Bridgeport Mill. Machinists input please

[kurtis500]

I have the standard 9x42 Off brand Bridgeport knee mill and I'm looking to put some upgrades on this thing. I use it occasionally and sometimes not much at all. But sometimes Im in front of it for days with a job... With that said Im looking for what you think has been the best add-ons or upgrades for your machine. This machine is bare of any add ons like a DRO or etc.

Let me know what you would put on your mills if you started with a bare machine.. knowing what you do now. My first peice will probably be a DRO, eventhough I have enjoyed the precision and calculations using the hand dial. Im ready to just watch a screen,

DRO, powerfeed, tool mounts, quill DRO.. anything?? Almost bought a rotary table a few times....thoughts?

FYI, im not a profesional machinist.

 

[bonesfab]

I put a economical Dro off amazon on my lathe and mill and love them. Cheap now days. I have a rotary table and honestly have never used it.

 

[JUSTWANNARACE]

I put a economical Dro off amazon on my lathe and mill and love them. Cheap now days. I have a rotary table and honestly have never used it.

Only time I really used my rotary table is when I bored a throttle body and had to make a new butterfly to fit the bore. Other than that it was to drill holes in a circle pattern

 

[bonesfab]

Only time I really used my rotary table is when I bored a throttle body and had to make a new butterfly to fit the bore. Other than that it was to drill holes in a circle pattern

Mine is too fucking heavy to pick up. I would need the engine hoist to get it on the table.

 

[Kbach]

A DRO would definitely be a great upgrade even if it's a cheap unit from eBay or amazon. The cheap ones have gotten so good at doing measuringlenght, angles, bolt circles, etc that it's a no brainer for less than $200.

 

[Kbach]

Mine is too fucking heavy to pick up. I would need the engine hoist to get it on the table.

This times 10000000!!! I have an expensive 14" yuasa rotary that collects dust and rust on the floor of the garage. Meanwhile the $100 8" import rotary I bought off Craigslist for $75 years ago gets a fair amount of use.

 

[kurtis500]

Perfect! Thats exactly why I havent bought the rotary table.. and will put it down on the list now

 

[SoCalDave]

I would start with a 2 axis DRO, power feed on the x axis, and a simple coolant function.

 

[kurtis500]

I would start with a 2 axis DRO, power feed on the x axis, and a simple coolant function.

What are you using for a coolant system? Is it a recirculating system that pulls from the table then back through the hose?

 

[Racer56]

Like what was said above. 2 axis DRO and x axis power feed. Tool holders mounted on the machine are really convenient. Personally I think a air hose with a blow gun hanging within reach is mandatory.

 

[lbhsbz]

2 axis DRO, a good vise, a bi-ax indicator (Chinese ones from Shars work fine), and a cheap 8” 3 jaw lathe chuck...bolt a piece of stock to it to clamp in the vise to hold anything round. parallels, 123 blocks, an adjustable V-block, some aluminum and steel soft jaws, and a vise stop.

whatever vise You get, clamp a parallel in it and mill a .125” deep x .062 step in the tops of the jaws to hold small things with out screwing around with parallels.

this stuff covers 95% of what I do with my mill.

find a shop vac to keep nearby...better to suck up chips than blow them around and get them where they don’t need to be.

rotary tables are great but very rarely used...skip that....plus, if you get one big enough to be useful, it’ll be so fucking heavy and a pain in the ass to set up that you’ll find workarounds anyway to avoid fucking with it.

 

[kurtis500]

Thanks again everyone. I probably should have started with this but heres what I have already

Bridgeport vise
automatic taping head - rarely use but what an awesome tool
set R8 collets mounted on the machine
Clamp sets, T-nuts etc. a few parallels and 90's
assorted tooling..$$$
Shopvac mounted next to machine
Air hose within reach

Im trying to get a grasp on the 3 jaw chuck mounting. Are these mostly lathe chucks that need to be retrofitted to a vise mount? Otehrewise it looks like most are in the form of a small rotary table that clamp like a regular vice does. Help me out here if you can

Also, do the misting coolant systems work fine or do you ned to go all the way with flood coolant and recirculating pumps?

