I have seen several machines for sale that have fitted a Bridgport
head (MT2 spindle) as a conversion.

One machine was a clausing vertical mill with the bridgeport head.
Another was adding the bridgport head to a horizontal mill to
make a combo vertical/horizontal machine.

I already have a rockwell combo machine which uses a R8 spindle.
I'm wondering how the rockwell vertical head compares to the
bridgeport head? Does the bridgport head have more spindle
travel, better bearings or perhaps power down feed??

Inquiring minds want to know.
chuck

Charles A. Sherwood wrote:

I have seen several machines for sale that have fitted a Bridgport
head (MT2 spindle) as a conversion.

One machine was a clausing vertical mill with the bridgeport head.
Another was adding the bridgport head to a horizontal mill to
make a combo vertical/horizontal machine.

I already have a rockwell combo machine which uses a R8 spindle.
I'm wondering how the rockwell vertical head compares to the
bridgeport head? Does the bridgport head have more spindle
travel, better bearings or perhaps power down feed??


The Bridgeport M head came with your choice of three smaller collet
tapers (B&S 37, MT2 or Bridgeport's own C taper). it has 6 speeds on
a 1/2 HP motor, and no back gear. Also, no power feed. It is a fairly
light
milling head compared to the later J head, which has all those features
(power feed and back gear). The M head has about 4" of quill travel,
compared to the J head's 5". That extra inch makes a BIG difference
when switching between a 1/2" jobber's length drill in a Jacobs chuck and
a 1/4" end mill in a collet.

Jon

The rockwell head has only 2.5 inchs of travel so the M head wins
in that area. The Rockwell has R8 so it wins in that area.

The only thing that would make me convert is power feed. If you
have a knee, why isn't 4 inchs of quill travel enough?

chuck

The Bridgeport M head came with your choice of three smaller collet
tapers (B&S 37, MT2 or Bridgeport's own C taper). it has 6 speeds on
a 1/2 HP motor, and no back gear. Also, no power feed. It is a fairly
light
milling head compared to the later J head, which has all those features
(power feed and back gear). The M head has about 4" of quill travel,
compared to the J head's 5". That extra inch makes a BIG difference
when switching between a 1/2" jobber's length drill in a Jacobs chuck and
a 1/4" end mill in a collet.

Jon

Charles A. Sherwood wrote:
The rockwell head has only 2.5 inchs of travel so the M head wins
in that area. The Rockwell has R8 so it wins in that area.

The only thing that would make me convert is power feed. If you
have a knee, why isn't 4 inchs of quill travel enough?
Well, now that I know how to accurately tram the head, it actually is.
I used to have a problem getting it aligned properly, so things would
move on the X-Y plane when I moved the knee.

Jon