I was trying to get him to buy a 5 axis CNC mill so we could make our own actions and double rifles!

Okay, so they are new to me..



Frejoth f1 900ag

I've got a 1.5 (opps) hp gearhead 13x37 gap bed lathe!!! d1-4 camlock spindle, 110v/220v, about .0005 runout... and that's not +/-, that's TOTAL...





Bridgeport "J" series Mill

Man, i can't believe this one...

EVERY surface still has "frosting" on it, table and ways

1hp 220 3ph, VFD on the way

~18-20 thousandths on the X and about 12 thou runout on the Y



Didn't get a vise with that one, dang it... so anyone got a kurt or kurt style 6" vise with swivel base?



A thanks to EVERYONE who's bought stuff from me in the last 4 months... this is what it added up too!!



Jeffe

Hey Jeffy

Now that you have those fancy machines maybe you need to do some serious practice work to learn how to use them real real well. I think you should offer all of us on the forum some free metal work so that you can get some practice on those new machines!!!!!

Blue

well cut loose jeffe! Your first project on the new mill... Make a 4 bore falling block

Rusty,
it should be mono blocks for shotgun actions...
that's COMING, i hope... might be a couple years, but the hobby has to pay for itself first...

I might need a shophand to come over and help me to make some quarterrib barrels to pay for the 4 axis...

with the eaa coming, at least there will be a maker that makes worse guns than me...

You need to come over sometime (i'll call ours friends up north to check, again) and see what i've done with the shop and reloading room.... WOW

jeffe

I hope that 1/5 HP is a typo.

You want at least 1-1/2HP, 2 is better.

Changing motors is easy, sometimes you have to make up a base plate to accomodiate variations in base bolt centerlines.

And, if the lowest speed is not 70 or less, do some drive pulley changing and reduce the speed to 50 or so. My 13x40 Jet gear head went to 2000 on the top end, I never used it. Made up a jackshaft speed reducer, speeds now are 35 to 1000. Next step is to install a 2 HP DC motor I have sitting on the shelf. This will give me variable speed from zero to 1000. High speeds on today's import lathes are an engineering mistake, no one needs them.

One of the tricks with single phase motors is to remove the motor from the back of the lathe and make up a motor stand that bolts to the floor. (The lathe should already be bolted to the floor and leveled). This trick will improve the finish when you are making the fine feed cuts. Gear head lathes, with single phase motors mounted on the back of the lathe, are prone to making a fine wavey or "phonograph" finish. This is caused by the 60 cycle "hum" or "plugging" of the single phase motor.

There was merit in the old lathes with a flat belt drive. Very nice finish if the operator did his part and knew how to grind tool bits. Direct dirve speeds were such that finishing cuts could be made without using back gear.

Bridgeport "J" series Mill
Man, i can't believe this one...
EVERY surface still has "frosting" on it, table and ways
1hp 220 3ph, VFD on the way
~18-20 thousandths on the X and about 12 thou runout on the Y

How are you measuring the runout? Do you mean backlash in the hand crank/lead screws? You should not have over 0.001" runout over the full travel of the table in either the X or the Y direction. And you shuld be able to adjust the back lash out, most Bridgeports have adjustable nuts for the leadscrews. And, check the gib adjustments also. The gib is a tapered wedge that tightens up the dovetail ways to take up the slack from wear, you can measure this by mounting a dial indicator with plunger on the table and trying to rock the taple back and forth. Gibbs have a large slotted screw to adjust. Too tight and cranking the handwheel is "stiff".

Be sure to lubricate the wqays and the leadscrews on the Bridgeport, mine has a one shop pump piped to all lube points. One pump on the handle and the ways and leadscrews are lubed.

This lubrication note is for the lathe as well. I lubricate all points on my lathes each morning before use. The 13x40 has over 10,000 hours and no wear!!! Most folks do not lubricate the lathes and the darn things wear out.

Change the oil in the headstock of the lathe!

For the vertical mill, measure table runout with a dial indicator mounted on the head, and the plunger touching the side of the table. Same thing for setting up a vise, to get the back jaw lined up to the axis to the table. I will take a photo and post to show how to do it, a photo is worth 1000 words. My vertical mill has a attachment point on the head for holding a dial indicator bracket.

John,
thansk tons... learning from the master woudl be the best..

the hp was a typo.. it's 1.5 hp...
the chuck has the tinny runout...

i already did change the oil out on the gearhead

oiling the ways and oil points? you mean that's somehow optional?

I'll be super happy to have a pic or 1000000 of how you set up your machines... From what i've seen, you would die laughing at most "training" course work, and be 100% correct


the BP has everything but DROs... so when I walk out to touch it, the one-shot gets a tug.

I am installing a VFD for it tomorrow, so I've got some nice choices on speeds

speaking of speeds, the lathe is like 60 to 1800...

good advice on the motor stand.. i'll have to think about that alot.

anyway, these are 'new to me" and honestly, fairly new machines.. the lathe was moothballed about 2 months after purchase, 15 years ago, and the mill had one single job, all it's life...

I have alread cleaned and painted the lathe, and I am in the process of painting the mill

jeffe

Congratulations on the major shop equipment!!! A real day to remember when the good stuff comes in.

May you be buried in swarf as you're making chips ;>

I recently purchased a used Bridgeport mill. I am definitely still a novice, and would appreciate any good suggestions for, books, web sites, etc. Thanks.

