Newbie question. I got the lathe into the back of the clinic with the help of two other guys and ten pieces of iron pipe for rollers.

I have to take the table off of the mill to get it trough the door. I disconnected all the oil lines, DRO parts and power feed cables. I screwed the "y' all the way forward after I removed the stop pin, but the table won't come all the way forward and off (a good thing, I'm sure). If anyone has directions (hopefully with pictures) on how to remove the table, I would appreciate it.

It is a Belt Drive, and is a lot cleaner than any of the variable speed units I looked at.

Here are a few pictures going around the base of the table clockwise (God's eye view), starting and ending in front:

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Thanks for any and all help.

LD

LD
Never did a B-port, so take this for what it's worth.
Remove the 4 bolts that hold the leadscrew in, and remove it first (unscrew it like your winding the table to the rear)
Now slide the table off the front. You may need to loosen the "wear compinsater" (can't think of the correct name at 6AM, sorry)

Lawndart

STOP RIGHT NOW PLEASE

let's talk before you take that table off. i'll pm you my phone number...

you are about to make a serious mistake, i am not kidding

for what it's worth, you take the table off by running the table all the way to the left (hanging over on left side), removing the LEFT end cap, 4 hexhead bolts, remove the crankhandles and index dials, and then a castle nut, depending on model. there's 2 setpins on the endcap/table

screw the table back slightly to the right, which sets some pressure on the yolk -- which you'll see in a minute-- remove the right endcap.

have a VERY good system of friends and a chain hoist...

loosen the gibbs

push the table all the way left, and it WILL COME OFF IN YOUR HANDS... it's heavier than 2 dead hogs in a burlap sack, but not nearly as cumbersome... and has a dang good chance of bouncing off the floor.

do not take this off unless there is no possible other way

jeffe

LD, I hope you talk(ed) to Jeffeosso as you don't ever want to take the table and saddle off together, which is what you're describing. If you must, the table will slide off just as instructed then if you have to you can pull the saddle, but don't do them together. Expect the table alone to weigh about 400#. A good way to "catch" the table is with a rolling tool cart...just crank it off onto the cart.

Get Tom or some of your patients to help!

LD

If you can't make it work call me up and I will come and take the thing off your hands for you.

John,
heh, if the saddle comes off with the table on, the yolk is now in at least 3 independent pieces!!!

table first, remove the yolk and screw, then saddle.

jeffe

Call someone that knows what he is doing.

Lawndart.

Do as Jeff says.
The TABLE is very HEAVY.
The last one I took off to work on I had two 55 gal drums all set up to the LEFT side to hold the table. I set the Z hieght to match up with the bottm of the table and laid a piece of 3/4 plywood over the drums to prevent any table dammage.
Then two of us slid the table onto this makeshift unit to hold the table.

Do not get in any hurry and take it slow.

Good Luck.
Jim Wisner

Thanks guys,

I be going slow. I'll be on the phone.

I'll leave the saddle on, just need the table off.

I have a forklift to use on D (drop) day.

I can put a sheet of 1" plywood on top of the forks, and get two other guys to help.

I'll give you a call in a couple hours jeffe.

Just seeing the lathe in the shop area is AWESOME.

I'm going to have to raise these machines up about 5"-6" to save my back. That will be next week's project.......

I picked up a new Conquest Vise for the mill. 6" wide, 8" deep. It is basically a Kurt without the name or the faggy blue paint job/gold handle. $295.00.

Thanks to all. I will be very careful.

LD

Why don't you take that thing by the car wash before you put it in your shop!!!

You might check to see if you can run the table to one end and swing it through the door. Might check it with a cardboard template or lay it out on a CAD program.

Lawndart........wouldnt it be easier to make the door bigger

LD, just be sure to video the entire process so one of the survivors can post the clip on You Tube.

quote:

Originally posted by Gringo Cazador:
Lawndart........wouldnt it be easier to make the door bigger

Seriously, if you've got a carpenter/contractor buddy, I'd take Gringo's advise. It's what I do and if I was in your neck of the woods I'd do it for you. It's not a big deal.

ld,
please review this link...

bridgeport through a standard door.

read the whole thread.. it's pretty fact rich

use 1/2 round stock for rollers...

bp's are REALLY easy to tip and turn... and a palletjack is a REQUIRED tool for moving them any distance.

jeffe

LD, how tall are you? I could use a few more inches[my wife agrees] to easily reach my Bridgeport switch if I am on the left side of the vise. I wish that my lathe was about 4" taller.
Butch

hi Butch,

I'm 6'1", not counting the bullshit or hat.

