Frankenmill: Bridgeport J head onto Victoria U2

[Dr Stan]

If LPS products are available in your neck of the woods go with LPS #3.  Best short term rust preventive I've ever used.  http://www.lpslabs.com/product-details/612

[Vinny]

Or try to find some of that mysterious red Chinese goo. The stuff that almost nothing will remove so they pack it into every open space on new equipment coming from China.

[Pete O]

The process of overhauling the head itself shouldn't be a very long-term project so seriously long-term anti-corrosive measures aren't necessary, a coating of oil in the spindle bore should suffice. I have some leave over the next few weeks and plan to spend a fair bit of it in the shed working on my decrepit tractor, I'm sure the J-head will get some attention too; hope to get it repainted and back together within the next month. Need to order a few parts, open to suggestions for the best source.
The actual mounting of the head onto the mill may turn out to be a longer-term job.

[Mayhem]

Hi Pete - you are more than welcome and I'm glad you were able to save that from the scrap. If it had been a MT30 spindle, I would have snapped it up myself. I'm going to look at cutting off the end of the ram and sending that to you with the pivot bolt and locking bolts (all are still sitting on my welding bench). It won't be for a while though, as I have a ton of stuff happening. Having said that, I doubt you will be ready to use it any time soon

[Pete O]

You'r so right there Darren, my workshop is pretty much all tractor at present, don't look like getting it out of there very soon either. I tripped over the box of BP parts the other day and realised I'd almost forgotten it was there.

[Pete O]

Only four months since I last made any progress on this project, I got something done on the J-head today;
   
   
I trowelled some automotive body filler onto it before Christmas. Last week, while it was 42 degrees celsius outside, I was in the shed sanding tractor panels so while I had a head of steam up, I sanded the bog on the J-head as well. Only about 32 degrees today so I cleaned up the rest of the painted components and put several coats of 2-pack high-fill primer on it all. It felt like progress.
Hopefully that stuff should sand to a smooth finish ready for paint.

[Pete O]

I haven't been able to devote any time at all to this project since this last post, however I have been thinking a bit about how the mounting of the J-head will happen. I have a question for those who have (or use) milling machines with nod & tilt adjustments- how often have you used the nod adjustment? Incorporating the nod movement will make the mounting much more complicated than without it, so I'm wondering if it is worthwhile.

[Dr Stan]

Other than tramming the head it's been so long since I used the nod on a BP I've forgotten the application.

[rleete]

I just went and asked the machinists here at work, because I didn't even know what nod is on a mill.

Not one of the machinists here had ever used it, and a couple of the less experienced guys didn't even know what I was talking about.

The most experienced old timer says he doesn't even like to use the tilt, because he dislikes having to tram the head afterwards, and instead uses a sine vise.

[Pete O]

That gels with what I've been told elsewhere, seldom used and a tilting fixture plate will serve the purpose should it arise. I had thought it made sense to incorporate the feature but the project will be a heck of a lot simpler without it.