Bridgeport Mill Periodic Maintenance

In this video we take a look and do some routine maintenance tasks on the Bridgeport Milling machine.

[@carabela125]

Nice video.....I should forward it to our maintenance guy at work.

[@johndennis3181]

Good maintenance video. One thing... There is nothing absolute about an edge finder....

[@DochNiemals]

Basics are always useful and appreciated. Thank you, Master Ox!

[@Mrbdubi]

I am new to milling and this video was exactly what I needed to watch before powering up my new/used mill. Thank you!

[@mqeqeshe1]

Get rid of all the ummmmm's and uhhhhh's. Axee is not a word (1 axis, 2 or more axes). Otherwise a good video.

[@imkindofabigdeal4308]

Maybe a dumb question: new mill owner here. I get the adding grease thing (zerks). My mill (very similar to yours...PM-1054 knee mill) has only one zerk for the back gear. So, you put grease in there. Where does it go? I'm used to dirty grease coming out when new grease goes in. What am I missing? I don't see anywhere the old stuff would come out.

[@Illyclone]

PFC? Pretty fucking close? What does RHC stand for?

[@apfyts]

You should measure the angle that Garys' name is at. Maybe he put it at a precise angle.

[@jw4620]

PFC? Professional's First Choice, of course! Never heard so many different terms for crap, though! Thanks!

[@k5at]

Tom, a comment about us guys who have power drawbars and lubricating the threads.... Take a collet and put some way oilly oil on the treads and put it in the spindle and tighten.. this will lube the threads. I do this about once a week . I enjoyed the video and went out a greased my jack shaft.

[@KnolltopFarms]

+Herb Blair Great idea Herb, way to save your energy for things that are fun! Hoping 2016 is treating you right, Aloha...Chuck

[@k5at]

+Knolltop Farms Thanks Chuck. Hope 2016 finds you happy and prosperous!

[@oxtoolco]

+Herb Blair Hey Herb, That's just way too smart for me. Thanks for stopping by. Best, Tom

[@ke6bnl]

@@oxtoolco that works for me or I might have to turn the head to remove the draw bar

[@markuspalmqvist3692]

I'm from Sweden so english is second language, but why do you say "ahum" or "aaaa" in every sentence?

[@cfsare]

Because he is a poor presenter.

[@tightirl]

just unpolished normal speaking. no functional reason for it.

[@Thebadbeaver9]

Jfc i thought i was the only one. It gets so fkn irritating

[@railgap]

@@cfsare meanwhile you have created exactly fuck-all for the benefit of a community, making your opinion worth a pig's fart.

[@russtuff]

Thoughts on choosing Acra vs other brands?

[@dplachy]

Would happen to have or make a video on how to change the Gearcase Oil? Can't seem to find any information.

[@1pcfred]

I use chainsaw bar lube as way oil. Good enough. Sold in fine big box stores everywhere!

[@ke6bnl]

I do not see the oil leaving the oil cap can I just put some air pressure in there to free it up if plugged?

[@HolzMichel]

Hey Tom, thanks for the great pointers. get a few items i need to pick your brain on: i have a J-head bridgeport and the head on it doesn't have any grease zerks. it does however have the two oil cups like your although in different locations and like yours, of different size. in my owners manual it indicates the large cup is for the spindle bearings. i do have oil drippage on the table coming from up in the quill somewhere so i'm guessing it's the spindle bearings. i'm also wondering if a guy should put in some heavy oil in the quill feed gears? since there are no zerks and no oil fill screws it would seem prudent to pop the cover off and put some heavy wienershlyder in there. before using a stone i use a paper towel to see of there are any burrs or dingus mcgees on the surface.. that way i can save that step if possible.. the paper will shred on the dingus' (or would the plural be dingii?) and makes them easier to locate at this point i would recommend a sandflex block for cleaning up the table getting rid of the stains and other weasel snot that accumulates under the vice. i have a product review video on the sandflex block in the can right now and will putting it up in a day or three . cheers mike

[@oxtoolco]

+HolzMichel Hi Mike, I think a J head is close to mine. Thin oil in the front one and heavier oil in the rear. Sounds like we need a product review of the wienershlyder product. Sounds handy. Thanks for the comment. Cheers, Tom

[@daveticehurst4191]

Tom. if you stopped putting spanners etc on the table, the dings would stop. Use a bit of plastic sheet or some kitchen cupboard shelves with Melamine on. It will also stop a lot of swarf dropping down the tee slots.

