Vertical Mill

ch1ll said
You should be able to buy a good used Bridgeport for 2-3k. 5k will get you a used cnc vertical. Your looking in the wrong places. Stay away from e bay. Look at auctions. Mill should be under power for your inspection and take someone with you that knows what they are looking at like a tool and die maker. If there is an air hose anywhere near the machine run the other way.

I've looked at auctions. I'd love to go that way but for me it's impractical. First, they are typically a minimum of 450 miles from me. So traveling anywhere to physically look at something, that's all I would be doing, traveling. Secondly I haven't seen a Bridgeport go for $2K anywhere. There is an auction about 450 miles from me going on right now in MN for a Bridgeport Series 1 that has been heavily modified. Three weeks to go and it's already up to about $1800. Thirdly, every auction house I've looked at doesn't disconnect anything so I am trying to get a licensed electrician in a strange town just to disconnect it. Finally I haven't found one auction where anyone but the buyer is responsible for loading so now I'm rounding up a forklift, again in a strange town. It just doesn't seem to be practical. If I lived in OH, it would be a totally different situation, but I don't. Not trying to be a pessimist, just a realist. :thumbsup: