Bridgeport 'E' head, slotter/shaper.

[Malc-Y]

I just bought one of these on ebay and collected it today. I have already mounted it on the rear of the ram (not an easy job to do without help, but I managed in the end with the aid of a chain hoist). Just needs the wiring sorting before I can try it out. I have some keyways to cut in some gears that I cut on the same Bridgeport.
Now the question: What is the correct direction of rotation? I realise that the ram will reciprocate whatever the motor direction is but there are thrust bearings on the worm shaft which mean that the direction is important. There should be a small plate attached near the stroke adjusting dial showing the correct direction, but it is missing!

Malc.

[pcarpenter]

I am going to guess that it works no differently than a crank shaper. If so, the travel in the cutting direction should be slower than the "retract" motion....if its rotating in the correct direction.

Paul

[Malc-Y]

I am going to guess that it works no differently than a crank shaper. If so, the travel in the cutting direction should be slower than the "retract" motion....if its rotating in the correct direction.

Paul

On looking at the drawings and parts list in the Bridgeport manual, it doesn't appear to have a quick return motion as is utilised on a regular shaper.

Malc.

[lazlo]

On looking at the drawings and parts list in the Bridgeport manual, it doesn't appear to have a quick return motion as is utilised on a regular shaper.

It uses a worm drive. I think it should work in either direction, but the motor drives the pulley clockwise, whon you look at it from the top. I have mine in pieces on my workbench, if you want pictures of the insides.

[Malc-Y]

It uses a worm drive. I think it should work in either direction, but the motor drives the pulley clockwise, whon you look at it from the top. I have mine in pieces on my workbench, if you want pictures of the insides.

Thanks for the offer of pictures but I have the US version of the instruction manual which has a detailed drawing of the E head and also the UK manual which has an exploded view of the E head. Together these two manuals explain the workings pretty well and I have studied them to the extent that I could probably disassemble one in my sleep!
It is because of the worm drive that I believe that the direction of rotation of the motor is important because of the thrust bearings, the thrust from the worm must be towards the thrust bearings, not away from them.
The drawing in the US version of the manual doesn't show the hand of the worm and worm wheel but the UK version does and it appears that the clockwise direction of rotation of the motor when looking down on it makes sense as the thrust will then be towards the thrust bearings. I hope these ramblings make sense!

Malc.

[Randolph]

If a second corroboration helps I have the same head and the drawings which do detail the worm gear. I have it wired so that rotation is CW when viewed from the top. I have not had it dissassembled so I cannot say that the drawing is accurate but it works well and has for some time. There is no reduction in ram speed like in a crank shaper. Return stroke is the same speed as the cutting stroke. I use mine fairly frequently, by the way.

[pcarpenter]

Yeah...I should have looked at the manual before presuming it was crank driven. In that small form factor, a worm or gear drive makes much more sense.

What is the total stroke of one of the slotter heads on a BP? The reason I ask is that for the guys who covet one of the little Atlas or SB shapers and who own a knee mill, I would think that a BP slotter head could be a completely acceptable solution if the work envelope is near the same. It offers the advantage in that it allows for a table size much larger than most shapers.

I don't know if it has a "clapper" of sorts, however and that could result in reduced tool life for work other than simple slots.

Paul

[lazlo]

What is the total stroke of one of the slotter heads on a BP?

4". It's really more suited for slotting than for vertical shaping.

I don't know if it has a "clapper" of sorts, however and that could result in reduced tool life for work other than simple slots.

It has a standard clapper.

In addition to the other advantages you mention (i.e., long table travel along one axis), the slotting head also swivels 360° on the ball joint, so you can slot all sorts of weird tapers and along awkward jig fixtures.

I bought mine as a basket case because I want to cut the internally splined telescoping leadscrew for the Clausing taper attachment. I'm going to mount the slotting head flat on my Mill table and slot lengthwise along the table.