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Wed Sep 02, 2020 4:18 pm

machine where I work is 2 stories high. has 35 feet of x, 15ft in y and about 10ft in z. twin horizontal slaved spindles. spindles weigh about 10 tons each. vertical table is about 40ft long and 20 high.

Wed Sep 02, 2020 6:29 pm

Some Old school guys would say that me putting a 1hp head on a BIG knee mill is stupid....
but really BIG knee mills probably should go extinct along with dinosaurs model-t's and VW's

For power and precision I've always thought a bed-mill is a better design and I still think so. But I've come to love bridgeport mills because you can do so many odd things with them.

Water pumps, manifolds, truck axles, turbos and other ODD shaped things that will never fit in a vice...
The setup is done by monkey, and four out of five monkeys prefers the knee-mill for ease of setup. :wink:

Wed Sep 02, 2020 7:42 pm

I like the bridgeports too. I'd like to find one of the big ones with the 30 taper. does yours have the ball screws on x and y?

Wed Sep 02, 2020 8:20 pm

stanthedog wrote: I like the bridgeports too. I'd like to find one of the big ones with the 30 taper. does yours have the ball screws on x and y?

why not go bigger? like 50nmbt :D :D

Thu Sep 10, 2020 2:35 pm

What are your opinions on these two mills?
They are up for auction at my work.. employees only. I would just be doing some hobby work, light fab and maybe some Case cyl spigot enlarging, etc..

Bridgeport Series 1 J head, digital xy readout, power y axis

Lagun FTV-2S, pnuematic draw bar, digital xyz, power xyz

The Lagun is nicer, heavier and more features, but will take up more room. I can make space for either but the Bridgeport is definitely more compact. I used the Bridgeport in the past to flycut some heads.. worked OK.

They have both had a rough life.. Bridgeport gets used by just about anyone including those with no mill experience.. When I used it I always indexed the head and it was always off. Lagun has had a dedicated operator, but even so he managed to run a big end mill down the entire length of the bed and gouged it.

Thu Sep 10, 2020 4:47 pm

Both great mills.
Yes bigger is better, but the better one at this point is probably just the one in better condition.
Mill tables always sag with use, I would want to measure how bad the tables are sagged. look at wear on the top of the knee. Check the backlash in the lead screws in the center VS at the ends of travel. Not easy to fix, although I kinda enjoy fixing it.

Thu Sep 10, 2020 7:54 pm

get the one that comes with more tooling. i would buy both for the right price.

mill number 1 has better cnc potential if you want to print the servo brackets becuse the models are already out there. or you could make them out of steel :wink:

Fri Sep 11, 2020 6:00 am

Get the Lagun, as I recall has more Y travel,(wider knee) and possibly X depending on model, also may have wider table, haven't been on one in 20 years, so memory little fuzzy.
I have owned and operated both FTV1 and 2's. also the Lagun is variable speed vs belt change for BP, both are good get the one with least wear, I have
thousands of hours on both, while an apprentice we always got the well used BP when the journeymen got the new ones. When I started my shop, I got the Lagun, more for your money, plus new BP delivery was insane then.

Fri Sep 11, 2020 8:31 am

the bp is basicly what i have but I have bigger table(more travel) and mine has more knee travel due to added spacer.I agree both are great but get the 1 that you can afford to get. and be sure to check for condition. condition can be better than bigger....or smaller. some refurbisher's are using epozie for the sagging /wear issues....instead of pulling appart&doing a real repair. if I had a bigger machine that culd handle doing the remachine opp to take out the wear I wouldent ba sleered to do so.then hand scrape to get where you want to be. doing it all by hand can be done...but if you have one thats reallybad thats a lot of work. flame harden if it needs it...I think some of the china stuff could use a good hardening session... and by all means make sure the oneshot oiling system is up to the job!!! if you get the BP add both z axeses( knee&quill) dro to it so you know where you are at all times.

Tue Apr 27, 2021 2:48 am

I'm a little late to the party guys but I'll throw my old girl in for good measure!
Just got her home this week, now I have to figure out how to get it off the pallet. :lol:

Tue Apr 27, 2021 4:38 am

cherry picker. also, many people like to level the beds to the floor

Tue Apr 27, 2021 5:15 am

scrivyscriv wrote: I'm a little late to the party guys but I'll throw my old girl in for good measure!
Just got her home this week, now I have to figure out how to get it off the pallet. :lol:

We have that exact same Millrite my grandpa bought new in 1971. I have it in the corner at the shop, and I only use it for boring cases now. The quill got loose after all the years, so now I lock it and use the knee to lift the part up into the cutter. It's not as ridged as a full size Bridgeport, but it will still work.

Brian

Tue Apr 27, 2021 5:19 am

Oh, if you want to get it on rollers and move it around in the future, get a Johnson bar. Leverage goes a long ways.

Tue Apr 27, 2021 5:35 am

Oh nice, I have your Millrite's older brother, from 1969. Yours is after the U.S. Burke partnership with Powermatic which resulted in the changes to the belt cover and some other aesthetic stuff. What I love about these is they feel about 75% as rigid as a real solid knee mill, but mine was $800 and fits through a standard door with just the table and motor removed. (LOL we have the exact same chinese POS Kurt-copy vise.)

http://www.dcmorrison.com/ is your parts source, they'll e-mail you a parts breakdown and they reproduce a lot of the wear items you might need.

Mine has seen basically ONLY VW engine machine work and it has been great for the usual stuff.

Tue Apr 27, 2021 8:07 am

jimmyhoffa wrote: Oh nice, I have your Millrite's older brother, from 1969.

Haha... We ALSO have that same older version Millrite. :D Glorified drill press around here. We have two Bridegports and 3 Haas VMC's, so the old Millrite mostly sits.

Brian

Tue Apr 27, 2021 11:47 am

Brian_e wrote:
Haha... We ALSO have that same older version Millrite. :D Glorified drill press around here. We have two Bridegports and 3 Haas VMC's, so the old Millrite mostly sits.

Brian

Interesting coincidence! I do most my work in a 1998 Haas VF2 I program with MasterCAM. There are precious precious few tasks that can be done better/faster on a manual mill. Reconditioning old stuff and massaging bores larger and stuff, I do in the Millrite. Everything else gets slapped in the CNC. If you're creatively lazy about modeling/programming you can be wicked fast in a CNC machine. I'd never consider flycutting or decking heads down in the manual mill, YUGE waste of time.

Tue Apr 27, 2021 4:23 pm

Aaa agreed.
Vf3

Tue Apr 27, 2021 4:38 pm

Dang that's a big boy. What you feed it big mac's?

Tue Apr 27, 2021 6:34 pm

Whoda thunk I'd find machine porn on a VW site?!
Here's mine.

The DRO on the lathe came from Aliexpress and was under $200. Works perfectly, no complaints.

Tue Apr 27, 2021 6:44 pm

Is the dro on the verticle mill OG? Or added later?