Bridgeport Knee Mill
Description
A recent model Knee Mill made by the Bridgeport company. This is the gold-standard small shop manual milling machine in the US. Most other mills of the same size are direct copies of the bridgeport design. This particular machine is a Series I, J-head with a mechanical variable speed drive. The machine has a power quill feed built into the head, in addition to the additional equipment listed below. This machine is capible of facing, surfacing, drilling and slotting in materials ranging from plastics to mild steel. Harder metals may be cut if special cutters and coolant are available. This machine is not equipped with CNC controls, consequently curved paths are limited to circular arcs cut on pieces that can be mounted on the 8" rotary table.
This tool may require training to be used correctly.
Training Resources
Links:
Video introduction part A
Video introduction part B
MIT shop videos
Book: Machine Shop Practice, Volume 2
Book: Machinery's Handbook
Service Manual
This tool requires authorization for use.
A Danger committee consisting of Mike Warot, Tucker Tomlinson, Ed Bennett and JP Debauge is currently working out details for certifications. DO NOT USE THIS MILL WITHOUT CONTACTING THE DANGER COMMITTEE
List of Currently Certified Users
Qualified Member | Trained By | Proctored By |
---|---|---|
Tucker Tomlinson | Danger Committee | |
Mike Warot | Danger Committee | |
Ed Bennett | Danger Committee | |
John-Paul(JP) Debauge | Danger Committee | |
Ryan Pierce | JP Debauge | Ed Bennett |
Everett Wilson | JP Debauge | Ryan Pierce |
Derek Bever | JP Debauge | Everett Wilson |
Elizabeth Koprucki | JP Debauge | Ryan Pierce, Everett Wilson |
Available Equipment
Power feed (x axis)
DRO (awaiting installation)
Kurt 6" vise vise
Hold down set
collet set
Palmgren 8" Rotary Table
boring heads
fly cutters
assorted 2 flute end mills (dull)
tapping heads
Suggested Personal Tooling
Item | Description | Supplier | Cost |
---|---|---|---|
Cutting bits | A set of sharp cutters you don't have to share | can be purchased from McMaster, Enco or Shars | ~$50 and up |