I might buy some 5" square steel pipe and borrow a plasma cutter to make some risers. I'll look if there are some 1-2" tall shock isolators to put on the risers. When the gravel trucks go buy I can feel some slight trembles.

LD

quote:

bp's are REALLY easy to tip and turn... and a palletjack is a REQUIRED tool for moving them any distance.

Roger that,

I have a forklift for movement out side the building. I will look for some 3/4" round stock. 1/2" won't clear the transom.

As they say: "Stay low, go slow."

quote:

Lawndart........wouldnt it be easier to make the door bigger

Billy,

The wall around the door is made of concrete block filled with re-bar and more concrete. The door has a steel frame, and it's a steel door. I can't afford that type of wall surgery these days.
LD

quote:

Why don't you take that thing by the car wash before you put it in your shop!!!

You might check to see if you can run the table to one end and swing it through the door. Might check it with a cardboard template or lay it out on a CAD program.

Most of that oil leaked out after I took off the felt wipes. The machine as a whole is incredibly clean and well maintained.

I tried the cardboard template idea yesterday. It is three inches awy from working. I have to tilt the head to clear the door frame.

quote:

LD, just be sure to video the entire process so one of the survivors can post the clip on You Tube.

If you can get Mark Sullivan to show up, I can guarantee the machine will fall over.

In any case, we'll take a few pictures for the coroner to look at afterward.

Jeff.

I lost track of how many machines I hauled in a short bed half ton 1978 Chevy, in my younger and stupid days.
One of these size mills will make it sit down and take notice I will tell you.

I would have two 2x12x 6 foot doug fir planks that would have a steel lip to fit in between the bumper and the bed. I had an comealong in the front of the bed attached to the machine to prevent it from getting away from me. Then use 1 inch rollers to roll off the machine from the truck.

Slow and steady it is surprising how you can move a machine this size on rollers on a smooth hard surface with a 1/2" thick pry bar .

Many times I would move the machines during the weekend and Monday morning the crew would wonder just how in the heck I did it all by myself.

The machines that gave me the worst trouble, weighed over 3200#, and were top heavy. Raise them just enough to roll and move them about 3/4" a time and reset. work about 15 min and then grab something cold to drink to let the sweat dry.

Thankfully I do not have to move many anymore, since my back really won't take it much anymore.

Think about this, I have two Bridgeport Boss 5 CNC mills sitting in my shop. the door is 6 foot wide, so that is no problem. BUT I had to remove the heads from both mills to get them thru the standard hieght door. Then move them in place and use a cherry picker to reinstall the mill heads. The ceiling hieght is only 102" so only have about 3 inches to spare to clear the top of the motor.

Jim Wisner
Custom Metalsmith

Jim,
i too have done a couple of those ---wtf-- moves... it is dumbfounded how easisy they move... but a darn good thing to know and remember when you are leveling, right...

i watched a guy move a bp series 2 with a lasso and some 1/2 bar..... lowered the knee he unbolted it... took his rope, lassoed the top of the head... walked around the left and right sides, pulled the rope a bit, and a helper , not me, slid 2 rollers under each side... then he put the rope just about the transformer box.. the helper pushed, he pulled, and they moved it out...

wow...

jeffe

John,

Get some of the levelling pads for setting it up. It will raise the height some and make levelling it a lot easier.

Jim

quote:

Get some of the levelling pads for setting it up. It will raise the height some and make levelling it a lot easier.

Thanks Jim,

I'll check on those.

quote:

Originally posted by lawndart:

quote:

Why don't you take that thing by the car wash before you put it in your shop!!!

You might check to see if you can run the table to one end and swing it through the door. Might check it with a cardboard template or lay it out on a CAD program.

Most of that oil leaked out after I took off the felt wipes. The machine as a whole is incredibly clean and well maintained.

I tried the cardboard template idea yesterday. It is three inches awy from working. I have to tilt the head to clear the door frame.

Lawndart,
Once upon a time I did the CAR for 7 Bridgeports at a place I worked.
Your comment about the head tilt reminded me they came in from the factory with the heads rotated upside down on the table.

