Looking to buy this mill, Seller States Bridge port mill BOSS 7.2 retro

[swill008]

Hey!

I'm looking at buying this mill. He is local to me and has a Bridgeport BOSS 7.2 I'm still waiting to get a SN# to identify it.

I'm thinking he is not aware of what model exactly he has.
Ill attach some photos - I have asked a lot of questions but this will be my first mill purchase [I'm a Newbie!]
I'm guessing this guy is not aware or trying to pull a fast one on me, im not sure. The price is right, but I don't want a hunk of crap either!

Says he has it powered up and is retrofitted with CENTROID CNC controls.. Im thinking the asking price is right, but what would you think
would be a fair price [yes I know very limited information]

Here are the specs: Quote from him

I purchased and installed the kit...boss 7.2 was a lemon from factory. It dropped tools and bashed gears.This mill I picked up in Colorado about 10 years ago.
The controls didn"t work so I made handles for it and used it a little that way. I bought a kit from Ajax CNC and installed it myself. The ways are excellent, I don"t
know if it has any backlash, if any, I have not noticed it at all. I have just used this as a hobby mill mostly. The retro has been on the mill about 7 years..If you want to
come and see it before you buy, we can make arrangements for that

1980 Bridgeport boss 7.2
DC servo motors
spindle is lo and high gear
variable frequency drive
speed change while milling
ajax cnc controls.....;works great
single phase 220
lots of tooling
kurt vise
dxf file import .....
spindle speed function.....
plug and play....
4 gb solid state hard drive...
floating tap function with tool-holder included...
conversational programming very easy
table capacity 12" by 34" .....
flood coolant
led light

So can you help me identify this mill? Is it a series 2 or 1 or something else? Picture is bad, but this is all I have to go on so far.

Thanks!

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[swill008]

Ok,

From my research this is a BTC-1 that had the tool changer removed. I haven't been able to find any manuals for it, so I'm not sure what I should look for.

Would BT30 spindle be the factory size? He stated it was what was in it.

I have no idea - I'm just trying to get into this as a hobby. So I know there are tool holders that I assume without collets? Is that what a BT 30 is? I have seen the pictures but I have never taken a tool out or mounted one.

[Fletch_CNC]

BT30 is the taper of the spindle. Here are some holders like that: BT 30 ER Collet Chuck Tool Holders for CNC Machines (not endorsing that brand, just for example). That size is common enough, you can get whatever kind of holders you want with that taper.

I can't say if it's a hunk of crap, though. Can you have him demonstrate it to you? I'd be leery of buying it sight unseen. But Bridgeport and Centroid are common, so there is help and parts available on that front. Could still be a major headache. My thought would be if you can't look at it and judge for yourself, it's too risky. But that's me.

Edit: If you like fixing stuff, it might be ok, since you just want to do this as a hobby. But hobbies can get expensive real quick! lol

[swill008]

Thanks for the response!

Yes I will have him demo it to me. He is just vague - real vague. I'm guessing its someone selling if for another person or he has something to hide.
Maybe I should look for the light in people, but not much left in honesty in the world.

I'm about 30 minutes away from him and I'm trying to get schooled up prior to looking at it. It looks from the picture that the top covers and side covers are gone, could that be an issue.
I think I read somewhere that the head uses the same casting as the Boss 1-7 so is that true? I'm worried ill get a one of a kind mill and then cant find any common parts for it.

So if it [the rest] is specialized and unique then i don't want it [I know the BTC1&2 are unique tool changers] - if I cant find parts for it. But I cant find any maintenance manuals for it - or any manuals for it to check.

[oldmach]

good morning
if this is the mill on ebay in ky it looks good you need to see it run a program from complete start up power on etc the starting price on ebay is a nice price for a ridged ram without centroid controls with the centroid it could be worth a couple of thousand more this looks like a govt or school surplus machine the numbers and tag on the cabinet as to the price you could probably part it out for more than the 2500 starting price if you decide not to keep it also talk to the owner about an offer he is going to pay ebay and paypal 375.00 to sell it at the starting price free loading is also a savings manuals and tooling are available on ebay or the internet cnc zone is a great place for help with manuals if it were closer I would take a shot at buying it somewhere in the 2-3 thousand range

good luck with the purchase and post if you buy it

rich

[swill008]

oldmach,

I plan on doing exactly that.

Do you or anyone else know if a Series 1 CNC manual will cover this model BP? Still no luck finding a model specific manual for this BTC-1.

I unfortunately do not know enough to figure it out [ I know hardly anything on the BP, all the reading I have done and I am at barely know anything! ]


I'm looking for head design and to see if it is the same with the BOSS 1-6 Series 1 machines.

[oldmach]

a series 1 r2e4 manual will cover the head , the servo the knee most bp rigid ram machines have a lot in common the rest of the manual dealing with electrical will probably be useless because of the centroid conversion a centroid manual will of great help the manuals are on line free download also looking at the vfd and the rest of the wiring you should color code the wiring prior to removal also make a wiring diagram you will save a lot of time when you get it home and try to hook it up see it in operation make notes when the seller powers it up and runs it listen to it run if it sounds good make an offer be patient there are a lot of bp cnc machines out there as I said at 2 to 3000 you should be good

good luck

[gus]

the BTC is completely different from the regular rigid ram. Different air operated tool holder, different motor[no vari electronic] air operated low hi speed.

Most of the base is the same.

I sold the original paper manual with mine some years back.

[gus]

post in the BTC clubhouse thread see if anyone answers

[swill008]

gus,

Thanks for the response! I was going to post in the BTC Clubhouse but didn't want to revive a zombie tread.

The motor has a VFD [with the retro kit] on it so I would have vari speed and the tool changer was removed. I'm mainly concerned what "head" it has, quill spindle ect.
Im hoping after I read the manual that oldmach suggested that I can get spooled up on it.

Thanks!