 

[nowski]

How about a good old Machinist Handbook to start with. Here's a few more things to add to the shopping list, Sine Bar and Precision Gage Blocks, Criterion Boring Head, Fly Cutter, Good Test Indicator with Combination Stem Dovetail Holder, Kurt Angle Lock Vise, Spray Mist, Mag Base, Edge Finder / Center Finder, Z Axis DRO, Clamps and T-Nut Fasteners, Couple of Lathe Turning Tools to turn your mill into a lathe for turning small parts if no Lathe is available. The list is endless but this should get you going in the right ( X, Y, Z ) direction...

 

[lbhsbz]

Thanks again everyone. I probably should have started with this but heres what I have already

Bridgeport vise
automatic taping head - rarely use but what an awesome tool
set R8 collets mounted on the machine
Clamp sets, T-nuts etc. a few parallels and 90's
assorted tooling..$$$
Shopvac mounted next to machine
Air hose within reach

Im trying to get a grasp on the 3 jaw chuck mounting. Are these mostly lathe chucks that need to be retrofitted to a vise mount? Otehrewise it looks like most are in the form of a small rotary table that clamp like a regular vice does. Help me out here if you can

Also, do the misting coolant systems work fine or do you ned to go all the way with flood coolant and recirculating pumps?

I took a lathe chuck and bolted a piece of 1x1x8” stock across the bottom. I use it mainly for boring holes when the workpiece is too big for the lathe, or drilling round bolt circles (think brake rotors, flanges, etc...). Once you figure out the chinesium instructions for your DRO, you can program in bolt circles and other patterns and all you have to do is find center (with your biax indicator). For stuff where center is not super critical...I have a 6” cone shaped thing I turned up that fits in a 3/4” collet that acts as a rough “center finder”.

 

[Racey]

Noga Mist coolant, DRO + Quill DRO are most valuable things.

I have a Noga style mister mounted permanently to my lagun, i use it every time i run the machine, have a 1 gallon coolant tank mounted to the body of the machine that it siphons from. No recirc, it just evaporates as it's mostly water in the mix.

Do not put a powerfeed on unless it's a good one (like $500+) The chinese ones are pieces of shit, don't maintain consistent speed, sort of defeats the purpose other than saving you from moving your arm, which aint that hard.

Don't let that Yuasa rust to shit, they are super valuable, if you don't use it put it up on ebay before it gets destroyed. They are a precision tool and rust will kill the surface flatness


Most 3 jaw chucks will have a face mount where they are through bolted onto your spindle adapter for a lathe, so instead of mounting to the spindle adapter you can mount onto an angle plate, or a rotary table.

I have a 4 jaw independent that i use on one of my 10" Yuasa's. I drilled through the chuck to make holes that match to 4 of the 6 slots for the rotary table.

 

[kurtis500]

How about a good old Machinist Handbook to start with. Here's a few more things to add to the shopping list, Sine Bar and Precision Gage Blocks, Criterion Boring Head, Fly Cutter, Good Test Indicator with Combination Stem Dovetail Holder, Kurt Angle Lock Vise, Spray Mist, Mag Base, Edge Finder / Center Finder, Z Axis DRO, Clamps and T-Nut Fasteners, Couple of Lathe Turning Tools to turn your mill into a lathe for turning small parts if no Lathe is available. The list is endless but this should get you going in the right ( X, Y, Z ) direction...

can you expand on the lathe turning tools a bit? Im guessing this is the 3 jaw chuck mounted to the table to start? or a rotary table?

 

[lbhsbz]

can you expand on the lathe turning tools a bit? Im guessing this is the 3 jaw chuck mounted to the table to start? or a rotary table?

