@ D of C: Thank you !! I acquired a "new to me" 1968 BP, vari-speed mill a couple of months back, and have been having a devil of a time finding information on some of the lubricants. Especially the obsolete one. Most of the people who touch on the subject, mostly "Hem and Haw" about it without giving you any solid answers. You got further with your research and gave real answers. Question: What is used on the Ram/ turret ways ?! Regular way oil ? That was what the major problem was with this machine. They had seized up. I managed to get them apart without using dynamite, got them cleaned up (the rack and pinion Ram advance set-up were also totally crud-ed up with chips and what I assume at one time, was some kind of lubricant). I can find info, on every other section of the mill, but everybody dances around what to use on this big, heavy, moving, sub-system. I don't want it to seize up again. I know whatever I use should not attract and trap chips, should be slow to dry out, thin enough to wick between the turret and the ram, and thick enough to float the weight of the ram and the head. Would you have any thoughts on it ?!
I just used vactra 2 on my ram. Idk what the official lube is. I figured it meets all the requirements for vac II... one problem I had with the ram sticking was the clamps hitting after you loosened them they would hit on the bottom and then angle them and it would lock it up. I found that if I didnt loosen the clamps so much it helped. Also if it would stick you could jiggle it back and forth a little and the clamp would hang straight again. I should put a video showing how the clamps bind up.
@@Depth_of_Cut : Thank you. Very helpful. Wish I'd have known that trick about the clamps before. I ran into that very problem. Not knowing that, I had removed their bolts entirely. When I brought the mill home, we separated the upper from the lower at the turret-column junction, so that our equipment could unload the machine. I later detached the head from the ram adaptor. I then rolled the ram over to gain access to the ways and the rack. THAT ..... is where the fun began !! Turns out, the teeth on the rack had become packed nearly full with chips and crud (and they hang downward in their normal operating position !! - debris should have fallen away from it). Eventually got those mostly cleared and through copious amounts of penetrating oil and related (swimming pool quantities !), I got free movement between the ram and the turret. Here's where the REAL fun began. Not knowing that little tidbit about the bolts, when I rolled the whole assembly over to gain access, .... the clamps fell out of place, tumbled, and got stuck partially in and out of the cavity in the ram !!! There was only finger-tip access to the displaced clamps because the now free sliding turret (guillotine), was in the way. Couldn't remove the turret because the displaced clamps jammed the turret at either end of it's run !! Ok ... separate the clamp halves ! ... No dice. On my model, the clamp halves are held together with a rivet instead of the split pin/ cotter pin shown in all the literature and the replacement parts Cat's. (saw a video where somebody else had the same connecting rivet). Besides, there was no tool access to the rivet, to remove them (both clamps had fallen out of place). Eventually, through much frustration, cussing, and hair pulling (my wife says the patchy hair is a good look on me - probably why I sleep with one eye open !), I got everything lined up and separated So, yeah .... A video on this subject would be most useful for armatures like me. Special thanks for responding so quickly to my question on an old video posting.
Interesting stuff. I am at a point where this is exactly what I need to know, so, thanks for sharing this. Suggestion: due to the complexity of and variety of pieces that you are covering, you might have someone else handle the camera or just keep it stationary so you can use both of your hands. God bless, Brother.
Yeah sorry this was one of the first videos I made for youtube I was and still am figuring out what I need. I just got some cam holders last week I'm in the process of figuring out what I like and need as we speak. I bought 5 different and quickly learned that there are a lot of junk cam holders out there lol
![Bridgebort Milling Machine [Rescue]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zGv7MkdIP_w/mqdefault.jpg)
Great Video just the info I needed.
@ D of C: Thank you !! I acquired a "new to me" 1968 BP, vari-speed mill a couple of months back, and have been having a devil of a time finding information on some of the lubricants. Especially the obsolete one. Most of the people who touch on the subject, mostly "Hem and Haw" about it without giving you any solid answers. You got further with your research and gave real answers.
Question: What is used on the Ram/ turret ways ?! Regular way oil ? That was what the major problem was with this machine. They had seized up.
I managed to get them apart without using dynamite, got them cleaned up (the rack and pinion Ram advance set-up were also totally crud-ed up with chips and what I assume at one time, was some kind of lubricant).
I can find info, on every other section of the mill, but everybody dances around what to use on this big, heavy, moving, sub-system.
I don't want it to seize up again. I know whatever I use should not attract and trap chips, should be slow to dry out, thin enough to wick between the turret and the ram, and thick enough to float the weight of the ram and the head.
Would you have any thoughts on it ?!
I just used vactra 2 on my ram. Idk what the official lube is. I figured it meets all the requirements for vac II... one problem I had with the ram sticking was the clamps hitting after you loosened them they would hit on the bottom and then angle them and it would lock it up. I found that if I didnt loosen the clamps so much it helped. Also if it would stick you could jiggle it back and forth a little and the clamp would hang straight again. I should put a video showing how the clamps bind up.
@@Depth_of_Cut : Thank you. Very helpful. Wish I'd have known that trick about the clamps before. I ran into that very problem. Not knowing that, I had removed their bolts entirely. When I brought the mill home, we separated the upper from the lower at the turret-column junction, so that our equipment could unload the machine.
I later detached the head from the ram adaptor.
I then rolled the ram over to gain access to the ways and the rack.
THAT ..... is where the fun began !! Turns out, the teeth on the rack had become packed nearly full with chips and crud (and they hang downward in their normal operating position !! - debris should have fallen away from it).
Eventually got those mostly cleared and through copious amounts of penetrating oil and related (swimming pool quantities !), I got free movement between the ram and the turret.
Here's where the REAL fun began. Not knowing that little tidbit about the bolts, when I rolled the whole assembly over to gain access, .... the clamps fell out of place, tumbled, and got stuck partially in and out of the cavity in the ram !!!
There was only finger-tip access to the displaced clamps because the now free sliding turret (guillotine), was in the way.
Couldn't remove the turret because the displaced clamps jammed the turret at either end of it's run !!
Ok ... separate the clamp halves ! ... No dice. On my model, the clamp halves are held together with a rivet instead of the split pin/ cotter pin shown in all the literature and the replacement parts Cat's. (saw a video where somebody else had the same connecting rivet).
Besides, there was no tool access to the rivet, to remove them (both clamps had fallen out of place).
Eventually, through much frustration, cussing, and hair pulling (my wife says the patchy hair is a good look on me - probably why I sleep with one eye open !), I got everything lined up and separated
So, yeah .... A video on this subject would be most useful for armatures like me.
Special thanks for responding so quickly to my question on an old video posting.
Interesting stuff. I am at a point where this is exactly what I need to know, so, thanks for sharing this. Suggestion: due to the complexity of and variety of pieces that you are covering, you might have someone else handle the camera or just keep it stationary so you can use both of your hands. God bless, Brother.
Yeah sorry this was one of the first videos I made for youtube I was and still am figuring out what I need. I just got some cam holders last week I'm in the process of figuring out what I like and need as we speak. I bought 5 different and quickly learned that there are a lot of junk cam holders out there lol
Thanks, very useful. Cheers Stuart 🇦🇺
Very helpful. I was just cleaning the down feed gears on my Victor mill last night and was wondering what grease should go back in.
Ty very much..very informative
H&W machine has good videos on BP mills and all the lubes it tapes they say use mobile 1 tacky and they sell way oil
I'm sure the bridgeport run on oil not grease
It’s a common misconception that because the Bridgeport has zerk fittings you need to grease it. This is wrong. The Bridgeport requires oil!