Dear CNC community,

My name is Leo and I am new to CNC machining.

After a long hunt I have finally located what I think might be a suitable machine to learn on, a Bridgeport series I machine with a BOSS5 controller and a spare BOSS5 controller as well. The person is asking $1000 dollars for all of it.

My questions to all of you are:


Is $1K a good deal assuming it works?

What common trouble spots should I check out before I get the machine?

Would you recommend upgrading the controller to something more modern or should I just use the BOSS controller and it's RS232 connection?

If you would recommend a conversion which one would you recommend on the inexpensive side, medium and super deluxe? What would the tradeoffs be between the three different price levels?

What software do you recommend in the case of a controller upgrade, MACH3 or something else?

Is there a CAD package with a good post processor for the BOSS controller: Surfcam, Bobcad, DolphinCAD, others?


I know you must all be very busy so I appreciate any help and advice you can offer. I am between jobs and looking to learn CNC to help me make a career change so getting it right the first time is important for me. Your advice will be of great help to that end.

Thank you

Leo

If the machine is in tolerable mechanical condition then that is a good price. Consider it a retrofit-ready machine. If the control(s) that come with it work for a while, that is an extra bonus.

Continuing to maintain and run the Boss 5 control will be challenging, but if you are patient and electrically-inclined, you can probably do it with the help of this group. Having a spare control for parts can't hurt.

Centroid retrofit kits are a good fit for these machines. They would probably be in your "medium" or "super deluxe" category (ca. $10K).

See http://www.centroidcnc.com/bridgeport_boss.htm

Disclaimer: I am a Centroid dealer and technician. There are other nice controls out there too. There are less expensive controls too, providing you are prepared to do a lot more of the assembly and setup yourself.

I should have said that I have been an electrical engineer for over 20 years and have DVMs, Scopes and Logic analyzers at my disposal, so with an understanding of the theory of operation and a schematic I could probably keep the old controller running.

That said, you can be the best engineer in the world and that won’t help you if you can’t get parts. Transistor substitutions and diodes and so forth are no problem but I would image that some of the parts such as EPROMS, Microprocessors and such are no longer available. When these controllers have problems is most often in the power supply, driver or logic sections?

I should also say that while I enjoy electronics, my main goal is to spend time learning CNC and not becoming a BOSS controller repairman. If the controllers break down often and if parts are hard to find perhaps I should get the retrofit out of the way now.

Speaking of retrofit, lots of the kits come with new drive motors. If the current motors are running fine is there any reason to replace them? Are they prone to frequent failure?

Thanks for the advice. I’ll take a look at the Centroid controller, though $10K is a bit out of my budget, especially for a $1k machine.


If the machine is in tolerable mechanical condition then that is a good price. Consider it a retrofit-ready machine. If the control(s) that come with it work for a while, that is an extra bonus.

Continuing to maintain and run the Boss 5 control will be challenging, but if you are patient and electrically-inclined, you can probably do it with the help of this group. Having a spare control for parts can't hurt.

Centroid retrofit kits are a good fit for these machines. They would probably be in your "medium" or "super deluxe" category (ca. $10K).

See http://www.centroidcnc.com/bridgeport_boss.htm

Disclaimer: I am a Centroid dealer and technician. There are other nice controls out there too. There are less expensive controls too, providing you are prepared to do a lot more of the assembly and setup yourself.

I sell a interface board and instructions to replace the BOSS 4-6 controllers with a PC running Mach 3 CNC software. You supply the PC with a printer port, My kit is $79 and a Mach 3 license is $175. I have sold over 100 of these kits to users on this forum.

Just letting you know what is available.

Darek

Hi Darek,

Yes I have read many good things about your board and was wondering how to contact you.

I purchased the mill today and was shocked to see how BIG the controller itself was. I was also a bit worried about all those wire wrapped boards in it. I never have had good luck with wire wrap!

I understand from reading about your board that it uses the existing BOSS servo drivers and simply replaces the BOSS controller.

What i was wondering is how many channels it supports. I counted four channels on the mill today: x, y, Z-quill, and Z-knee. That's four channels just for the mill. It also looks like there might be a Speed control for the spindle and perhaps an air cylinder for quick tool changes??? In addition to all that I was also hopping for a rotary table drive, something to turn the flood cooling off and on and something to control the spindle speed. Will your driver board drive all that stuff as well? If not where is the best place to compromise?

Also, i have seen kits on the market for $4k and up that brag of higher resolution encoders. Is this really an advantage? I assume your board uses the current encoders? I plan to do some 3D profiling and the smoother the finish the better so encoder resolution is important to me. That said there is a HUGE price difference, and people seam very happy with your product so what gives?

Thanks,

Leo



I sell a interface board and instructions to replace the BOSS 4-6 controllers with a PC running Mach 3 CNC software. You supply the PC with a printer port, My kit is $79 and a Mach 3 license is $175. I have sold over 100 of these kits to users on this forum.

Just letting you know what is available.

Darek

Hey Leo,

That does not sound like a BOSS 5 If it has wire wrap boards. It could be a BOSS 3 or a NCIIA. My board can interface to them also. These are all stepper motor machines with no encoders. If you could attach a photo I am sure we could identify it.

Thanks,
Darek

Darek,

the attached picture is not of my mill but is very close. The only difference is that my mill has an articulated head on it, where as this mill in the picture has a solid head.

The controller head and box however are exactly the same. Not shown in the photo but present on my mill is what apears to be a junction box mounted behind the mill.

Leo,

That sounds like a BOSS 3. A BCC board in the card rack will verify that, BOSS 4 & 5 had a XDI board and the BOSS 6 had a ZDI board.

Darek

I think you will not be happy with a boss 5 bridgeport.
the rapid rate is 32 ipm and no tool changer.
you could probably find an old vmc with much more promise even for 1000 bucks.

good luck
billy

thanks Billy,

I would love an old VMC machine but i have yet to ever see one around here for even close to a Thousand. I wish i could find one.

Darek,

it looks like a Boss 3. I assume your controller will still work with the drivers for the boss 3 no?

How can i get more info about your product?

Leo


Leo,

That sounds like a BOSS 3. A BCC board in the card rack will verify that, BOSS 4 & 5 had a XDI board and the BOSS 6 had a ZDI board.

Darek

Leo,

Yes my board will interface with the BOSS 3. You can PM me your email address and I will send you some more information, or you can email me at ashburn@icx.net.

The BOSS 3-5 actually rapids at 60 IPM, 1000 pulses per inch or 0.001" resolution. The BOSS 6 rapids at 30 IPM with 2000 pulses per inch or 0.0005" resolution. The difference being 1:1 motor to ballscrew ratio on the BOSS 3-5 and 2:1 ratio on the BOSS 6.

I just aquired a Mazak V5 with a Fanuc 5 controller for $750. Here's the hitch, the mother board is bad. A reconditioned board is $9000 and a new one is $13,000. Needless to say it will get retrofitted with Mach 3. Besides I prefer a CRT to the LED digit gas pump display, similar to the BOSS 3-5.

Darek

I hav Series II with the Boss 6.
I switched it over to the board Darek sells 2 years ago.
Running Mach 3 and have never looked back.
I ran the Boss 6 for about 2 weeks and it was just too involved to do simple things on.
It would do the job but this setup is light years better.
Hats off to Bridgeport for building these great machines,just put a little better control on them and throw some chips!
Heres a photo of mine:http://www.hitechhobbies.com/Machines.html

Leo,

Don't listen any ney Sayers on old BP iron!

You have a good deal going and you can get all you need to get it up and going right here on the ZONE!