Issue 286 – Bridgeport Article

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

I've just got my issue of MEW286 in the post. Unfortunately there are some errors in my article on the Bridgeport mill.

Someone has added a short paragraph at the beginning. Unfortunately it's incorrectly punctuated and not well stated. Later in the article Adcock is mispelt. That's my fault, as the error also occurs in what I originally wrote. For photo4 (showing the milling head) I supplied a photograph carefully annotated with the positions of all the controls. As requested I also supplied an unannotated copy. Sadly that's the one that has been used, which makes it difficult to follow some of the article unless one is familiar with the Bridgeport miil. In which case one wouldn't be reading the article anyway! It's all a bit disappointing.

Andrew

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Andrew(or Neil) would it be possible to add the annotated photo to this thread?

[Ketan SwaliParticipant @ketanswali79440]

Andrew,

You just cant get the staff nowadays

At least your article got printed… Neil totally forgot to print the article on the beginners series for lathe work!

Ketan at ARC

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

Well done for making the effort though Andrew.

Bottom line is if we don't write stuff, there is no Magazine.

regards Martin

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

Andrew,

I enjoyed reading your article. I gave a Gate PBM2000 which is a Bridgeport clone. It is interesting to see the range of jobs which you manage to do on your machine. My machine came with a Power drawbar and it is a great help particularly with a duff shoulder.

Regards,

Colin

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Posted by Ketan Swali on 30/09/2019 16:14:19:

Andrew,

You just cant get the staff nowadays

At least your article got printed… Neil totally forgot to print the article on the beginners series for lathe work!

Ketan at ARC

 

That's not what I heard, he used a schoolboy excuse of spilling a mug of tea over his lathe so could not finish the machining to go with the article until he got a new fuse At least he did not spill it over his keyboard so we got the rest of the mag!

Edited By JasonB on 30/09/2019 16:33:10

[Ketan SwaliParticipant @ketanswali79440]

Hi Andrew,

I can and do understand your frustration. Once something is in print, it feels like that is what you wanted to say and it feels like the end of the world at the time you first read it. But rest assured, this feeling of frustration will pass hopefully over time.

On another thread, you said:

"Soooooo, we should be offering ill-considered advice based on things we know nothing about?

Andrew"

Over the many years of working with these publications I have often come across such situations (although different from your current situation), where the writer of the article is simply offering ill-considered advice based on things he knows very little about. This has resulted in some loss of business, or more detailed explanation having to be offered by ARC to deal with the crap which has been printed…. especially in the ME, but less in the MEW.

If it is any consolation, your frustration is without financial loss. Hope that thought helps you get through your particular frustration. Keep writing as its all a good read. Life is too short for frustrations.

Ketan at ARC.

[David Davies 8Participant @daviddavies8]

Andrew,

despite the lack of the annotated figure 4 in your article I was able to identify all the controls described in the text. Also I learned a lot about the capabilities and weaknesses of the machine. A very helpful article.

Regards

David

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Spot drill discussion moved to new thread

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

Posted by Ketan Swali on 30/09/2019 16:50:17:

Hi Andrew,

I can and do understand your frustration. Once something is in print, it feels

<snip>

If it is any consolation, your frustration is without financial loss. Hope that thought helps you get through your particular frustration. Keep writing as its all a good read. Life is too short for frustrations.

Ketan at ARC.

Ketan is right, a long time ago I thought that if I did not have 100% positive eBay feedback it would be a disaster, now though I realise life is too short to bother about things like that. I have read Andrews article and I found it really interesting and informative, so thanks.

Ian P

PS. I used eBay just as an example, probably not the best choice in Ketan's presence

PPS. I do have 100% good feedback

PPPS. I did once get neutral feedback (listed a brand new pair of Jeans on behalf of my wife, good brand and withe close up of the label etc) but buyer complained because 'they did not fit!

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Hi,

We always have a standfirst that makes the subject of the article clear; in this case the first paragraph was biographical, so it would not have made sense to 'promote' it. The chief error was that it should have been in bold and separated from the main text. The second error appears to be a stray comma, somewhat ironic as Andrew's manuscripts always require little editing.

I can only apologise to Andrew anyone inconvenienced by the lack of annotation on photo 4. I did supply both versions to the designer, but I'm afraid that when proofing I saw what I expected to see – a picture of the mill head, it did not register with me that the annotations hadn't gone on so, yes it's my fault.

Neil

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, I have only just read Andrew's article and although I'm not familiar with the controls of a Bridgeport, I followed his explanation very easy before seeing the above annotation, although it took a few moments to spot the quill feed engagement lever. (probably my eyesight) I have never used a Bridgeport, but have seen one or two and I will very likely never have one myself. Andrew, I did try and spot your Adcock spelling mistake, but read it automatically I guess, maybe because I was aware that Adcock & Shipley did make them and I had to go back out of curiosity to see how it was misspelt. A very good, informative and well written article.

Regards Nick.

[Anonymous]

I'm glad that people liked the article; no point in writing them otherwise.

In my defence I was only following orders! I have an email from our esteemed editor where he says that the "One Man and His" articles are as much about the author as the machine, so start with a bit about oneself. Which is what I did.

Andrew

[PeroParticipant @pero]

I am slightly resurrecting an older thread here but my copy of MEW286 only arrived today. Everything takes a little longer down here in this far corner of the Aunty Poddies – i.e. Western Australia!

Firstly thanks to Andrew for a very interesting article and please don't be deterred from further writing on related subjects. After 40 odd years of writing, editing and reading technical reports I can assure you that it is very rare to find one where the odd failure – from very minor to quite serious – has not slipped through somewhere in the process.

I don't have a Bridgeport but do have a clone on a slight dose of steroids. It weighs in at 1.5 tonnes and is powered by a 5 hp 3 phase motor. Purchased new some years ago it is of course what you might refer to as of Far Eastern origin, although here it is closer to north. Apart from the increase in size it is very similar to the Bridgeport and I have found the Bridgeport Series 1 manual ( available free to download on the Hardinge Bridgeport website ) a very useful source of information as the supplied 'manual' is a little brief.

My machine as supplied was relatively well featured with in-built coolant pump, Z and X axis power feed, 3 axis DRO, one shot lubrication and halogen work-light. Subsequent additions have included a riser block for the column and power feed for the Y axis. Also available are a slotting head attachment ( seriously expensive ) and horizontal milling attachment although I have not stretched to these as yet.

Compressed air powered drawbars are also available (mine has a NT40 spindle), although I would refer electric drive rather than air. I'll have to work on that.

The above is really just a way of saying that it is possible to feature one of these Asian origin machines to the same extent that Andrew has been able to do – assuming you chose the right one to start with, not all can be upgraded to the same extent, and have deep enough pockets.

The penalty is cost and weight – this is an industrial size machine and everything that accompanies it has an industrial size price tag. Not only that, everything is heavy – and getting heavier as I get older. Planning ahead for future heavy lifting is getting higher on my list of priorities every day!

So, for those who have either a genuine Bridgeport or a clone of any size, I highly recommend the Bridgeport manual. I have found it to be very relevant to my decidedly non-Bridgeport machine. You may also find it possible to obtain the accessories to enhance these clone machine as required.

Once again thank you for taking the time to prepare the article Andrew.

Pero

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

Like Andrew, I have a Bridgeport but I also read his article!

My Bpt sits on its own additional frame with screw down mounts which allows me to move or reposition it if I should need to (helpful when originally installed!).

As a consequence the machine is even taller and I have fitted my own air driven drawbar which removes the necessity for a step ladder.

[Author]

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