Hi All,

I've been apprentice for a few years then bought my own mill and lathe in 1999. Some years ago, I did the dumb rookie mistake and forgot to pull on the quil's power feed when in low speed (motor in reverse). Of course, it went the wrong way (up) and when I noticed, it went bang and something broke inside -- and it hasn't worked since. I've got a Taiwan/Chinese "Birmingham" 9x49 which appears to be a pretty good copy of a Bridgeport style mill. It may be made to lesser quality, but that mill has been pretty good to me.

Does this mis-use cause one or two parts to commonly break? How tricky is the repair? I'm very mechanically inclined so am not afraid of going in there; I'd just love to hear a little bit from others' experience before taking apart one of my favorite pieces of equipment.

Thanks,
Chris