I could really be CRAZY

[Leigh Betsch]

Call me crazy or call me whacked or anything else you want but
I now own a machine that will drill straight, square, and more accurate than any DP ever dreamed of. I just bought the coolest old iron, it's not really a drill press. OK so it doesn't have lasers, or a tilt table, or even variable speed (until I add a VFD).
Actually it's a small Moore Jig Borer, made to drill and bore holes in metal when a normal mill doesn't provide enough accuracy. It's way over kill to use as a drill press for wood working but it cost less than a PM2800 and will give me some added metal working capability in my shop. :D :D Check her out:


http://i20.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/a1/5b/4690_1.JPG

[John Hedges]

HOLY CR@P BATMAN:eek: That is unbelievable. Extra bonus points on your man card for that one. Tim the Tool Man Taylor would be proud;)

[Gary Keedwell]

Congratulations, Just curious, can you do some milling with that? Like maybe some mortises?:)
Gary

[Jim O'Dell]

Nice find!!! Glad this worked out for you. Looks like the machine is in great shape. Jim.

[Leigh Betsch]

Congratulations, Just curious, can you do some milling with that? Like maybe some mortises?:)
Gary

Yup she can do some milling as well as drilling. Just can't tilt the head like a Bridgeport. Mortises should be possilbe but maybe not as easy as my mortising attachement for my MM J/P. The RPM will be a little slow but I think I can kick that up with a VFD retrofit.

[Gary Keedwell]

Yup she can do some milling as well as drilling. Just can't tilt the head like a Bridgeport. Mortises should be possilbe but maybe not as easy as my mortising attachement for my MM J/P. The RPM will be a little slow but I think I can kick that up with a VFD retrofit.
In my prior life as a machinist, I used to bring wood in to work to do mortising on Bridgeport. Those suckers were perfect every time. :D ;) I avoid routers when possible.
Gary

[David G Baker]

Leigh, I want one.
I have a tool room mill made by Bridgeport and frequently use it for drilling and on occasion use it for wood work.
I would love to have a Bridgeport but don't do enough work to justify the expense and cost of the tooling. Unless I find one at a great price with lots of tooling then the need to justify goes out the window.

[Gary Keedwell]

Leigh, I want one.
I have a tool room mill made by Bridgeport and frequently use it for drilling and on occasion use it for wood work.
I would love to have a Bridgeport but don't do enough work to justify the expense and cost of the tooling. Unless I find one at a great price with lots of tooling then the need to justify goes out the window.
You don;t really need much tooling to do woodworking. If you can get a good vise with your bridgeport ...you are golden. Regular end-mills or router bits..don't matter. I have a basement shop with a bulkhead entrance, but hope to retire with a more accessible shop entrance.
Gary

[Jack Camillo]

good move. I'm jealous.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Leigh....Nice score! That's a whole lot better than my Jet 16"!

[David G Baker]

You don;t really need much tooling to do woodworking. If you can get a good vise with your bridgeport ...you are golden. Regular end-mills or router bits..don't matter. I have a basement shop with a bulkhead entrance, but hope to retire with a more accessible shop entrance.
Gary
Gary,
I had a shop build when I lived in California. I made sure that the roll-up door had a full 8 feet height so I could get a full sized Bridgeport in the shop with out removing the door.
I had a pole barn built in Michigan where I now live and one of the highest priorities was a roll up door high enough to get a Bridgeport in with out any problem. Glad I did because I don't have a Bridgeport full sized mill but I do store my John Deer 2010 in it and the exhaust clears the roll up door by 6 inches.
I still do quite a bit of metal working and have a lot of tooling for my tool room mill but the largest tool I can use is limited by the 1/2 inch maximum collet size. Any wood work I do on the mill, the tools I already have will do what I need or I make a too that will. I have a milling vise on my xy base.

[Jim Becker]

Wowsa! A bit 'o iron there! Nice!

[harry strasil]

Get some accordian way covers for the exposed ways, they need to be kept oiled and wood dust and chips absorb oil and also stick to the ways possibly causing binding and also oil soaked sawdust is hard to remove.

One of the tools I plan on keeping from my Blacksmith shop when I liquidate it is my Bridgeport Vertical mill and some other things to set up a play shop in half of my double garage.