[@carabela125]

Nice to see a table getting stoned. Have not ever seen a cnc guy do that (myself excluded :-)

[@kazwo]

I use baby oil on everything. Never fails

[@railgap]

Ah, see the decadent bourgeoisie and their power knee feeds... ^_^ I'm 6'2" so I don't need the decadence of a power drawbar but at 57 I yearn for a knee lift.

[@BorisSpark]

Knee lift is just a convenience and a way of putting less stress on the brittle body and cutting the time it takes to do a simple task. That's how I see it

[@austinmcmurray6409]

hi tom, these past couple weeks works been slow in the shop so ive been servicing all the mills. we run alliants, bridgeports, and traks. and from what ive seen they are all built just about the same. the grease port higher higher up towards the head of the machine is indeed a grease port (for the viewers) it greases the high low gears, you should work the handle while pumping in the grease. and if i had to guess the lower greases the worm for the quill feed. i just pulled the quill out of one last week and replaced the spindle bearings. as well as replacing the belt cleaning all dust out of the belt housing and so on.

[@tobyw9573]

Tom, I checked McMaster Carr and WOW! the 4” round 4506a4 stone was nearly $30!. Maybe it would pay to stop making tools and bits and start making our own abrasives! Seriously, Dan Gelbart makes small abrasive wheels w/arbor from used abrasive wheels using his water jet. So there is some recycling available.

[@tobyw9573]

Tom, have you tried using WD for removing oil and grease residue when servicing your machinery? Also, I have found that grease gun chuck jaws tend to bend and leak if they are hard to remove from the Zerk fitting. They are supposed to be self tightening and releasing to some extent, but hey, does anyone who makes that stuff care any more? I used to have problems with leaks when greasing cars before I started loosening up on the chuck adjustment.

[@DailyDrives]

What do you use for your power knee axis on your mill? I have the same Acra and lifting the table by hand is a chore. I looked around but didn't see a video for it. Great video Tom.

[@ypop417]

I think Mr. Pete made one use a battery power drill

[@matter9]

Kind words w.r.t. Gary Morner tom, a gentle gesture indeed

[@tobyw9573]

WD is not a bad adhesive remover. Great for removing labels if the top is permeable - those must be scraped first. I used to use it to remove DMV inspection sticker remnants.

[@cliffordfender1159]

Tom, a little food for thought. A piece of paper folded once or twice and placed between the movable jaw and the granite will help to protect the parallel. Thanks for the great vid. Your friend, Cliff

[@oxtoolco]

+Clifford Fender Hey Cliff, Now where were you when I was doing this? That is a great idea. Didn't occur to me. Good thing my jaws are fresh ground and nice. Thanks for the comment. Cheers, Tom

[@esoomreltna]

Tom, due to some wear on the lead screw (X axis) from previous vices in the center application I have mine off set. I simply swing the ram over if necessary. Nice vid on keeping the baby "tuned up". Thank you. Eric

[@maloriezastrow971]

Hi Tom, I know this video is ancient history, but I was wondering. The video title say Bridgeport. Is this actually a Baileigh Mill? I thought maybe you were just using Bridgeport like Crescent wrench. ;) My company recently bought a nice new Baileigh mill that looks just like yours and I will be in charge of that monkey. Do you have any setup advice, tips or gotcha's to watch out for on it?

