Bridgeport (machine tool brand)

The original corporation was founded in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and started selling its machines in 1938.

It became known in the following decades for small and medium-sized vertical milling machines, with a form of quill equipped multiple-speed vertical milling head with a ram-on-turret mounting over a knee-and-column base.

The American Precision Museum's biography of Rudolph Bannow[2] reports that he conceived the design in 1936 as the logical machine on which to mount the milling head already being built by the Bridgeport Pattern and Model Works (which he owned with a partner Magnus Wahlstrom).

Both Morse and R8 allowed for both collets and solid holders, and a drill chuck could be held by either of the latter.

By 1975 Bridgeport had acquired Adcock-Shipley and by 1980 had opened an assembly plant in Singapore to serve the Australasian market.

A full view of a Bridgeport Series 1 Knee Mill. The head is mounted on the ram by joints that allow it to swivel in two directions. The ram can slide back and forth on the turret, which can swivel on the column. The table sits on the knee, and it can move horizontally in the X and Y axes. The knee rides up and down the column (one form of Z-axis movement), and the head contains a quill in which the spindle can slide up and down (another form of Z-axis movement or, when the head is swiveled, an additional axis).
The Bridgeport logo as cast into the head of a Bridgeport Knee Mill.
The patented "2J" head ensures that any heat buildup in the spindle bearings, belt, or quill area is kept to an absolute minimum. This results in increased belt and bearing life as well as consistent accuracy with no external cooling fans required, increasing rigidity and vibration dampening properties.