Put workpiece in collet, clamp lathe tool in vise.

 

[kurtis500]

I havent shopped tooling in a while and the prices are SO MUCH lower than 10-15 years ago. Enco was my main source for cheap stuff but things are really cheaper now. Especially the DRO. In 2005 they were big $$.. I went with using my head and a calcuator and peice of paper. A few screwups along the way but it makes you think about what your doing.

By the way, I'll be working with Titanium 6AL-4V for a period of time. Picking up some M42 cobalt bits.. any suggestions here would be good

On the order list so far:

-3 axis DRO - 3rd axis on knee or quill? or get a quill DRO? 4 axis systems drop down funds too much
-Mist coolant
-V-blocks - never had them..and needed them numerous times
-3-jaw chuck
-A set of 5 edge finders. I have only 1 now
-sine bar set and slip gauges

I having to go with cheapo amazon stuff... let me know what to add and if any of these in Amazon quality should be avoided.

 

[lbhsbz]

I havent shopped tooling in a while and the prices are SO MUCH lower than 10-15 years ago. Enco was my main source for cheap stuff but things are really cheaper now. Especially the DRO. In 2005 they were big $$.. I went with using my head and a calcuator and peice of paper. A few screwups along the way but it makes you think about what your doing.

By the way, I'll be working with Titanium 6AL-4V for a period of time. Picking up some M42 cobalt bits.. any suggestions here would be good

On the order list so far:

-3 axis DRO - 3rd axis on knee or quill? or get a quill DRO? 4 axis systems drop down funds too much
-Mist coolant
-V-blocks - never had them..and needed them numerous times
-3-jaw chuck
-A set of 5 edge finders. I have only 1 now
-sine bar set and slip gauges

I having to go with cheapo amazon stuff... let me know what to add and if any of these in Amazon quality should be avoided.

I have a 3 axis and I’ve never felt the need to mount the 3rd axis. You don’t have backlash in the knee like you do on the x and y...so just use the dial.

 

[Rajobigguy]

I would start with a 2 axis DRO, power feed on the x axis, and a simple coolant function.

These are the most useful upgrades. Can be done for a few hundred dollars and makes the jobs so much quicker and easier.

 

[nowski]

Put workpiece in collet, clamp lathe tool in vise.

Exactly. Just think of it as a verticle lathe, same principles.

Those R8 collet's are an incredible work holding device and accurate to boot...

 

[River Runnin]

 

[Racey]

I havent shopped tooling in a while and the prices are SO MUCH lower than 10-15 years ago. Enco was my main source for cheap stuff but things are really cheaper now. Especially the DRO. In 2005 they were big $$.. I went with using my head and a calcuator and peice of paper. A few screwups along the way but it makes you think about what your doing.

By the way, I'll be working with Titanium 6AL-4V for a period of time. Picking up some M42 cobalt bits.. any suggestions here would be good

On the order list so far:

-3 axis DRO - 3rd axis on knee or quill? or get a quill DRO? 4 axis systems drop down funds too much
-Mist coolant
-V-blocks - never had them..and needed them numerous times
-3-jaw chuck
-A set of 5 edge finders. I have only 1 now
-sine bar set and slip gauges

I having to go with cheapo amazon stuff... let me know what to add and if any of these in Amazon quality should be avoided.

If you are gonna actually need the precision of a sine bar don't waste the money if you are gonna buy chinese junk, as their is no point as the precision is useless. Both in the sine bar and the gauge blocks. With a nice dial indicator and the DRO you can do better for setting up a job precision than a chinese sine bar.

Noga magnetic indicator base, and either a Mitutoyo or Starrett 1" dial indicator, this is another thing you don't want to skimp on. The purpose is precision don't rely on a $20 indicator, a brand new good Mitutoyo is maybe $90.

Look on Ebay for used stuff to save some money.

a single 0.200 starrett edge finder is good for almost everything, you don't necessarily need 5 different tips, i hardly ever use anything but the round .200 od one.