[harry strasil]

One thing to ponder when having machine tools in a wood shop is the sawdust and normal dust factor, an ordinary cotton bed sheet does an excellent job of keeping the dust off the machine, is easy to remove and put on and unlike a tarp will not accumulate moisture under it which creats a haven for rust.

[lou sansone]

great machine. what is the quill stroke ? I have a lot of old iron and really believe in using it to outfit a shop.

congrats
lou

[Leigh Betsch]

One thing to ponder when having machine tools in a wood shop is the sawdust and normal dust factor, an ordinary cotton bed sheet does an excellent job of keeping the dust off the machine, is easy to remove and put on and unlike a tarp will not accumulate moisture under it which creats a haven for rust.

I have been lucky as of late. One of my projects at work has been a major expansion of our clean room manufacturing. That also means removing several smaller clean rooms. So I have scored (that means free :D ) two 650 cfm hepa .03 micron filter units and enough plastic strip curtains to build a class 100,000 clean room within my shop. So that's were the old girl is going to go. Since I will be drilling wood with her I will need to protect the ways and screws from the wood chips generated by drilling but she should be fairly well protected from the other shop dust. I've also scored 40 feet of stainless steel lab benches, with base cabinets, 12 feet of lab wall cabinets, and enough other filters and hardware to build a 3x5 downdraft table. The shop is looking a lot like a chemistry lab and I'm quite sure you won't find too many class 100,000 wood shops around. Oh I also picked up a couple of old lab sinks and cabinets, for a secret project that I'll post if I ever get it done.

[Stephen Pereira]

Now That I like!!! What shape is it in? If it wasn't used in a production shop I bet it is good and tight.

I use my Bridgeport for wood working almost as much as I use it for metal working. It iskind of overkill and I worry about sawdust and the DRO .

Congratulations,

Steve

[Leigh Betsch]

great machine. what is the quill stroke ? I have a lot of old iron and really believe in using it to outfit a shop.

congrats
lou

3 7/8" quill stroke and another 9" of column movement

[Bruce Page]

Very cool Leigh. I spent a few years on a Moore #4 back in my machinist days.
Which tool holder type does she have?

[Leigh Betsch]

Very cool Leigh. I spent a few years on a Moore #4 back in my machinist days.
Which tool holder type does she have?
I'm not really sure, I pic her up on Wednesday. I'm pretty sure it will be a special Moore toolholer of some sort. It comes with a 3/8 chuck. I've been searching for toolholders, they are expensive but I'm sure I'll find something. I'm hoping to find enough tooling to fit her up with a 1/2" keyless chuck, 1/4, 1/2,and 3/4 holders. Maybe I can just get a 3/4 and make a couple of collet adapters.

[Bruce Page]

eBay is a great resource for tooling. Someone is selling a nice set right now for $250. That’s a small fraction of what they cost new. Search 250182567868

[John Gornall]

Back in my machine installing days we would cut a hole in the shop floor and build a separate foundation for a jig boring machine to isolate it from any vibrations in the building.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

That must have been fun to rig into place. Bet you won't put it on wheels.

[James Jaragosky]

I have tool ENVY

[Leigh Betsch]

Back in my machine installing days we would cut a hole in the shop floor and build a separate foundation for a jig boring machine to isolate it from any vibrations in the building.

Well now that you mention it... :rolleyes:
My shop is in a converted milking barn (45 x 90). I have one 22 x 50 room converted to the wood shop. Another 15 x 20 converted into a indoor/outdoor kennel for my hunting dogs. The main (unheated) 24 x 70 for the horse, tractor lawn mower and stuff. A small room for the furnace & water heater and another for the phase converter. But if you are familiar with milking barns you know that they have a 2 special rooms, a bulk tank room and a milking parlor. The milking parlor has a 6 x 10 x 3ft deep concrete "pit". I hoped to convert this room into a machine room and use the "pit" to run my under floor dust collector piping. But maybe I should leave a spot to poor a foundation for the jig borer?......:rolleyes: ??

Naw the jig borer is retired and will be just a drill press and the only vibes I get are from the wife when I start to talk about a metal lathe.