Replacing the Collet Alignment Screw on a Bridgeport

This is one of our most requested videos. This shows how to replace the Collet Alignment Screw on a Bridgeport "J" Series Head.

[@jonbuckley8770]

I found this video series while looking for any tips help get the Quill Nosepiece off. Mine was seemly stuck really well. After witnessing the back and forth tapping of the nosepiece to help loosen it I found this ACCU II mill to have a left handed thread on the nose piece! No wonder I could not get it to budge. Good rule of thumb I always follow is to never force something apart, there's probably a good reason why it is not working as expected but I never expected this to be a left hand thread. I hope this info helps someone else that may be struggling with this same Taiwan machine.

[@niklnikl1]

Thank you! The Nosepiece on my Taiwanese BP copy appears to have left hand thread as well. I wouldn't have thought of it unless I read your comment. Also, it appears the set screw is a 6mm x 1, and not SAE.

[@tvedestrandjff9696]

Your videos have helped me a lot with my Bridgeport, really appreciate it. So has you parts. One thing I would have done a bit different here though I would have screwed the drawbar inn a few threads before hammering on it to prevent maring/damaging the threads.

[@mchasal]

Thanks for this (and all of your) video, just did this job and it helped immensely. One thing I noticed, I made the alignment marks as shown, and didn't even rub them off! However, after pulling the nose piece out I noticed that some previous owner over-tightened the nose piece a bit, causing the set screw to miss the factory recess and chew up some of the threads. I cleaned them up with a thread file, but then marked the location of that recess on the nose piece and used that mark to line up with the set screw hole instead of the mark I had initially made. Just something to check to be sure that it was on there correctly to begin with.

[@pedrowhack-a-mole6786]

R8 keyways vary in depth from tool to tool. I have always used the shallowest keyway tool to set the collet alignment key depth.

[@ruperthartop7202]

That's great, keep 'em' coming, many thanks

[@jeffpream5019]

On the cap retaining set screw you do not need to tighten it too much. The set screw just keeps it from turning and if you put too much pressure on it it will deform the quill sleeve causing it to get sticky/rub when fully retracting the quill. (Thanks for the videos !)

[@gordonwiese33]

I don't understand driving the spindle down with a drawbar? How can a drawbar screw into the spindle with no collet installed? Would like to see a pic of this spindle arrangement. Same 7/16-20 tpi drawbar used for both collet and spindle? Thanks!

[@HWMachRepair]

You are not screwing the drawbar into anything while doing this procedure. The drawbar is acting like a long punch for the spindle. If you have more questions you can give us a call 1-800-285-5271

[@JohnBrown-hx5oy]

H&W is a great company! Barry is the “bomb!” I called customer support and Barry got me up and running again with answers to my questions. I am amazed how helpful they are! Thanks very much!!!

[@kimber1958]

Thank you

[@rt88glow]

Thanks for posting these; they are very helpful.

[@Spurioushamster]

Great videos, they've been invaluable for rebuilding the bridgeport clone we recently purchased at work. Why on earth did the make the locking screw hollow? Surely a standard set screw would have worked just as well

[@alanc1490]

Great Bridgeport video's! Need to replace my collet screw, was dreading that job until I watched this video.

[@richardsaunders2431]

Thanks for all these bridgeport videos. Extremely helpful!!

[@PeterWoodrow-gz5jn]

Absolutely amazing.

[@martybadboy]

I've never seen a Bridgeport that had the alignment pin still in place!

[@haywoodchablomi8037]

Anybody know where I can get a good quality spanner wrench for the nose piece? The cheap crap on amazon broke on the first try and our nose is really stuck on there. About close to using a pipe wrench and ordering a new nose cap.

[@HWMachRepair]

Barry says to give him a call if you have the chance. If your nose piece isn't coming off with a regular spanner wrench he is concerned you may have some cross threading going on. He does have some tips that he can give you: 1-800-285-5271

[@haywoodchablomi8037]

@@HWMachRepair Called last week and got it ordered. Saw your phone number in a comment below. Thanks guys.

[@fatboyfester]

Are you doing counter sales during the covid shutdown or just online sales ? I need to get some of these screws I thought I bought extra the last time but I cant find them

[@HWMachRepair]

We are listed as an essential business and are open. You can give us a call if you can't find the parts online: 1-800-285-5271

[@russgould707]

Would that screw be metric in a Jet milling machine?