Also you almost never will need more than the 5" the quill gives you on a precision depth, i wouldn't bother with a 3rd axis on the knee, you'll never use it most likely.

You can use the quill DRO to step yourself down 5" at a time in a pinch.

An eccentric boring head is a must, Critereon

Also don't buy chinese clamping sets, they are fucking worthless. So shitty, twisted, marr up the surface of your parts. I bought a 3/8"one once just for the studs and nuts, even those were so shitty i threw the whole thing out.

 

[Sherpa]

Get an inexpensive lift table that go high enough to slide over a rotary table onto the mill table.

I have a large “Advance” brand X-Y rotary table that probably weighs over #300. No way am I lifting that.. rotary tables work nice. And can substitute a lathe in operation.

I bought inexpensive power feed from eBay years ago. Work as advertised.

I’d say a power drawbar would be a complete luxury at this point..

 

[oldboatsrule]

US shop tools. MSConline.com and McMaster Carr add these to you rolodex

US shop tools is hard to beat on pricing

Good lighting and a decent pair of safety glasses are the only things that haven't been mentioned.

 

[SoCalDave]

What are you using for a coolant system? Is it a recirculating system that pulls from the table then back through the hose?

Self engineered, I'll post some details pics on Monday.

 

[kurtis500]

US shop tools. MSConline.com and McMaster Carr add these to you rolodex

US shop tools is hard to beat on pricing

Good lighting and a decent pair of safety glasses are the only things that haven't been mentioned.

Mcmaster Carr is a go to for me. 2 times a week average. They other I have to try

 

[Kbach]

I think I have a Kool Mist system if you're interested. It was a spare from a machine I bought and was going to sell it a while ago but you know how that goes . Had it stashed away somewhere, just need to remember where...

 

[Kbach]

Mcmaster Carr is a go to for me. 2 times a week average. They other I have to try

This! The McMaster delivery drivers know us very well since they're at our place several times a week.

 

[kurtis500]

This! The McMaster delivery drivers know us very well since they're at our place several times a week.

I order from Phoenix and if its in by 7pm UPS has it to my door next day from McMaster in LA.. Love it

 

[lbhsbz]

I order from Phoenix and if its in by 7pm UPS has it to my door next day from McMaster in LA.. Love it

McMaster is awesome. I’ve ordered online before work and on a couple occasions it was on my desk when I got there an hour later. I don’t know how they do it.

 

[SoCalDave]

We spend on average of $50k year with McMaster...

 

[SoCalDave]

@kurtis500
Submersible pump from HF, 3/4"ID hose, 3/8"OD hose, 5gl bucket, magnetic base nozzle (McMaster) and wireless outlet (Amazon).

Oh and every knee mill needs a draw-bar tool like this one. I hate using a wrench then setting it down to get a brass hammer. Can't remember where i got it though, maybe MSC supply?

 

[rivergames]

Been machining brackets on my old school Bridgeport for the SB2 Motor going in the P550 this year. All by turning handles. No CNC here.

Nothing to hard. Just don't turn the handle the opposite direction!

 

[RiverDave]

2 axis DRO, a good vise, a bi-ax indicator (Chinese ones from Shars work fine), and a cheap 8” 3 jaw lathe chuck...bolt a piece of stock to it to clamp in the vise to hold anything round. parallels, 123 blocks, an adjustable V-block, some aluminum and steel soft jaws, and a vise stop.

whatever vise You get, clamp a parallel in it and mill a .125” deep x .062 step in the tops of the jaws to hold small things with out screwing around with parallels.

this stuff covers 95% of what I do with my mill.

find a shop vac to keep nearby...better to suck up chips than blow them around and get them where they don’t need to be.

rotary tables are great but very rarely used...skip that....plus, if you get one big enough to be useful, it’ll be so fucking heavy and a pain in the ass to set up that you’ll find workarounds anyway to avoid fucking with it.

