I'm shopping for a Series I Vari-speed Bridgeport vertical mill.

Are there any other makes I should consider? There are some new models for around $4k, but Bridgeport seem to be the standard.

Who makes the most advanced DROs? I need one that will perform bolt-hole-circle calcualtions at a minimum.

Other advice?

I have a Jet Mill and I am very happy with it. It is a very precision machine. My father in law (retired tool and die maker) has an Enco. This is a pretty good machine. He does extremely nice work with it. He has told me that mine is a better machine. Bridgeport is a great machine but in many respects you are paying for the name. I have DRO's installed I forget the brand. Mine has several important features. Inch / metric. Most will have that. I also have a devide by 2 function. Very helpful in finding the center of an object. It also has a bolt hole circle function. Father in law's doesn't have this on his mill. He uses a rotary table instead. Get a high quality vise. Kurt is the best. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.

Mark Kinnaman

Ive bid on a few Bridgeports.. havent brought one home yet...

The ones i have seen at the auction houses are made usually made up of parts that are at their wear limits.. DRO/controller removed.. and handscrews missing.

There is a shop quite close to me that has a Bridgport under a tarp, everytime I go there I tell the owner I want to buy the mill... he wont sell it.. and he doesnt know how to use it

I've got an old 3 phase, 1 hp Jet that I've got $1200 into. If I can get that back I'm happy! It's a big mo, with a 48" bed. I don't have any collets or diddly with it. The cranks have got about a half turn of play, but if you are using a DRO that don't matter. Just a bone....

I thought I'd take a machine shop class and learn how to use it, but that won't happen for a long time.

QUOTE (sixnotfour @ Dec 26 2005, 08:33 PM)

Mills are a pain to move around though.

I'm gonna get a:

I like Bridgeport, but the latest ones are not the quality of the old days. Their prices are more for the name than the quality. I have used a Lincoln and they are really nice, Emcos are nice also. Watch for high quality bearings and Meonite castings. The Taiwanese stuff is really good. They are using Japanese bearings. The Chinese stuff is kinda decent, but you need to watch and make sure they use good bearings.

For DROs check out Sony. They are the best ones out there. I have used several other brands and was not impressed, at all. The Sony units are easy to use and very intuitive.

Depends on what you are looking for, manual or CNC. Odd as it sounds a CNC bridgeport in great condition will cost alot less than an OK manual mill. My series 1 Boss 5 in perfect condition cost me $1300 a few months ago - it cost almost half that much to get it home and into the garage. The Boss mills all have hard chrome ways ($$$ option on the manual machines) ballscrews, auto oilers and they have about 500lbs. more iron in them.
If you want something new to play with at a reasonable price take a look at www.industrialhobbies.com they have a nice machine at a good price.

Bridgeport’s are OK, but no tilt head mill will ever be as accurate as a fixed head.

QUOTE (Mark Henry @ Dec 27 2005, 06:13 AM)

Bridgeport’s are OK, but no tilt head mill will ever be as accurate as a fixed head.

My Bridgeport is a fixed (rigid) head. Like you said more accurate and it doesn't have a big hunk of iron sticking out of the back of the mill so it takes up less space.