Bridgeport Mill | Quill Service and Repair | Part 1

GreenGander75 with Buddy Philips
The Bridgeport Mill head has been taken apart for service. The quill housing has been cleaned, stripped, and painted. The gears and all internal parts have been cleaned of old grease and rust. Today we will begin the process of putting it all back together.
From time to time you will see me reference a book titled:
"A Guide to Renovating the Bridgeport Series 1 "J" head Milling Machine", by ILION Industrial Services LLC. 2nd edition (February 14, 2013)
You can buy it here: www.amazon.com/Guide-Renovati...
I have no affiliation with IlIon Industrial Services LLC. I just like their books.
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[@johnstrange6799]

Great to see a new one from you, Buddy. Glad you got some repair parts in and have her on the mend.

[@GreenGander75]

Thank you John. This project is moving along pretty good. I hope to be making chips real soon.

[@BobNchannel]

right on Buddy, i hope to see more of your mill progress

[@GreenGander75]

Thank you, Bob and thank you for watching!

[@nutgrower2957]

Greatly appreciate the information about the rebuild book. It is also available on eBay. Cool! Mine is not shifting from low to high: the clutch is not moving. The rearward in/out shifter is working fine, but the mechanism that allows the dogs on the shaft to engage is not working. Need to get it working.

[@GreenGander75]

Great book to get started on a project like that. I got mine on eBay too. Most of my repair parts also came from eBay. I also recommend H&W machine. www.machinerypartsdepot.com. They have a lot of the hard to find parts you might need. Good luck and thanks for watching!

[@dc6233]

I would be so happy if I could find one video that explains why the clutch needs adjusting and how to set the other adjustments for the power quill on a J head. I've watched 50 videos now and not 1 person explains it....

[@GreenGander75]

Hi DC. Many of the parts on the J head require little to no adjustment. I found that the parts are machined to fit in the correct orientation when reassembled. Someone once told me this was to allow for quick repair work and less downtime in a production environment. What are some of the issues you're having with mill? I'll be happy to help if I can.

[@dc6233]

@@GreenGander75 There's an adjustment that limits the clutches travel at the arm, seems like you have to cover half the pin or it binds up. There's a clutch adjustment on the spring itself, and there's a set screw underneath the quill that takes the slop out of the rod that makes the clutch drop out when your feed adjusting nut bottoms out. That's how I see it just by messing with it, but I can't find info on it other than what I perceive... I can take parts out and get them back together, I just wish someone covered the adjustments, what they do and when they need to be done. My auto feed wouldn't work, I turned a set screw in 1 turn and it worked again. When I was an Ind Mechanic I could "expirement" on various machinery and it's adjustments, but this is my BP mill and I don't want to break anything.

[@GreenGander75]

@@dc6233 It's been a few years since I repaired my BP, but I think I'm getting a better idea of what might be happing. It sounds like you're having issues with the forward/reverse assembly and the auto stop lever to stop the up and down motion of the quill. Does this sound right? Also, is your BP a "J" head like mine or is it variable speed?

[@GreenGander75]

Hi DC. I had a chance to look at my mill this weekend and it sounds like you're having issues with the overload clutch assembly located on the left hand side of the mill. I was advised not to adjust mine as it was working fine. I found this video and it may help. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGfNmZukadmbm6c

[@dc6233]

@@GreenGander75 Thank you friend, I will check it out. It's just in my nature that I like to understand everything. The guys that sell BP parts (H&W machine and repair) have a video on the clutch and a mod. They actually remove the pin that goes into the aluminum cap/housing. Then he drills and taps a 1/4-20 set screw into it. It appears he is putting more pressure on the rear portion or pivoting portion of the clutch, but he never describes why he does it, when it's needed and how to adjust it. He just states to be careful if you adjust it in too tight because you'll lock up the gears (makes sense). He's got some great info, but he leaves out some very critical points. I decided to leave that pin in, but I turned the ends down to .125 (from .187 I believe), then drilled and tapped in the set screw with 1/4 turn of pressure. He says in the video that if your clutch is still good that this will keep it working, but if it's bad this mod does nothing. To me it just sets it closer to the other gear and it can float a bit more, I wish he'd explain it better but I'll figure it out. The adjustment underneath just seems to effect when the auto feed drops out. The adjustment on the brass lever seems to just keep at least half that drop out pin covered (sorry, no better way to explain it) but nothing is etched in a handbook anywhere. Thanks very much for responding, lets get you up to 1K subs....

[@Daniel-vq9zb]

Just bought a series 1 a few weeks ago with a noisy head, cant decide if I should just rebuild the upper or do the lower part aswell.

[@GreenGander75]

Hi. Sorry for the late reply. Rebuilding the Bridgeport was hands down the most difficult project that I have completed yet. However, learning the complexity of the machine has made it one of the most rewarding projects that I have completed. VintageMachinery.org is a great resource for original information. "A Guide to Renovating the Bridgeport Series 1 'J' Head Milling Machine" by ILION Industrial Services LLC, was my go to book. I would not have been able to complete the rebuild without it. I would highly recommend getting this book first so you will know what to expect. It can be purchased on Amazon and eBay. I purchased most of my repair parts on eBay, H&W Machine Repair & Rebuilding, Mataco (mataco1 on eBay), and Tool Guys (toolguys2 on eBay). I hope this helps a little.

[@GreenGander75]

Just saw your latest video and I gave you the information for the wrong book. I recommend: "A Guide to Renovating the Bridgeport "2J" Variable Speed Milling Machine 2nd Edition" by ILION Industrial Services LLC. The other book doesn't cover variable speed.

[@sakthimohan1385]

Quill automatic not working??

[@GreenGander75]

Hi. Sorry for the late reply. I wasn't receiving comment notifications. It wasn't working before but I haven't had any issues after the repair work. Thanks for watching.

[@DieselRamcharger]

no mention how any of this works. useless.

[@GreenGander75]

Hi Diesel. I'm sorry you didn't get the information you needed. Do you have a specific question on what's going on? If I don't know the answer I might be able to point you in the direction of someone who does.

[@dc6233]

@@GreenGander75 Looks like I'm not the only guy looking for more info. It's actually kind of crazy, how many BP mills are out there and a parts diagram and service manual aren't easy to find in 2021! I can find a crappy parts diagram but nothing talks about torques, adjustments, limits, tolerances, how to's etc etc....