Christmas came early!

[benT]

Christmas came early today. The lathe was feeling a bit lonely, so we took delivery of this oldie but goodie today: A Bridgeport Round-Ram J-Head milling machine. If the serial number is correct, it was the 3rd one made in 1942. I'm sure it spent most of its first couple years machining parts for the war effort. We have a little cleaning, painting, lubrication, and wiring to do first, but it will be making chips by the time Santa is making his yearly flight. First project on the list is to mill Aluminum bar stock for the Purple Powder Pickup's windshield.

 

[Mike]

Great find! You'll enjoy playing around with that one, to be sure.

 

[Francis Blake]

LUCKY if I had room that would be next on my list, but my one car garage is not really big enough to work on my car without tripping over my own feet, and no way to get it in the basement.

 

[Don'tCallMeJimmie]

American Iron at it's best. Have fun with your new toy!

 

[jcunning]

Curious, how much does it weigh? Serious tool!!

 

[benT]

About 1,500 lbs. We bought it locally and when we made the deal, it included delivery to the shop. We picked it off the truck with our forklift. Its heavy, but it 500 lbs less than my lathe!

 

[dmxxpert]

Nice, Congrats!

 

[bobs66440]

Wow! That's a thing of beauty!

 

[Keeper]

Always nice to see a good old piece of American iron put to work. She should serve you well for the next 70 years!

 

[Bennett]

Congratulations! I've had mine for 5 or 6 years now and they are so handy to have.

 

[benT]

Thanks all! Its cleaning up well. We've cleaned all the old chips and oil out of it, cleaned and lubed the ways as well as everything else. We were going to paint it industrial gray to match the lathe and other equipment, but the original patina is growing on us and I think we'll leave this old workhorse in its original green. I'll post some pics this weekend.

 

[kgrimm]

Congrats on an awesome find! I'm sure you'll get a lot of use out of it-those old Bridgeports were versatile and extremely durable!!

 

[baddawgcustoms]

Thanks all! Its cleaning up well. We've cleaned all the old chips and oil out of it, cleaned and lubed the ways as well as everything else. We were going to paint it industrial gray to match the lathe and other equipment, but the original patina is growing on us and I think we'll leave this old workhorse in its original green. I'll post some pics this weekend.

My father owned an automotive machine shop that I grew up in, and I learned to use one just like that when I was still so little he put wood coca cola crates stacked up in front of the machine so I could get to the controls. He could build you a working A-hole with a Bridgeport and a lathe! Dad's been gone about eleven years, but that picture sure brought back some fabulous memories. Thanks.