The Bridgeport also came with this very nice power feed system for the x axis. It has a high and low range which can be selected for a whole range of speeds. Tonight I helped one of my students mill some brass rod that needed to be faced for a long section of the rod. We used the power feed to rapidly face the pieces and it saved us from having to stand there and crank the dials for the repeated longitudinal cuts. I've actually formed calluses from cranking the dials on my mini mill and non power feed bridgeport so this was really awesome to me. I'm sure most of you out there won't care, but I thought it was cool nonetheless... call me "simple".
8 comments:
That would have been nice a few years back. Doing it the old way builds character.
Hi. I have one of the first power feeds on my 1965 Bridgeport J head like you showed on your blog. It is the old manual gear box type. I haven't been able to find any information on the make, model number and instructions. Maybe you can help.
Thanks,
Jim Park
Hi Jim,
I might have some documentation for it. I pulled the pictures from here: http://www.lathes.co.uk/bridgeport/page6.html Shoot me an email and I'll see what I have on hand.
Frankie, I'm just about to start rebuilding the same power feed on my 1953 bridgeport roundram. I, too, would love any documentation you might have, but I can't seem to figure out how to send you an email...
Hi Todd,
I don't have any specific info on the power feed. My email is frankiefloodATgmailDOTcom in case you need me to take measurements/pics/etc.
https://www.practicalmachinist.com/forum/threads/old-bridgeport-gearbox-power-feed-rebuild.310130/
Frankie, thanks for the pointer! Quick question - the horizonal shaft that has the two adjustable stops to enable automatic stopping (not sure what it's called...) - on mine, the right end is connected to the fwd/stop/rev lever, and it goes through a bracket centered above the Y axis. The left side is swinging (bent, in my case) in the air. Is it supposed to have some sort of support?
Hi Todd, I posted pics of the power feed unit on the first page of my blog. I hope these help you out. https://frankieflood.blogspot.com/2024/01/early-bridgeport-power-feed.html
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