[@ianm452]

Some people will criticise any holding of Scotchbrite or abrasive cloth/paper by hand on a lathe to clean or finish a workpiece, but it's certainly risky when you apply it underneath the workpiece when the lathe is rotating in its normal direction. That's because you risk pulling your fingers into the rotating workpiece and into the chuck's jaws. It's safer to hold abrasives on top of the workpiece, preferably using a fine file or a flat strip of rigid wood/aluminium/plastic batten as backing for the abrasive to keep it flat, therefore less likely to catch in the workpiece. (Folding the end of the abrasive around the end of the batten and holding it there with one hand keeps it in place - ideally, I guess, it could be glued to the batten.) For those who point out differences in the use of oil or grease and where it goes, in your defence I must say that you did warn us to refer to the machine's manual.

[@thething4763]

froglube.com/ Go figure. I use SC Johnson paste wax. It has petroleum distillate suspension to keep the wax liquid so it penetrates, and then evaporates leaving the wax behind. Total water/rust proofing for metal. Very good for long term storage of chucks, angle blocks, dividing heads etc.

[@terryallemann2654]

I do not have any information on ACRA mill looks like a Bridgeport clone but video states Bridgeport Maintenance and my 15 year old son followed your instructions when he thought he would impress me by cleaning and lube my home Bridgeport's the problem is the left side oil cup on the head by the back gear is to lubricate the spindle bearings goes in head above quill with oil wick in tube that drip feeds bearings require #10 spindle oil he put Vactra #2 way lube as shown on your video way to heavy and sticky for oil wick. Now I get to pull upper off on both machines and clean tube and replace oil wick. Please make sure in your video's you have are correct for the machine you have named on them BP clones are not all the same as Bridgeports

[@Eastlakehouseofspeed]

Hi Tom thanks for all the great videos as usual. I have been using frog lube on firearms for years now it's a great product. Try heating your mill table with a heat gun or torch just slightly to where it's almost uncomfortable to touch that lube will then pull down into the pores of the metal it's pretty cool stuff.

[@rpatrick2]

"Holiday break" I did not realize you had a day job. I kept thinking "When I retire I want to have a shop like this."

[@tannerhoward5974]

It is a shame that oiling machines is not done by my coworker, with the exceptionof lathe ways by oil can not by the built in oil system. They expect everything to be replaced when it wears out I guess. Obviously that makes many of the machines viewed as worn-out junk. Its good to see some people take care of the machines they operate.

[@SuperSecretSquirell]

Love your colloquialisms Tom. Always make me laugh. Got some goodies from you today. I'll snap a few pics and send em over. Thank you very much.

[@123Danielboyd]

Your description of the lube points is wrong mate. The front oil git lubes the downfeed gears however it may work down to the quill, and the one in the back side lubes the spindle.

[@sbirdranch]

Thanks for the video. Confirms that I was still doing it right from when my dad taught me years ago. I was uncanny that we use the exact same indicators for tramming the table and the vice. I even have the same problem with my parallels being 'not'. I'm going to look into one of those granite jobs. What is in the bottles hanging off the side of the mill?

[@patricksworkshop6010]

sbirdranch I think that’s his coolant tank

[@RileyKnifeandTool]

Great video. I've been putting off some much needed maintenance on the mill, and this may be the kick in the pants that I needed.

[@shannonstebbens6992]

Tom, what is the sourcing for honing stones to use on the mill table, vise etc? Seems like a simple thing but I can't seem to find them.

[@ericsaxon1985]

EDM toolmakers stones work well in this kind of application. MSC and most industrial vendors sell them.

[@886014]

Nice one Tom, an ounce of prevention... and all that. I think it's worth emphasising to your viewers however that they should be guided by their own machines before going berserk with the grease gun! Many machines are intended to use OIL and not grease on what look like grease fittings. I've literally lost count of the number of machines I've seen ruined by well meaning people greasing up the ways etc, clogging the galleries with grease, and then effectively running them dry. Just because there are what looks like a zerk grease fitting there doesn't mean that that grease should be used, and if in doubt check first. ALL of my machines for example take oil in the fittings, and are fed courtesy of high pressure oil guns. Personally I key my vices etc with snug fitting keys, and they drop in for most purposes without further tramming. I have a big Gressel hydraulic vice I keep forgetting to make keys for and curse my tardiness every time I take it on and off. Keying fixtures can be a huge time saver, with final tramming only necessary for fussy jobs.

