Disassembly of the Bridgeport Step Pulley Top Half

This video goes through the disassembly of the Step Pulley Bridgeport. To disassemble the quill please see our Quill Housing Disassembly video.

[@edl5074]

Love watching the internals and how they work had mine apart have used you guys for all my parts !!! Great always right the first time !!! Thanks be looking forward to the esembly

[@bigwave_dave8468]

Great video! Comments: if you work on motorcycles, you might own or have a friend with a slide-hammer puller for removing blind-hole bearings to avoid drilling punch-holes under the small bull gear bearing. Also, drilling holes might be an issue for folks that oil versus greese. I noticed a pool of oil there when I dissasembled my j-head. Oh, last comment or rather a tip I learned from my grand dad--when you're working dirty/greesy, get some dish soap and put it on like hand lotion and let it dry before you start your work. Cleaning hands will be a lot easier. You can also dig your fingernails into a bar of soap to keep grease out of your nails. Cheers.

[@JoeB-pv8su]

Thanks for another great video. I would not have tried to renovate my Bridgeport without the assistance of your videos and getting parts from your company. Great customer service and always willing to help and answer my questions. Thanks again.

[@renaissanceman7145]

Yeah, that's one helluva pair of snap ring pliers!! Thanks for all the videos! I appreciate all the knowledge you share regarding the inner workings of the Bridgeport milling machine. My machine and I thank you.

[@arnoldsmachinetool4632]

Thank you for taking the time to show the proper way of disassembly. I did mine by trial and error well lots error. got her apart and ordered parts from you. great customer service ! very helpful , knowledgeable and fast shipping. Looking at replacing the spindle bearings next with the sealed ones. ( I have your kit in mined ) again thank you for the video.

[@joshlaycock3256]

Excellent video. Thank you so much. Your experience is very much appreciated.

[@tomb816]

A trick for getting the blind bearing out. Pack its hollow shaft with grease and reinsert the bull gear shaft. Try to seat it with an arbor, press, clamp, etc. The hydraulic force should push the bearing out.

[@jackphillips8771]

Thank you very much sir, you do a great job on the mill and a great job explaining, not confusing at all.

[@paulfloyd228]

Thanks Barry, really useful video as usual. Regards Paul

[@avxavx2825]

Thank you very much for doing this video. Greetings from México.

[@dingorun1]

Fantastic video sir! Thank you for making and sharing this! Very useful!

[@mannuel9165]

thanks to your video i understood how does it work and already fixed my problem with w-40 the top part was not moving to engage the spliner thank you

[@BobWilson84]

This is awesome! A company who goes through the trouble to record repair processes step by step and AND offers rebuild kits! Aside from the scraping and repair to the ways, a person with moderate machinery experience can tackle this! My humble hydraulic press is no match for that awesome arbor press you have though.

[@bigwave_dave8468]

Also at 14:40: I got the snap ring off with a long needle nose pliers. It was a bit fat so I ground the tips down a bit to fit the snap ring holes.

[@RockingJOffroad]

This is the video I’ve been waiting for! Thanks!

[@patirving1461]

me too very helpful have a knock off of a bridgeport but this should be close.

[@ruperthartop7202]

Great video, thanks

[@TgWags69]

@10:45 Easy way to remove the captured bearing without drilling holes. Sand or turn on a lathe - a wooden dowel or punch...some kind of shaft so it is a sliding fit on the inner race of the bearing (I used an old brass valve stem I use as a punch). You can use the upper one to size it. Make sure it is tight but slides easily. Pack the inner shaft area of the lower bearing with grease and center the dowel/punch and strike with a hammer. Remove pack with more grease and do it again until it is jacked out. This method is basically making a makeshift hydraulic jack. Very quick and easy once your punch is made.

[@TgWags69]

P.s. don't try and be clever and use the spline shaft. It is too tight and removing it is a pain. You want a slip fit.

[@fermentedwaste1730]

This video was a huge help while putting new bearings in my head. Thanks!

[@dougvanallen2212]

I'm glad I found this channel I'm I the market for a J head

[@rb67mustang]

Great job! Liked and subscribed.

[@victorparamo3650]

Great video very helpful

[@jylmachineshopvb]

Very helpful!! Thank you!!!!!!

[@1stJaytree]

I have this same hammer at 13:20 in my shop and it's my go-to medium sized convincer

[@anonymousgeorge4321]

Don't apologize. The sound of machines running is music to my ears.

[@mftmachining]

oh yes

[@robertorosas648]

Muy constructivo felicitaciones

[@StormbringerMM]

Awesome.

