Years ago I bought a Bridgeport milling machine!

Worked great for many years.

The electronics started playing up.

Bridgeport didn’t have replacement.

I looked locally and managed to get working replacements.

Worked for a while.

Then problems started.

Replaced it with another American milling machine.

About half the size but fine for our work.

Sadly, it turned out not be as good as the Bridgeport.

So I had to look for a replacement.

Find what we wanted in Germany.

Got it last week.

A great machine.

But, my tool holders won’t fit in it!

Imperial v Metric.

I had to replace all my hold down tools.

And buy a new chuck - MT2 instead of R8.

And all the relevant collets.

We are finally in operation, and happy with the change.

My CNC lathe is Metric.

That is not a problem, we get all our metal rods in millimeters.

And I can program the software in inches??!!

My main, manual lathe had metric indicators .

Found on the Internet how to change it to inches.

Wasn’t really necessary as all my measurements are by outside tools.

You bring out such a great point. Why does not the worldwide machinery makers simply argee on one form of measrement?

Can one imagine all the time alone that would be saved without having two sets of wrenches to work on almost anything

Year ago,in the US a half hearted attempt was made to jpin the rest of the world and "Go Metric"

Just didn't fly.

I have used this outfit for parts and service, very friendly and lots of parts

H&W Machine repair

I agree with DUane, big problem

Spanners, Allen keys and so on, I have sets in both metric and inches.

We are lucky here as one can find practically any tool in the market.

My CNC lathe has a battery that keeps the stored memory.

One day I got a warming sign that the battery was going flat!

I Don’t have a spare and never realized I need one!

Called a friend in this business and asked him what to do.

He said as long as I keep the machine on, I won’t loose my data.

But I have to change the battery before turning the machine off.

He gave a phone number to a man he deals with.

Called him.

Told what machine I have.

He asked me to take a picture of the battery and send it to him.

I did.

He said will make one for me straight away, and I could go to pick it up.

Sent my driver to get it.

The battery was actually several 123 batteries joined together!!??

I got 2 sets and I keep a spare all the time.

Whenever I replace one, I buy two.

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe (CG&R):
... Can one imagine all the time alone that would be saved without having two sets of wrenches to work on almost anything

Or three sets if you work on anything British, if not more, what with Whitworth, BSE and goodness only knows what other "Standards" they have introduced over the years.