The DRO I had to be replaced and it was not a Rives Drive. With the upgrades I have done, I would hope to get $2500 Canadian if I were selling it, or more. My machine does run on 550 V. So it's not very household compliant.

I can show it running. I have a rotary phase converter that converts single phase to 3 phase and than steps up two 600 V AC

 

My 3axis ToAuto cheap dro was 200bucks. It was worth every penny. Mounting the x and y is childs play. The Z axis takes a bit more brain power. But once it's on there, it's trouble free and saves a buttload of time. Do the X first, mount it on the back. Then mount the Y under the right side of the table. (the left side sucks because of the oiler) and last the Z. This way you can be using it immediately to make the parts to mount the scales.
After machining the mounting crap using the dials, I gained a new appreciation for digital numbers.

Speaking of Oiler Zap, I'm glad to see that machine has a one shot oiler on it. There are many running around still that don't have it. And it's a real big job to install one. You have to remove the table and saddle.

 

Hmm. So it looks like his price is in range of what is expected give the bells and whistles.

I've got 4k saved at the moment and can probably put in another 1.5k in the next month or two if I push it. I've seen he has a few machines for 6500 and a few that have been completely reground, refinished and everything brand new installed for 9 to 10 k (bit much though). So there seems to be a lot of options to choose from.

The issue is transportation and the power supply. Ill have to spend at least another grand or two on that and if I need to buy vices on top we are talking a lot of cash if I end up buying an expensive machine. Might take me into next year to save for that.

 

That looks like a reasonable machine. Can’t comment on price as that is regional. Concerning transport: I drove 600 miles to have a wrecker (simple for them and 100 bucks) put a similar BP in the bed of a Pathfinder. Drove it home easy peasy after good strapping and wrapping. Lifted it off here with a wrecker. Rolled it into place on 1”pipes. Again easy.

Even though this mill has variable spindle speed, I’d strongly consider a VFD. Very handy to use.

If at all possible, have someone experienced with mills check it out for way and lead screw wear. This mill looks nice, but the real key is the condition of the ways since they are expensive or time-consuming to tune up. The spindle is potentially expensive but easier to replace.

Buy Kurt vise(s) only. They are the genuine article. Others can work, but you will rue the couple hundred “saved.”

Having a mill will open up worlds for you.

Denis

 

Back lash in lead screws is mox nix when you have a DRO. A little slop is annoying, but nuts usually fixes that and they can be screwed a little tighter. You won't see wear on the screws unless you remove them and you won't be doing that. The nuts are x and y nuts are tightened down to take up some of the back lash, trouble is, as you screw out to the extremes, things start to get tight. Changing the nuts will help, but could still be in the screw. Worse case, they are 300 a pop, but that's would be silly when ball screws would be the better replacement, especially if you are considering CNC on it later. The bigger concern is the ways. Most high time BP's have a little drop at mid travel. This is where they get the most use. The gibs can be tightened up and if they are at max, a small couple thou shim will get you back to where you need. Again, too tight and it gets tight at the end of travel.

With my variable speed, I set the VFD to 60hz and never touch it. The legacy controls work perfect even for power tapping. I have 3 of these little cheap VFD's and with OMM's knowledge, they have been an absolute god send. I can help when it comes time to wire one of these. The instructions kinda suck, but you won't need them.

https://www.amazon.com/Variable-Fre...ild=1&keywords=2.2+vfd&qid=1630532801&sr=8-12
Lowest price in 30days! No that's not an amazon link where I get paid. I don't do that BS.