Bridgeport jammed ram and slotter fittment

[Micktoon]

Hi All , I have recently aquired a slotting head from Rob to fit to my Bridgeport mill, as per usual one job leads to another. Firstly the ram was solid when I tried to move it and I had to slide it to be able to swivel the head to fit the slotter, the slotting head was off a beaver mill and slightly different to the Brigeport mounting so a hole in the ram casting had to be enlarged.

After trying Wd40 etc , raw hide mallet, I resorted to the internet and found out the ram not sliding is quite a common problem and the best way around it seems to be clamping the ram forward with a sash clamp at each side and also trying to jack up the head slightly via wood blocks resting on the table and cranking the table to take the strain, well these did work but a right pain to do as the sash clamps want to pop off the curved surfaces of the ram and body and have to be turned one half turn each side and re set at the end of their screw thread travel, it would have been good to have been born with three hands for the job.

This is the sash clamp and wood arrangement, there was actually one clamp each side of the ram in the end to get it to move and the wood blocks were there to try and jack up to get releasing fluid to creep into the dovetails. I have at about half an hour to an hour per slide from back to front got it to move say 4 times and cleaned and oiled the dovetails as they stick out but its still only moving with the clamps, everything is loosened off etc , I am hoping the slotting head might balance out the weight from one end of the ram to the other and make it move better .


This photo shows what needed to be done to make the slotter fit , the Bridgeport ram hole is smaller than the one in the Beaver mill bracket that is resting on top in the photo, making the hole bigger meant the slotter could use the original pin and collars , nuts etc.



I turned up this tool , it fits through the original Beaver bracket as it is in this photo ( Beaver have a separate bolt on part where the Bridgeport has cast eye in the ram ) the tool at the lower end has the right size end to sit in the hole that is in the bridgeport ram and the top is turned to fit into a drill chuck, the bottom end has a tool steel cutter fitted to it.



The bracket is then clamped with the tool in place this keeps the two holes in line and ensures the tool runs in the old bracket and widens the hole that is too small, well thats the therory anyway, I tried it and it was hardly cutting , Rob ended up kindly coming over to help me he reground the cutter and it was doing the job but still a pain and was flattening battery drills at some rate and wanting to burn out mains powered drill after a good while slowly keeping at it and keep charging battries it was getting there.



This is the set up with the drill in place.



The finished hole, after a clean up with a flap wheel so the pin was a nice fit.



The bracket in position , it locks up as it should and is ready for the slotting head to be fitted, this has lead to the fact that the mill will need to be moved further out from the wall as there is not enough room to swing the head with the slotter fitted lol, another job to the list , I am going to make a jackable castor stand for the mill so its moveable in future.



Rob deserves a big thanks for helping me get the bracket fitted , I had been at it all day and would have cracked up trying to get it sorted on my own so Cheers Rob I owe you one mate.

Cheers Mick.

[TomG]

Mick,

I've never heard of a ram getting tight on a Bridgeport, you must be the lucky one. I use mine all the time so it never has a chance to take a set.

That must have taken a bit of time to open the hole up that much. Your set-up is a prime example of creating machining!

Do you have an application for the slotting head? Most of them seem to just hang around taking up space.

Tom

[Mayhem]

Nice work Mick. I probably would have made up bushes to fit the slotting head bracket. Those are some serious clamps you are using there.

[PixMan]

Quite a project, well done mate!

Me, in all my years of using various Bridgeports and their assorted clones, I'd never had a problem moving the ram. Perhaps they built them a bit differently in the UK.

Darren, how is your Kondia mill project coming along?

[Mayhem]

(06-26-2013, 08:42 AM)PixMan Wrote: Darren, how is your Kondia mill project coming along?

Not very well. After getting the parts list and pricing out of Kondia in Spain, I have been ready to order for some months now. However, they have not been forthcoming with my request for confirmation that the parts in question are indeed for the circa 1969 mill that I have. I keep getting "we are confirming this" responses.

This is after I joined a Spanish machining forum and was lucky enough to get a native English person who is based is Spain contact them on my behalf. He obviously places orders frequently with Kondia, as they respond very quickly. However, it is the aforementioned response that I keep getting!

I have been meaning to try again but this week has been hectic - thanks for the reminder!

[Micktoon]

The slotter is fitted , well located would be a more apt term as its not wired up yet and the mill is now stuck in limbo until its moved forward as the head wont clear the wall or cupboard now , I knew this would be the case and am planning on making a castored base with jacking points so the mill can be moved if need be, it will be worth doing just to be able to get to the rear of the machine for repairs etc............. so another project lol , as well as fitting two new inverters and the DRO, watch this space but dont hold your breath !

This is the slotter bolted on , swivels and locks up spot on.





The ram is still far too stiff to move with the bracket but will wait till the mill is moved before trying again anyway now.

Cheers Mick

[Mayhem]

(06-28-2013, 05:58 PM)Micktoon Wrote: ...The ram is still far too stiff to move with the bracket ...

Dumb question but you did loosen up the two bolts on either side of the crank handle?

[Rickabilly]

(06-25-2013, 08:08 PM)TomG Wrote: Do you have an application for the slotting head? Most of them seem to just hang around taking up space.

Tom

Oh Tom,
I am in physical pain at the thought of all those wasted slotting heads.

I keep my old Denbigh Mill just for it's slotting head these days, they can be used for so much more than key ways;
* Internal splines,
* External splines,
* Gear cutting,
* Dove tails,
* Squaring out holes,
* Cutting racks,
* Even as a makeshift "die filer"
Grinding a single point tool for forming special shapes is way easier than finding or making the same "form" milling cutter.

One day I'll sell the Denbigh and finance a Bridgeport style slotting head for the "Gate" mill and then I can save some floor space.

Regards Rick

[Micktoon]

Hi Lads,
I have found my old post about the slotting head, I had forgotten I had posted it but it might show the slotting head better. Its from a Beaver mill so a bit bigger than a normal Bridgeport but will still do the job

Cheers Mick,

[stevec]

Thanks Mick, now I remember ( I seem to say that a lot these days ).
When I start to say "I still don't remember" just shoot me and clean out my stuff, my wife will appreciate it.