[@EVguru]

+Pete F I'm with Tom on this one, I hated having a keyed vise. I'm often pulling the vice off and putting it back and having keys in the base just puts my fingers and back in danger. I have a frame that clamps in the vise jaws and pushes up against the column. Very fast.

[@KnolltopFarms]

+Paul Compton Not having a mill, I took note of Tom's 2 cents on Vice Tramming back when he did his first video on it, and agree wholeheartedly. My back was broken8 years ago and will never be the same, so anything I can do to keep from throwing it out is always at the forefront of my mind. I also always lift with my legs now too, even bending at the knee to coil an airhose. As my Osteopath told me once during a test where I coiled a rope by bending at the waist, "You're not an Elephant" and waited to see my face light up with a grin knowing I'd take it as a compliment on my slim figure, only to continue with "that's an arm, not a trunk, so quit using it like one!". Body mechanics are ever so important to me now, and I just cannot take anything for granted anymore. I'd love to see the frame you clamp in your vice someday, but there's no rush...it'll be a while before I get a mill :(

[@EVguru]

Knolltop Farms I did a video back in December 2013; Quick way to tram a mill vice

[@KnolltopFarms]

Excellent, will check it out today. Thank you.

[@samuelortiz4852]

I like the sick music intro you got!!! Awesome Info videos thanks

[@milkman447]

Hi Tom- Nice video. I learned a lot. Still looking forward to the analogous video on the lathe! Cheers, Travis

[@oxtoolco]

+drotar447 Hi Travis, Thanks for the comment. Cheers, Tom

[@franjalen]

Thanks for your tutorial videos, I love your channel and your professionalism to do the work on the shop. Have a happy 2016 year, and keep going on . God bless.

[@davidpook7306]

Tried Frog lube on fire arms ,in cold weather semiautomatics fail to function . Took the bottle to the range n shot it! Done!

[@xmachine7003]

Dun!

[@railgap]

*stares at indicator arm holding mister nozzle to underside of ram* ... *smacks forehead* AND THAT WAS BEFORE YOU GOT STARTED

[@railgap]

Oh good, Google has implemented Retarded Markup Language.

[@corythomas4427]

"Oh, that little guy? Don't worry about that little guy"

[@TheMetalButcher]

Does the one pump oiler lube the ball screws? On our bridgeport you take a set screw out of the center of the table and drip some in there. Also, I don't believe there are any grease zerks on our mill. There are some oil zerks for the ways, but I don't recall any in the head. One more question. I've seen a lot of _filthy_ collets at my shop class at school, how do you clean the inside?

[@ke6bnl]

always learn something watching your videos, you do a great job, I have a lot to learn. Happy new year to you and the family.

[@BorisSpark]

As an apprentice more videos that watch the more I realise how much I'm missing in terms of knowledge and equipment, and then I realise how much I have invested and need to invest to become some what decent in the trade😔

[@Metalbass10000]

In every trade or craft, every profession really, you should expect to learn every day. If you didn't, you may not have been paying close enough attention. After a two year, full time, Machine Tool Technics program, graduating with a 3.95 GPA, and twelve years working my way from CNC operator, to my most recent position being Production Manager and Manufacturing Engineering Manager, I can usually count around 5 things I learned that day, when leaving work, every single day. It's one of the aspects of this craft I love the most. Wish you the best in pursuit of your apprenticeship, and beyond. Never be afraid to say, "i don't know," but ALWAYS follow that up with, "but I will find out now." The best machinists treasure the knowledge and wisdom of experience and those who've been around ling enough to see just about everything, but equally treasure every opportunity to learn and experience the rapidly advancing science and technology that drives this field constantly forward.