[@BM-xc9sq]

Could you use a pilot bearing puller on the small bearing instead of drilling holes?

[@hairyfro]

I used some bread and the axle that the pinion gear rides on to remove mine. Google "pilot bearing bread" to find some videos on how it's done.

[@44Celt]

@@hairyfro Take care not to knock through the cover [like i did] its only about 1/16" thick and being made of 50 year old diecast

[@rexioguy]

I am sorry, do you know ehats are specifications for belts, i need both of them and a spare parts list or service manual

[@kvom01]

I bought your head removal tool and used it as a stand for the disassembly. I encountered one problem right away when the nut holding the motor on the left side would not unscrew (the interior bolt just turns with it. I needed to remove the motor cover and use screwdriver against the bolt head to prevent it turning with the nut. Once top half is off, any idea what the rest of the head weighs? On my mill there is no hole in the housing through which the small bull gear pin can be punched out.

[@HWMachRepair]

Just the quill housing itself weighs about 100 lbs. If you have any other questions give us a call 1-800-285-5271

[@BLAC_WORX]

Do you see the same performance from the shielded bearings in place of the expensive original style bearings?

[@HWMachRepair]

Yes, we see no difference in the performance between the bearings. The fact is, 90% of the step pulley heads we get in here for rework have had the original bearings already replaced with standard bearings. -Barry

[@BLAC_WORX]

@@HWMachRepair thanks for the reply. I placed an order with you guys last week for tons of hardware for my Series 1 step pulley. Its my first rebuild and your content has been very helpful. My Step Pulley head still has the original bearings up top. they roll smooth and there isnt any obvious slop in them... I'm not sure how to determine if they should go back in... How do you test them? thanks!

[@HWMachRepair]

@@BLAC_WORX We generally replace the bearings automatically because we are doing a rebuild on the head and the cost of the bearings is not very high but as long as you did not have any know issues before and the bearings are spinning smoothly than you can reuse them. Just remember if they fail you will be tearing the head apart again. -Barry

[@BLAC_WORX]

@@HWMachRepair Makes sense. I was planning to keep them since I thought it would be +$200 for those bearings. Ill have to do some thinking on it. thanks for all your help

[@afterhoursfab]

Great video but you left out the one part I'm having problems with: the spindle pulley hub. My J-head wont shift out of high gear, the top nuts are all hammered to hell and the cam pins are stripped so I'll be tearing it down soon.

[@HWMachRepair]

I actually already had that one filmed before this one. I had full intentions on getting it processed and uploaded, but everyone in the office/ shipping area (including myself) has been out sick. Once I get caught back up that is going to be the first one I do. If you need help until then, you can give us a call and Barry or Heather can help you out. -Virginia

[@afterhoursfab]

@@HWMachRepair Thanks. I plan on pulling it apart soon and will be ordering parts from you then. I thoroughly enjoy the narrators insight on the common problems these machine have. 👍

[@jeffpitzer8521]

Do you guys do service on Bridgeport clones or have parts available for them?

[@HWMachRepair]

Some, what do you have?

[@jeffpitzer8521]

I have a j head Bridgeport that probably needs a full rebuild including scraping and an x axis screw probably not a 1st priority.. a millport clone that right now is my go to mill. The brake is broken and the power quill feed does not work. It has a DRO so i use it instead of the Bridgeport. And i have a variable speed Jet that's at my buddy's shop till i get my new shop built. The millport is probably the one I want to focus on first. It probably needs scraping too but if i can get the mechanical things fixed until I get my Jet home then I can do a full restoration on the millport and then the Bridgeport...

[@HWMachRepair]

@@jeffpitzer8521 Millport parts aren't as readily available as they used to be, but we can still get some parts for them. If you want to shoot an email over with the parts you are looking for I can get you availability on them: [e-mail]

[@jeffpitzer8521]

Thank you...I'll have to take it apart and see exactly what parts I need.

[@link12552]

The "bread trick" works well for removing that last blind bore's bearing. Just be careful not to hammer your plunger all the way through, or you may crack the casting (ask me how I know haha)

[@totallyjonesin]

Pilot bearing puller. It attaches to a slide hammer. I made my own.

[@mannuel9165]

how can i fix mi bridgeport 1hp j head the high speed it does not work

[@HWMachRepair]

There are multiple issues that could be causing your high speed not to work. Can you give us a call and one of my techs can take you through some troubleshooting steps: 1-800-285-5271 / 260-422-0020

[@horacerumpole6912]

How about more burr filing and less forcing-

[@blengravers]

I wish he had finished his lunch before doing the video...gross.

[@Jarni1979]

spit that chewing gum