Pushing The Bridgeport Milling Head To It's Limit - 5' Face Mill, R8 Spindle, 1HP

The American Tool Works planer was quite a mess when I got it. Having been stripped of its original planer drives and retrofitted with a DC drive and motor, it was quite a mess. After much rework, adding a Bridgeport milling machine head, and an M-DRO magnetic scale 3 axis DRO this machine is a regular workhorse at Topper Machine LLC.

Can a 1 HP Bridgeport mill head handle a 5" face mill? We are sure going to see what it will do, what is the worst that could happen???

This job is quite proprietary, and I can only film some of it. In fact, most of my jobs are this way, and I must respect my customers wishes. But with that said, who doesn't love watching a big face mill hog away material?

Topper Machine LLC is an entirely manual machine shop located in Spooner, WI. Our videos will highlight some of our shop work.

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[shinymud]

I liked the saying, “drilling is boring”.

[thedukeofbork]

"Drilling's boring". Very good, Josh.

[bostedtap]

Excellent machine capacity in a very small space, good to see an apprentice in training 👍.
Thanks for sharing

[leroyc]

Passing on skills and knowledge to an apprentice that he will carry with him for the rest of his life
thumbs up to you sir 👍

[glenncpw]

I am glad you showed the J head - I could see the belt in the top grooves - I have a Bridgeport clone, and usually - normally only use the face cutters in the first belt position - that makes me feel better.. I like watching your vids - you get right into it Good Onya

[hmw-mstx]

I really like using 45 degree face mills. I have three Sandvik R245 face mills (3", 4" and 6"). They cut freely, can hog like crazy on a roughing pass and then make a beautiful surface finish on a finishing pass. Ken

[newtsfarm]

I love that planer mill conversion. It's the only one I've ever seen and I watch a lot of machine shop videos!

[donteeple]

Hi Josh,
Impressive work Alot of ppl out there have little idea of what all this takes to produce a superior end consistently meet or exceed the customers expectations. For the uninformed, tightening on a piece of steel imparts a force into the part and actually warps it ever so so slightly...the higher the tolerance needed the greater the need to impart an even force into the part to hold it...ie: use a calibrated torque wrench to ensure the torque into the part is even and consistent and NOT imparting any warp or bow of the part...a good example would be watching a high end gunsmith and observe how he torques chamber reamers and sight fixtures and hold down screws for sight ramps.
Great to see you back in the swing of
Don

[bcbloc]

Nice! I need to build some more clamps and stops for my boring mill

[robertschmidt]

That second pass turned out like glass. Woohoo....beautiful.

[PSGer]

Awesome Mr Topper, and fantastic job Connor. Keep up the awesome work and dedication. You have probably one of the best teachers around! Hopefully we can all meet you on the channel someday.

[samhendrix]

I've watched video's where machinist was doing the same thing with a 500k mill and didn't have as good results, Nice job Mr. Topper.

[mikeking]

"Drilling is boring." Too funny. The mirror finish on the part is very impressive.

[argee]

Whomever determined putting a Bridgeport milling head on a metal planer was GENIUS. I marvel everytime I see you run this machine.

[PhotoArtBrussels]

Great setup and machine. Congrats on the build and efficiency of using this great addition to your capabilities. Great video as well. Thanks

[edsmachine]

Nice work Josh.
That machine is awesome, nice finish.
Thanks for sharing.

[petecuming]

The bow will return when you unclamp. Perhaps I don't understand. Thanks for your time. Pete in South Carolina.

[GardenTractorBoy]

The planer worked very well and the part looked great. I like the clamps and they are something we should think of making

[montymc]

"Mirror mirror on the wall"
Gorgeous finish

[clutchsp]

When tightening the clamps, I noticed the 300mm metric crescent wrench you used. Went to Harbor Freight Tools the other day and asked for one as they only offered SAE sizes. Also probably a good idea to have those wrenches calibrated if used a lot.