Bridgeport J head spindle oiler question

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henryr
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Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 1:20 pm
Location: Connecticut USA

Bridgeport J head spindle oiler question

Post by henryr »

Hi all,

I have a 1952 J head Bridgeport I bought about 20 years ago. I have a question about the spindle oil cup and related components. They are listed in the parts section of the manual as item numbers 55, 54, 53 and 52. Question is, could item 52, the wick, be missing in my machine? I ask because when I put oil in the cup it runs down to spindle bearings very quickly and I can't see any part of a wick in the oil cup. Is there a way to determine if there is a wick, without taking the head apart? If it is missing, can a wick be inserted through the Gits cup without removal? If so, how long is the wick supposed to be? Also, in the Hardinge Bridgeport Series 1 manual, item 52, the wick, is listed as a .125 O.D. common pipe cleaner, but nothing about length. Does anyone know of a photo showing the cup, tube, plug and wick installed in place?

Thanks,
henryr
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ctwo
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Re: Bridgeport J head spindle oiler question

Post by ctwo »

If you can't fish anything out with a wire, then I'd probably stuff a regular pipe cleaner in there and forget about it - not the oiling though.

My BP CNC does not have a wick - it just drips on the screw and runs down around the bearings to the quill.
Standards are so important that everyone must have their own...
To measure is to know - Lord Kelvin
Disclaimer: I'm just a guy with a few machines...
henryr
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 1:20 pm
Location: Connecticut USA

Re: Bridgeport J head spindle oiler question

Post by henryr »

Thanks for the reply. Is yours a J-Head or 2J- Head vari-drive? I ask because the top housing of a J-Head is quite different from the top housing of a 2J-Head.
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ctwo
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Re: Bridgeport J head spindle oiler question

Post by ctwo »

I have the varidrive and I do not have oil cups. Keith Fenner was rebuilding one of these and I recall he fished out a pip-cleaner. It was about yay long, enough to reach the center. I don't think it's that critical...

at the 11 minute mark, you can see it:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlHfcCg8vhc
Standards are so important that everyone must have their own...
To measure is to know - Lord Kelvin
Disclaimer: I'm just a guy with a few machines...
henryr
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 1:20 pm
Location: Connecticut USA

Re: Bridgeport J head spindle oiler question

Post by henryr »

Thanks, I saw his video and the pipe cleaner. That pipe cleaner, item #194, is for the oiler on the lower housing. The lower housing is exactly the same on both the J and 2J heads and I can see that pipe cleaner on my head. My question is about item #52 pipe cleaner in item #55 oil cup on the J-Head top housing. It supplies oil to item #71 pair of bearings.
spro
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Re: Bridgeport J head spindle oiler question

Post by spro »

The delivery of the oil is important. It needs to go exactly to the open bearings. I have seen there are small copper tubes. Only then does a wick as a pipe cleaner make sense. I believe many of the copper tubes fell off or lost during time. I still think a felt filter in the cup is good.
There are reasons it may not be good. Many of our machines have had the spindle bearings replaced with sealed bearings. Generally, the upper bearings should also be sealed bearings.
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