Thanks!!

swarf ahouy!!

i just installed the VFD, what a minor pain, and tested the runout of the spindle...

is "zero" good?.. my el cheapo runout dial gage wouldn't even register it... i touched it to make sure... yeppp, and then triple checked it... it's BARELY descernable that the needle has wiggle.... and that might have been the flourescent lights!!!

the lathe is still giving me electrical trouble... more on that later....

the brigeport KICKS ASS

jeffe

Jeffe

Congrats What's the first project?

By the way your signature line . That might not be quite true.The way I heard it, it had something to do with the sound of zippers stampeding the English livestock

Rich

YEEehAQAaaaa

After just taking the lectrics out, and building a bench testing enviroment, i found where the previous owner (second one) had tried to get it running.... He cojoined the 24vac control circuit with the 110vac run circuit!!!

DAMN, this lathe is STRONG!!@@

Did I mention the mill is already running? I am just waiting for the collets to get here to make the chuck key and tool post key for the lathe!!!!


oh, yeah, I've got an import kurt style vise for the mill in the post... the one that came with it is a little rickity drill vise!!

<happy dance>

jeffe

I'll have to make atrip up north and see your new toy!

OK, guys! Lunch at Jeffe's!

I'll put a blackbuck hind on the bbq!!!

bring some michalobe ultra...

heck, that sounds like a good idea... then go to the range, all fired up?

jeffe

Jeffe,
You are embarassing me. I have a Bridgeport, a KO Lee Surface grinder and a Sand blaster cabinet ....... all in storage waiting for me to get my shop ready. And they have been there for over 2 years. Maybe this spring.

Chic,
I have only been looking for a good BP for nearly 2 years, that I wanted to afford, and the lathe fell into my lap.

I've been waiting and waiting.. and it finally came together...


anyone got a good idea on how to get a 1800# BP off a pallet?

jeffe

Jeffe,
I got a good chuckle out of Glen's solution. My friend who manages the moving company and is storing it for me said to rent a forklift and set it where you want it. May require doing some prep work before hand.

I got my Bridgeport from Maurice Ottmar and a all of his cutters, tooling, jigs etc. He also had a set up to use the mill as a duplictor for quarter ribs. You glass the barrel and front ring in one side of a jig arrangement and then with a collar and a mandrel that runs in the mold, you cut the bottom surface of the quarter rib with the mill. A bunjy cord supplies the down pressure and you just move he set up with the x axis of the table. When I get it set up I will send some photos.

Termites?

Beats my son's idea of a controlled fire...

I am thinking long hydrolic jacks and timbers...

It's in place, it runs... it's 5" too high!!

duplicator?
Chic, brother, YOU ARE KILLING ME!!!

jeffe

I had a buddy who used a cherry picker (for engines) to get his off the pallet. Might also think about using a come-along under a big beam if you have one nearby.

LOL tell your son fire was the first thing that popped into my mind too!

I've unloaded lots of heavy equipment and their are lots of ways to do it, some better than others. Trust me, I've done both and lived to talk about it.

Of course, the easiest way to do it is to rent a forklift for day at around $100 and just lift it up and put it in position. You can even use the forklift to hold it up while you shim the corners to make sure it is plumb and level.
Even a fairly small forklift should easily lift an 1800 lb machine.

The other way is to use some of those engineer bars (2) and a couple of blocks about the same height as the pallet. This process takes about 3 guys to complete safely.Just set the blocks about 6 inches away from the end of the machine and use the engineer bar to lift that end of the machine and remove that part of the pallet, even if it means cutting that end of the pallet off. Have the engineer bar handlers let that end of the machine down on the floor and do the same on the other end. This, of course, works best if you have the machine close to where it is ultimately going before you start. For this you should be able to use a simple pallet jack. After getting it off the pallet, simply use the engineer bars to "walk" the machine into place. It is a bit time consuming, but much cheaper than the forklift option.
Glad to hear you got the lathe running- Sheister

Jeffe,
If I can talk my friend Mark Stratton into it, he can post a picture of the complete setup for the rib duplication. He also has a CD that he is selling that has some incredible machine set ups, all the way from custom bases to milling half round half octagon. I do have a photo of that somewhere that I will post. He has a backing plate for the octagons and you cut on the front surface of the barrel. Works slick. Mark is also coming out with a book in the near future and I am waiting for that.

He and I are associate editors of The Gunmaker, the quarterly publication of the ACGG. I think the associate dues would be worth just the articles that Mark writes on a regular basis.

I just took a look on his site and then went to the ACGG GUNMAKER link but that particular use of the mill was not discussed on there. Here is Mark's site. I will do some prodding to see if I can get him to post a photo for you. The ACGG a few years ago also had a pneumatic follower that attached to your lathe and virtually eliminated chatter when cutting a contour on a barrel.

I rented a forklift to unload and position mine.

Chic just sent me an email asking for some tooling photos for AR. I'm going to send you to http://www.roderuscustom.tzo.com/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.cgi?s=4026d85303f0ffff;act=SF;f=2

for photos of three fixtures. If you have any questions, I'll be back. Oh by the way, I'm custon gunmaker on the board.

Oh WOW!!!

the bridgeport beats ANY cheapy mill i've ever used... accurate, fast, STRONG, torque and repeatable...

Oh, the love

jeffe