[@Metalbass10000]

What will make you good in this trade, this craft, this science, is an open mind, open eyes, open ears, and a mostly closed mouth. Have a desire to learn and enjoy every opportunity you get to learn. Be willing to step up and be tbe guy that takes on the tougher tasks, and don't beat yourself down for mistakes made, they are what usually teaches us the most. Measure twice, double check prints, double check your calculations, and if something looks f***** up, ask. I always heard all kinds of sayings about stupid questions or stupid people asking questions, but as someone who has been responsible for every dollar spent in the planning, and running, of a fairly large machine shop, and The Tool Room, I can tell you that the ONLY stupid question is the question that you didn't ask right before you fucked something up and cost everybody in the shop some money.

[@BorisSpark]

@@Metalbass10000 I got shivers 😂 and everything you said I deeply agree and believe in. No matter what, fuck ups are the biggest teacher of all, but there is a difference in being a person who makes them and continues to make mistakes and not learning and being someone who learns from mistakes. And people who make plenty of mistakes but learn from them will get much further than a person who never experienced making mistakes.

[@timw2407]

My favorite all time is ..... SNARD....it's the stuff that cakes up behind your tires in wintertime driving ... truely crusty crappy crud !

[@Leo363615]

#1 rule of being a maintenance guy be way over due to maintenance!

[@thomasutley]

You've obviously been spending too much time around Adam. Now he's got you saying "axee," too. :)

[@Likeaudio]

This video inspired me to grab a 196 kit - A++ recommendation and tip thanks Tom

[@nicholasdevries1360]

try like a .025 pin gage of cleaning between collet teeth

[@robrob9679]

I think the gentleman named Gary Morner who made/on your vise-block isn't the fellow from CA who died in the rollover accident (on the internet, a tractor trailer driver) but was in fact the machinist who worked for AK Steel, nee Armco/American Rolling Mill in Middleton, OH where myself worked, he back in the 1940/50's. Would make more sense. Be good to it!!

[@jeremiahosullivan282]

Are you multilingual? Hysteresis I understand in the mechanical and electrical sense, but, Skunge, Spooge and Stickifier ???

[@markissboi3583]

👨‍💻TechPorn 😲 don't get much better than this 👍 Brilliant work to watch 👉oz🐨straya 🕺cheers !

[@aguywhodoesstuff]

Hi Tom, At 13:52 I noticed a map of Australia and it looks like you've placed some green markers on it. Is that places you've been or where people have watched? I'm from Leinster which is about 400km North of Kalgoorlie (which is about 700km East of Perth)

[@usmcscout0311]

Thanks for the parallel tip! My vise is old with a few lumps bumps and chips. Never thought of that.

[@sto2779]

Would you prefer a real bridgeport over an Arca?

[@Max_Marz]

I see your new silvent gun there, I got myself and a couple of the guys in my shop one of the "industrial" models. Its been quite the nice air gun but what they ask for them at retail is pretty insane. Mine were ebay scores at like 50 bucks a pop and we ended up with 6" long lavel tips, Its quite nice for blowing out those m6 holes in the turret from a distance, the fins give you enough of a space for the yummy sour coolant to fly out of there cleanly.

[@edgeofeternity101]

The Co I work for just replaced the head on a 1987 Acra that I use daily. They actually replaced the heads on two of these machines. My mill's power feed was not working and the unit was replaced with one just like on your mill. We have encountered a backlash problem that when the mill is cranked to the right, it pushes the brass gear away from the drive gear. The old manual shows no adjust for the X axis, but shows one for the Y axis. The indicator shows .059 thou backlash. The old X axis shaft is pushing the inside bushing of the needle bearing in and out depending on the direction you hand crank it.

[@SLRist]

My mill (Baileigh 949) is similar but not identical to that - has the same body castings, but a different head. Are the Zerk fittings always for grease? I had read that sometimes they were intended for use with a high pressure oiler, and grease shouldn't be used. How can you tell the difference? Thanks!

