Bill,

When I had my my mill/drill I mounted my dial indcator next to the depth
indicator quill stop thingy. with the the indicator finger( thing that gets
pushed in) pointing up. Made a little arm that fit between the 2 nuts that
were used to set the depth. You could flip the arm out of the way when you
were drilling/reaming and flip it back when you wanted to use the indicator.
I keep a 1 inch on it all the time and had a 4 inch if I really needed it,
(which I think was only twice). It's a fairly simple matter to drop the
tool down on the top of your work piece and set the dial for zero. I used
the hand wheel and with the inherent play it had you could crank down and
see the indicator stop moving when you hit the top. With this rig I could
easily do .001 repetable work.

As for new import vs old american... it's no choice for me.... "Old
American" wins every time. You have to be cautious about what you buy, and
take your time, but there are some finds out there. I'm in California, not
too far from the bay area, there is a guy in Livermore (who's been mentioned
here many times) named Don Miller.... Don rebuilds BridgePorts... I bought
mine from him at a very reasonable price and it's as good as the day it came
from the factory (maybe better). FWIW I found Don on CraigsList.

I recently purchased a Clausing 5914 lathe from a guy in Oakland. I found it
on CraigsList too. The Clausing is used but not abused and in quite good
shape and I think I got it for a good price too.

I don't own a pickup truck (well if you call a 1980 'yoter' a pickup I guess
I do but.....) or a trailer. I can get a swell tilt trailer rated at well
over #4000 load from a local rental place for $25 a day. Worst case I'm
paying $75 for a trailer.. When it's time to move a machine I mooch a truck
or van big enough to tow the trailer from a friend or family member... The
BP was an extra chalnge since it's so heavy and every thing I read set use a
forklift even if you have to rent one, and so I did.. the forklift cost me
$100 for day but was well worth it. I have several friends who get a kick
out of helping me move machines sooo... I was a big party when I brought the
BP home.. LOL...

Dave