Are you talking about making soft jaws or something and doing that?

Every Vice I’ve ever had comes with hardened ground jaws.. meaning you aren’t gonna mill anything into them. ??

 

[RiverDave]

This times 10000000!!! I have an expensive 14" yuasa rotary that collects dust and rust on the floor of the garage. Meanwhile the $100 8" import rotary I bought off Craigslist for $75 years ago gets a fair amount of use.

let me know if ya want to sell the rotary table!

 

[Dana757]

What are you using for a coolant system? Is it a recirculating system that pulls from the table then back through the hose?

I use a mist system. Flood makes a huge mess without an enclosure

 

[lbhsbz]

Are you talking about making soft jaws or something and doing that?

Every Vice I’ve ever had comes with hardened ground jaws.. meaning you aren’t gonna mill anything into them. ??

I cut steps in the original jaws that came on my Kurt...cut like butter with a 6 flute carbide

 

[RiverDave]

I always find it fascinating how everyone does things so differently.. I will throw in my two cents.
For just getting started I would get a speed handle for the vice. (Not sure what you are running currently). The big donkey dick handles take forever and you will end up over clamping and crushing things with them.. there’s a million different speed handles but just something simple works and it’s inexpensive.

Second thing you are going to want is a vice stop. Technically you can use your clamps but it’s a pain in the ass.

Depending on how crazy you want to get a lot of these things our fun project to make on your mill. A simple clamp with thumb screws can make a nice little vice stop.. Or you can purchase one cheap enough.

That would be thing number two.

If you want to make something trick, you can do that as well. Here’s the vice stop my old man made in the 70’s..

It is hardened abs ground etc.

 

[RiverDave]

I cut steps in the original jaws that came on my Kurt...cut like butter with a 6 flute carbide

I am still scratching my head as to why you would do this.. ?

 

[lbhsbz]

let me know if ya want to sell the rotary table!

I offered you a 12" Yuasa several years back....I ended up selling it to the first guy that would move it off the shelf for $50

 

[Dana757]

The must have is a good USA made vice like a Kurt. So worth the money. Parts don’t come out good when the import vice is not square. Next would be DRO that will also do bolt circles and power feed on the X.

 

[Dana757]

I am still scratching my head as to why you would do this.. ?

Built in parallels. I have jaws like that. Didn’t cut the OG’s tho.

 

[RiverDave]

For the next thing you are going to want is a nice magnetic base and indicator setup.

you will end up using this for a variety of things (more things than I care to list) but a couple of things are making sure parts are square in the vice.. or you pull the indicator out stick it into a collet or drill Chuck and you can find center in a hole etc..

 

[RiverDave]

A DRO is a must on the X&Y but I disagree with most here on needing the Z. You have a quill lock and a knee that is a .100 a revolution. Every shop I ever worked at only one had a Z DRO on their machines.

I’m not saying it’s useless because they are very useful, but they aren’t important to key functions of the mill.

Key things to buy in the beginning is two sets of nice calipers. Parallels, 1,2,3 blocks, v blocks..

you will need a boring head (don’t go cheap on this or the boring bars) preferably criterion if you can stomach the price tag.

If you are running aluminum a variety of nominal sized HSS endmills, then get one or two carbide cutters in nominal sizes and a couple of random corn cob cutters for flat ass roughing.

Insert cutters are expensive but worth it if you are going to be doing a lot of material removal or working with steels.. Depending on the diameter and number of inserts though they take their toll on the machine over time.

How much do you know about machining and finding centers etc already? If you are indicating to find center and you have a DRO I can show you some tricks to speed things up quite a bit.

 

[RiverDave]

On a side note in precision shops their won’t be an air hose within 20’ of a manual mill. If you blow the machine off, especially down on the ways, it will lift the table ever so slightly and chips can get up underneath..

Vacuum only for cleaning!