[@JosephDAndrea0121]

FYI Frog lube is not mean to work with conventional oil. It likely will work how you are using though. It is meant for firearms and works awesome.

[@charrontheboatman]

Thanx for showing how to do the PM on these girls.. It doesn't even begin to say it that NO ONE, when you buy a new machine or two..Mine came from a G ...... co. and nothing was covered other than hey you need to grease this every day with oily stuff. Geese the manual could only have been more vague if it had been written in cezch, which I sadly do not comprehend. Gr8 Video and thanks for the teaching...

[@Hardturnin]

Very Important topic because if we do the right thing our machines will be much better off. Protecting the asset will not allowing it to turn into a piece of junk way before it's real life of bringing capacity and profits would expire if ever. At our one major customer has required of us a new required processes of us to use a refractometer each start of the shift and record daily what it reads coolant wise 7 to 8 is the goal and then adjusting accordingly. Tom I always set it the vise aside bottom up to clean like you. I use a stone as you do also making sure they are lapped well. Would you give any thoughts on Vactra #2 VS the new synthetic now promoted? Our shop now has switched to synthetic on CNC's.

[@JCisHere778]

Hi Tom, could you show us how to lapp those india-stones? The ground ones are just way too expensive. BTW, all youre tools and machines are cleaned very neatly. I should really invest some more time in cleaning my shop too, Regards form germany

[@joe1212a]

I have a Series 1 and on mine the higher (more towards the front) oil cup oils the down feed and quill (no wick just a drip hole) and the lower (more towards the back) oil cup oils the spindle bearings and is the one that possess the wick. Are you sure yours works the way you described? I just restored mine so I'm positive and I doubled checked the parts schematics before I dared make this post just to be sure.

[@esoomreltna]

Tom I bet Gary put his name in at an angle for the same reason you surface grind on as short a run as you can. Ti eliminate stress on one "straight" part of he block. Just a theory (which has to be true as my dad said so about 40 years ago!! LOL) Eric

[@TheMetalArtMan]

Not all zerk fittings on a mills are made for grease and sadly a lot of mills get ruined because people assume that they are : (....very common mistake...

[@CharlieMoDank14]

I’m looking for a mill. Do you know of one for sale? I’m in California. Bridgeport Perfered.

[@stxrynn]

Good grief! I'm not interested in moving to the left coast if you have all that growing on your tools!!! AGW called it. I thot it was tough living near the third coast what with all the cold fronts, warm fronts and an unheated shop. You've got me beat by a long shot. Great info as always, and thanks for the 'excuse' to get out in the shop.

[@dustinc1820]

Could someone who is better at video editing than i PLEASE make a montage of all Tom's "special terms"?

[@ColdCoffee122]

You could try a drop of Froglube on your lesser used collets seem like it stops rust real good. David Mitteer has an entertaining video on applying it kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJSWg5iDrLGAntE

[@billlee5307]

As always, instructive and fun. You think your old now? Wait and see how old you get in twenty years! Best wishes for 2016!

[@gixer6847]

I use/like the Starrett edge finder

[@tobyw9573]

Gotta watch the lengths of those bolts for holding your vise. If they are too long a ham-handed novice could break the top out of the t-slot when the bolt bottoms out on the bottom of the slot and forces the t-nut through the top of the bed. Normal operation the bolt/nut clamps the bed to the vise. I agree with using bolts instead of studs, stud/nut combo exposed threads love to eat knuckles.

[@digismurf]

This is one of my favorite Tom video's it's like we are there in the shop with him just spending time together picking up golden nuggets of wisdom. Thanks for sharing Tom!

[@johnm840]

Yep, he reminds me that I miss so many simple tasks.

[@robchesley4591]

Drop us a like for that indicator.. that one works great

[@FreeskierSean]

This was so helpful! Is your power knee just an electric drill?

