A few BP CNC questions

[scottmi]

Hello,
I picked up a series 1 BP with a 3 axis Anilam controller. I have a couple of questions and need some help.

The previos owner needed to remove the table to get the mill in a building and he cranked the lead screw out and all the balls fell out. He never put the table back on so my question is can this be put back together faiirly easily or should I send the screw and nut to a rebuild shop. I think all the balls are there but I am not sure.

Secondly the 110V plug. Does that run the entire controller or just the computer. Are the drive motors run of 3 phase like the spindle? If so what is the best way to power the mill with single phase power? If the 110 plug run the Anilam and drives I would put a c-face motor in place of the old three phase motor.

I am attaching some pic's for referance.
I fiqure for 1250.00 I at least have a decent manual mill that will clean up nice.

[unterhaus]

sad that was screwed up like that. You can put the balls back in, hopefully someone will chime in with a link to the procedure, never done it myself.

[Bear]

Oops,
Hey send it to me.
Ill see what i can do the mess.QQ
Bear

[NC Cams]

There is a lathe retrofit thread that is being done by "old as dirt" Adobe. He explains how to reload a ballscrew in his thread.

There have also been numerous discussions regarding ball screw loading in various threads.

Try doing a "ballscrew preload" search using the 'Zone's search engine - it should show up.

[scottmi]

Thanks, I have been searching the threads about ballscrews there is a lot of good info. My problem is I did not take it apart so I hope I have all the balls for it. I counted 92 balls which sounds like a nice even number. They are .137dia. and all the same size. So I am really starting out from scratch.

[jrrhotrod]

I had to reload my z ballscrew on my v2xt bridgeport once. it was loads and loads of fun I think about 7-8 hours worth of fun to be exact!!! Other than that it turned out fine but One thing that was told to me when I did mine was that there may be a slight difference in ball sizes say a half a thou or so. I checked my ball sizes and man if they werent a half a thou different so I miced all 136 of them and seperated them into to different jars and loaded them stagering them big ,small and so on. I dont know if this is true or not on all ballscrews or true at all but it seemed that way on mine so thats how I did it.
Goodluck
JRRHOTROD

[jrrhotrod]

Opps Didnt Read Your Last Post About Them All Being The Same Size. I Guess You Already Knew To Check. I Did Put Mine Together With About 2 Balls Missing No Problems.
Goodluck Again!

[scottmi]

I decided to send the screw and nut to Rockford ball screw. The nut did not have recirc tubes it had four spots for loading the balls and the holes were sealed with some kind of silicone sealer. So I fiqured it is best to have someone reload it that is familiar with these things. Better done right than twice.
As far as powering the 1hp spindle motor what is the best way to go. Adapt a single phase motor or use a VFD to convert 1 to 3 phase?
Thanks

[Adobe Machine]

VFD..They work really neat..Most you can program and have a remote key pad..I was using a phase converter prior to installation of a VFD on my Tree retro fit..Big differance in performance and ease of use..Wife says elec. bill went down too? ?

Adobe (old as dirt)

[scottmi]

Thanks for the reply on a VFD what model would you recommend and do I have to go bigger on the rating or will a 1hp output be okay. I was thinking of mounting it on top of the main controller box, would that be okay and not interfere with the controller?

[NEATman]

scottmi-
http://web1.automationdirect.com/adc...V-z-Hz_Control)
$125 brand new, converts 1 phase 220 to 3 phase, & makes the motor variable speed.

Neatman