It would be fine to run air down to the quill to aid in chip removal or even run a mist system..

Personally I don’t run most or coolant for fear of rust Down the road. I always just run wd40 or cool tool 2 for cutting lubricants and applied with acid brushes and a non spill container.

The amount of money you are going to spend on tooling is going to be staggering, but remember you will have it for life!

 

[RiverDave]

I havent shopped tooling in a while and the prices are SO MUCH lower than 10-15 years ago. Enco was my main source for cheap stuff but things are really cheaper now. Especially the DRO. In 2005 they were big $$.. I went with using my head and a calcuator and peice of paper. A few screwups along the way but it makes you think about what your doing.

By the way, I'll be working with Titanium 6AL-4V for a period of time. Picking up some M42 cobalt bits.. any suggestions here would be good

On the order list so far:

-3 axis DRO - 3rd axis on knee or quill? or get a quill DRO? 4 axis systems drop down funds too much
-Mist coolant
-V-blocks - never had them..and needed them numerous times
-3-jaw chuck
-A set of 5 edge finders. I have only 1 now
-sine bar set and slip gauges

I having to go with cheapo amazon stuff... let me know what to add and if any of these in Amazon quality should be avoided.

What are you making out of titanium?

 

[ltbaney1]

I would say a 2 axis DRO, a Power feed and 5C collet block if you have any 5C collets laying around or want / need any round work, and some sort of coolant system. let me know and I can help with any of it.

 

[Racey]

A DRO is a must on the X&Y but I disagree with most here on needing the Z. You have a quill lock and a knee that is a .100 a revolution. Every shop I ever worked at only one had a Z DRO on their machines.

I’m not saying it’s useless because they are very useful, but they aren’t important to key functions of the mill.

Key things to buy in the beginning is two sets of nice calipers. Parallels, 1,2,3 blocks, v blocks..

you will need a boring head (don’t go cheap on this or the boring bars) preferably criterion if you can stomach the price tag.

If you are running aluminum a variety of nominal sized HSS endmills, then get one or two carbide cutters in nominal sizes and a couple of random corn cob cutters for flat ass roughing.

Insert cutters are expensive but worth it if you are going to be doing a lot of material removal or working with steels.. Depending on the diameter and number of inserts though they take their toll on the machine over time.

How much do you know about machining and finding centers etc already? If you are indicating to find center and you have a DRO I can show you some tricks to speed things up quite a bit.

Don't you have an analog readout on your quill Dave?

Honestly after having a scale on the quill i'd never go back to not having one, so useful for drill depth, pocket depth, etc.

As for air not around the machine, i disagree. Just don't be a dick and try blowing directly into the ways. Works great to shoot some air from a couple feet away to clear the mess out.

Now if you aim the nozzle right at the way wiper that's a different story.

Also i've been running mist cooling for a few years now and never had a rust problem, mix it 20:1 water to coolant oil, made me a little nervous at first, but the water evaps and the oil stays and no rust. Kinda leaves a film like cosmaline if you let it build up over time, i clean regularlly with WD-40 though.

 

[RiverDave]

Don't you have an analog readout on your quill Dave?

Honestly after having a scale on the quill i'd never go back to not having one, so useful for drill depth, pocket depth, etc.

As for air not around the machine, i disagree. Just don't be a dick and try blowing directly into the ways. Works great to shoot some air from a couple feet away to clear the mess out.

Now if you aim the nozzle right at the way wiper that's a different story.

Also i've been running mist cooling for a few years now and never had a rust problem, mix it 20:1 water to coolant oil, made me a little nervous at first, but the water evaps and the oil stays and no rust. Kinda leaves a film like cosmaline if you let it build up over time, i clean regularlly with WD-40 though.

I actually do have an analog read out on my mill. Lol I will take a pic of it shortly. Modified caliper with some brackets..

My old man also flipped the quill lock to the backside and inversed.. I never quite understood why he did it but he did.