Tear out the door and the jamb. It will be easier to replace and besides, you obviously need a bigger door....

Ta Da!

I got two suckers friends to help today. They mainly stood around to laugh when it fell on my head. I took the door off. The frame is 34" wide. We slid it through on a pallet jack without any problems. The whole job took about 15 minutes.

Next up is to buy or build a sky-hook and put in some risers. I found some vibration insulation levelers on the net.

It should raise the work surfaces a total of six and 1/2 inches.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

LD

Hey lawn dart........be sure and get the pallet jack outside the door before you put the door frame back in , if it was me I would just get used to haveing pallet jack in my shop.

LD,
you should be able to tip and wedge that thing up higher... a dead lift would, well, SUCK. BOLT IT TO THE FLOOR!!!

was in the shop, working on getting my cnc (bridgeport varispeed) hurco back up and running... had some trouble with line attenuation and just got the dang linedriver/pullup resistor pack from USD.

chips ahoy, here in the next month or so... as the line drivers are causing me problems.... and, well, the o'scope might have had a bad reaction to a coolant spill.....

jeffe

The riser will be bolted to the floor.

I cannot work with a Bridgeport bolted directly to the floor. No way, no how, not ever.

Plenty of ways to lift the machines. Have welder, will construct.

LD

LD,
I am 6'4 and "long waisted"... working on an unraised BP will KILL me... but heh, cnc... it's setup, change tools, and wait it out

jeffe

I have seen Bridgeports "raised" by installing a 6" tall spacer on top of the main column.

What kills me is having to bend over to work on the table. I'll have a small riser to the left of where I usually stand if I have any trouble reaching the top of the head.

Oh yeah, lots of cushy stall mats on the floor.

That fork lift was like flying a dishonest plane. You make a control input...three seconds later it lurches in a random direction a random distance. Kinda fun. The job went a lot easier by picking up the toes of the pallet jack and shifting them over to make it easier to get the whole mess through the door. Next time I'm just going to use one helper to steer the pallet jack and act as a safety observer for door clearance, etc.

What is that old saying about floor jacks? "A thousand uses around the shop, none of them safe."

It was a wonderful feeling getting that beauty inside. I'll move Z1R's next week. I left his in a cornfield in October. It has only rained four times and snowed twice since then.

quote:

Originally posted by lawndart:
I'll move Z1R's next week. I left his in a cornfield in October. It has only rained four times and snowed twice since then.

That means the rust blue should just about be done?

The fun part will be moving the rust bucket back out in May.

By the way, I think I still owe you for the bluing solution...

LD, it is a rather easy task to make a form and fill it with concrete, as a platform for your mashine. If you use floating concrete, it will level itself, and your BP will have a solid rest at your right height.

quote:

By the way, I think I still owe you for the bluing solution...

Not to worry, I had an extra bottle of "Gun Godess" from Jim Baier.

Blue and Gray look really well together.

quote:

LD, it is a rather easy task to make a form and fill it with concrete, as a platform for your machine. If you use floating concrete, it will level itself, and your BP will have a solid rest at your right height.

I am taking a good look at that idea Bent. I had originally thought to use 5" x 5" square steel tubing for risers, but the concrete pads would be just as easy to install, and would be quieter.

quote:

Hey lawn dart........be sure and get the pallet jack outside the door before you put the door frame back in , if it was me I would just get used to haveing pallet jack in my shop.

Billy,

Hi Billy,
I was able to leave the door frame on, I just pulled the pins on the door itself. The passage way is 33 1/2" wide, and the pallet jack is just 27" wide.

People in town were wondering what the %*&^ was going on when they saw me driving down the alleys on a forklift with a pallet jack over the blades.

quote:

People in town were wondering what the %*&^ was going on when they saw me driving down the alleys on a forklift with a pallet jack over the blades.

I forgot another bit of Bridgeport trivia.
Where I used to work they would move them from time to time to use them as 2nd op machines for the horizontal machining centers. If facilities was too slow to get there 5 or 6 guys would just push it across the oily floor. It was a lot easier than it sounds. Looks sort of humorous the first time you see it.

Ooh,
I'm too much of a cleanliness Nazi for that. Not about my personal hygiene mind you, just about the clinic. many grooming sins can be covered by a surgical cap. The stubble on my face just indicates that I was up all night (on the internet or playing with guns).

LD

Lawndart

Do you have your surface grinder all set up and working yet?