I had a friend do the M-head on the Benchmaster, er, Benchport, uh,
Bridgemaster, well whatever. Made a great small mill with 3 movable axis
and a quill. Top heavy, a bit, but it did increase the spindle-to-bed
clearance. On another one, another friend added an Emco Meier gear head
mill head to it. Much smaller, less weight, just as versatile. He also
made a power feed for it. The Benchmaster is a great little mill that can
be easily made better.
Respectfully,
Ron Moore

"David R. Birch" wrote in message
...


I have a horizontal Benchmaster similar to the second one pictured. It
came with a ram for the X axis, which I replaced with a lead screw
somewhat like those of the Y & Z axes. Some years ago, ('98?) I uploaded
to the drop box some scans of a brochure I received from the guy out in
the PRK who claimed to support the machine. He apparently had no stock of
parts, made them as ordered and his prices were about what you'd expect
for set up and cutting one part. I called him to talk about what I needed
for the X axis. Surly and hostile are mild, maybe he'd just had a fight w/
his SO, although I've heard similar reports from others.

Anyway, the Benchmaster is a lot better made and sturdier than the average
import mill/drill, although I miss a quill feed. I've seen pix of a
Benchmaster with a Bridgeport M head on it, seemed a bit top heavy!

David

David