Bridgeport head transplant alternative

[Shox Dr]

I bought a Tom Senior Major ELT sometime ago with the intention of buying a BP head and mating it to the Overarm.... Move on a few yrs and its stil not happened (surprise surprise)
Mainly because BP head are neither cheap nor come up for sale, at least around here. This got me thinking the other day what would someone else fit?

 

[mtt.tr]

Warco
Chester
Gate
Beaver
Ajax

Loads of turret head options.

 

[Shox Dr]

Warco
Chester
Gate
Beaver
Ajax

Loads of turret head options.

for sure but they dont appear very often either. I guess I was looking more towards the import ROC/Taiwan stuff

 

[brightspark]

Warco
Chester
Gate
Beaver
Ajax

Loads of turret head options.

providing you can get one at the right price rocking horse sh..it

 

[mtt.tr]

for sure but they dont appear very often either. I guess I was looking more towards the import ROC/Taiwan stuff

Sadly I fear a complete machine would be cheaper

 

[Shox Dr]

providing you can get one at the right price rocking horse sh..it

excatly. got me thinking about robing a head off an import

 

[dan.taylor.1]

My Semco is pretty much the same as a bridgeport.

 

[Fazerruss]

I bought a Tom Senior Major ELT sometime ago with the intention of buying a BP head and mating it to the Overarm.... Move on a few yrs and its stil not happened (surprise surprise)
Mainly because BP head are neither cheap nor come up for sale, at least around here. This got me thinking the other day what would someone else fit?

I wish I'd known you were still after one Dave as I spotted one a couple of months ago,

 

[gaz1]

i gained 2 heads one off the bridgeport and also another model that has an mt2

the bridgeport one is the one that can be used sideways but is easily bought that can be adapted up to a fixed head and you use the knee but also can be turned

the other one can be used at multiple angles

 

[minimutly]

Sadly I fear a complete machine would be cheaper

There was one posted on here from eBay - Myford with a broken knee, just last week. Was £350 no bids when I saw it last.

 

[Shox Dr]

I wish I'd known you were still after one Dave as I spotted one a couple of months ago,

Sods law Russ.

 

[Agroshield]

Warco
Chester
Gate
Beaver
Ajax

Loads of turret head options.

A list of manufacturers is a good start, but specific model numbers would be better.

Just to pick one, which Beaver head would fit on a Tom Senior (this one's small, that one is far away)?

One of these might be a good fit. You have to belt it up to a suitable motor: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165759991162

There is a Centec vertical head on eBay at the moment, starting at £350 with no bids.

 

[mtt.tr]

A list of manufacturers is a good start, but specific model numbers would be better.

Just to pick one, which Beaver head would fit on a Tom Senior (this one's small, that one is far away)?

One of these might be a good fit. You have to belt it up to a suitable motor: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165759991162

There is a Centec vertical head on eBay at the moment, starting at £350 with no bids.

Early beaver was diddy

 

[dan.taylor.1]

Early beaver was diddy

Beaver model a was, I had one, though the spindle was int30 so not tiny like an mt2 or something.

 

[Shox Dr]

Needs to have power feed, and power draw bar, or able to fit one.

Spindle fitting I would prefer an INT type, a 30 would be spot on to match the Horizontal Head on the TS

 

[Agroshield]

Needs to have power feed, and power draw bar, or able to fit one.

May I say that you have ambitious requirements. Consider why you need power feed on a vertical head. The Bridgeport one was only ever good enough for drilling up to 3/8". Power drawbars are convenient if access to undo the drawbar is 7' up in the air. That is not going to be the case on a TS. The power drawbar will circumscribe your buying options for tooling: everything will have to be the same thread and same top end. My gut feeling is that R8 BPs outnumber other taper options at least 10:1.

You also need to look at the geometry: what is the measurement from the back face of a BP head casting to the spindle centreline? If that was bolted to a TS column, where does it put the spindle centreline in relation to the Y-travel?

 

[Shox Dr]

May I say that you have ambitious requirements. Consider why you need power feed on a vertical head. The Bridgeport one was only ever good enough for drilling up to 3/8". Power drawbars are convenient if access to undo the drawbar is 7' up in the air. That is not going to be the case on a TS. The power drawbar will circumscribe your buying options for tooling: everything will have to be the same thread and same top end. My gut feeling is that R8 BPs outnumber other taper options at least 10:1.

You also need to look at the geometry: what is the measurement from the back face of a BP head casting to the spindle centreline? If that was bolted to a TS column, where does it put the spindle centreline in relation to the Y-travel?

You are correct in what you say. I know a BP will fit, 2 members on here have mated them, one to a smaller M1 as well.
As for will something else fit, until I find it I'll not know. Power draw bar is just for ease of use same goes for Power feed. There's no rush I have a light Vertical as well.

 

[RichardM]

There's a BP head on EBay ATM, he wants £620 but says it is also for sale elsewhere so may be cheaper.

 

[Wedg1e]

There's a BP head on EBay ATM, he wants £620 but says it is also for sale elsewhere so may be cheaper.

I thought that was standard Ebay speak for 'I'll take less if you find a way to contact me that bypasses Ebay's email scanner and saves me paying their fees'...

 

[Wedg1e]

Every once in a while I go looking for a BP head as they were sometimes fitted to the Adcock/ Bridgeport 1ES as a factory option (the standard vertical head has fixed spindle and limited height above the table, though it can rotate to horizonta which helps). An adapter plate is needed and the front of the overarm has to be milled properly square of course, but it can be done. The 1ES is a 3/4 tonne lump so it's rigid enough, but those heads are either spendy or 5h4993d. Or both.

The Beaver Mk2's head is 'generously proportioned', shall we say - but many are 40Int which gives a lot of tooling options.
I'd be tempted by a Beaver myself as my mate has one, but I suspect my garage would be at the bottom of the hill if I tried it