Karl Townsend wrote:

I'm wanting to replace my old 1J Bridgeport with a mill that uses 40 taper
tooling. This time around I want to get a mill in very good condition.

I found this Lagun FTV-4 at a jockey near me:
http://tinyurl.com/yufuod

The dealers in this location don't have a good reputation, from what I've
heard. Been there many times, but never made a purchase.

Anyway, is there a series of standard checks to determine condition of a
mill? Things like backlash middle and end of each axis - what are "good"
values. other checks? also, anyone know how to determine this unit's age
based on serial number.

Karl, I went through this last fall for my brother. You should be able to pull
up that thread on google. Anyway, my suggestion may sound radical - buy a
BRAND NEW Lagun mill! They're cheaper than Bridgeports, and you are in
business, right? They'd ship out to you from Southern California, so you'd
have to add on some trucking cost, but you'd get just what you want and it
would be *right*.

Grant