[@OrbiterElectronics]

Don't know if you know of this stuff or not Tom but as an ex vehicle technician I've been using Boeshield T-9 to protect my hand & machine tools for many years, and the stuff is awesome. For daily/weekly, or even monthly use you can just wipe-on/wipe-off the Boeshield T9 like you would with most other oils, however if say the tools are stored for a longer while you can treat them with this stuff and just leave it on there and it will turn to a very fine lube grease that protects for ages. boeshield.com/

[@oxtoolco]

+orbiter8 (John) Hi John, Have not tried the Boeshield but have tried Corrosion X. Mixed results with the corrosion X product. Thanks for the comment. Cheers, Tom

[@gigabytex64]

With the collet grooves why not use a piece of an aluminum can I ts slim with a sharp edge.

[@tobyw9573]

I suppose you could use an edge finder to find and check for squareness vertical surfaces in place of an indicator and one with a large wiggling diameter could be used to check for vertical, all on the cheap.

[@tobyw9573]

Nice masonite table covers, the rubber ones are pretty expensive. WD40 is also a decent label/adhesive remover for labels it will penetrate. The wash bottles we used in chemistry lab are good for lube cutting oil too.

[@gangadhardas3318]

Hello Sir I am From India 🇮🇳...wow amazing 💥

[@jcortiz123]

froglube.com there is a website

[@Cinnabuns2009]

At the minimum you should be at least going off the edge that is flat against the dead jaw? Not the side facing the floating jaw?

[@mariocortes1337]

You are the master i like it!!

[@DSCKy]

Dental floss might work for cleaning the slots in the collets. I think they even make an over sized floss?

[@LarryDoolittle]

I am hooked. Great stuff. I would never believe this kind of stuff would fascinate me. I am a hand tool guy.

[@AzizaVFR]

I second the Boeshield for under the vice. Froglube makes for a great cutting paste for stainless. When it gets hot with the cut, it is its own air freshener.

[@harveydix7611]

Great video!! I guess all i can add is to crawl up top and lay an eyeball on the cog and drive belts to check for chips sawing through them. Usually done on a strict schedule of when i get around to it! :))

[@paultavres9830]

Tom question here I recently got a Well -Setting mill I noticed on the front of the frame there is a big M I just seen the M on your mill What does the M represent Any idea?

[@herbiemitchell9156]

Microcut??

[@Casket-Man]

I seem to remember it's an international standard for machine or casting quality. I have a Taiwanese lathe with the same casting mark. I have an old school machinist friend who told me this but I've forgotten exactly who made the standards. Google didn't help, I'll try and remember to ask him about this again.

[@firstlast7867]

Norton stone, do you have a mfr Part #? Norton has a part number 61463685560 6"x2"x1" Combination Coarse/Fine Grade. If you use it, it has to be good and correct as well. Thanks, Dennis L.

[@oxtoolco]

Yep thats the one. Combo grit. They make a smaller 4 x 1.75 x .63 that is the same just smaller and handier on the surface grinder. Thanks for the comment. Cheers, Tom

[@RjBin-xz2um]

Always enjoy the videos Tom. Wondering if you bought your mill new or were you lucky to find a low mileage used unit?

[@PeterWMeek]

Good video with some important reminders. To lubricate the threads on power drawbars, you can heavily grease or oil the internal threads of one of the tool holders and run it in and out a few times (and then clean the tool holder again).

[@davebarcelon]

How did you drill a hole in the vise for the stop !!!!!!!!!!!

[@richardhoward3462]

I'm not a machinist but find your vids very interesting. Is your mill a Bridgeport clone? Is the quality comparable? Just curious. Thanks!

[@oxtoolco]

+Richard Howard Hi Richard, My mill is a Bridgeport clone made by Acra. Very happy with it and the quality. Two thumbs up for sure. Thanks for the comment. Cheers, Tom

[@tobyw9573]

What sort of action do you have to look for in moving the table in the X or y axis to the end of travel? It looks like you would be measuring the wear on the table vs the other sliding parts.

[@levonkazandjian9948]

Maria0312

[@pauljones3866]

Great review and advice. Now I know what I will be doing this weekend. Happy New Year!