Head Removal On Series 2 Cnc

[TPMX]

I have my new toy home after 600 miles going to get her.Its a very nice condition Series 2 cnc rigid ram.
My next project is to get it in through a door that is 6" too short.
After reading through the manual it looks like the best course of action is to remove the entire head/motor assembly.Looks like the wiring, stepper,lube line and 4 bolts it looks like the whole unit will come off.The manual shows a diagram
for a lifting bracket with a loop that bolts on top with 1/4-20 bolts to lift the entire unit off.
This will provide tons on clearance and less dissasembly than other ways.
What do you guys think?Anyone ever pull the head assembly off?
The machine is in such good shape I just want to take my time getting it unloaded and in the shop.
I borrowed a 12ton trailer and used my Silverado 2500HD to tow ,the trip went excellent just take your time and its not bad at all.

[colin1544]

Hello sounds like you got a good buy I have a series 1 and have moved it six times in the time I've had it its an easy job if you are careful and you have the head room to get a set of chain lifting blocks in place if you make the lifting bracket as described in the manual it lift's nice and level. To start I removed the cover over the Z Axis drive and slacken the motor screws off so as to allow the timing belt to be slipped off the motor pulley, remove the front cover on the head that house the limit switches that control the Z Axis remove the screws holding the limit switches leaving the wires connected remove the box that houses the emergency stop switch and spindle direction switch on the right hand side of the head casting support the box and feed the switches carefully through the cast hole in the side of the head and then support the whole of this together on the side cabinet I then took off the Z Axis stepper motor still with the wires connected and strapped it onto the cabinet at the back the only wires I disconnected was the main spindle drive motor. Now comes the tricky bit take the bridgeport plastic side covers off the rigid ram and feel for the oil feed pipe that goes to the quill pull it out carefully through the sides cast holes in the side of the rigid ram casting hopefully with enough spare pipe you can then use something convienient to hold the end going down to the base colum and out to the bijur oil pump cut the pipe making sure that you anchor the end that goes down to the base casting and fit a 4 mm compression or push on air fitting this is used to reconnect the oil pipe together on reassembly tie this off to make sure that it does'nt drop down inside if you do its hell of a job to get at it as you have to remove the back cabinet and get in through the small access in the base casting to get your arm in to feed it back up to the top to reconnect now with the side covers removed and the switches outside and left dangling the Z axis motor off clamp the lifting jig in place connect a D link through the eye bolt on the lifting jig and use your lifting tackle to just take the weight you are now ready to remove the 4 x 1/2" allen screws that hold the head on I know the set up look's a bit weak using just 3 x 1/4" x about 11/4" long unc cap screws to hold the weight of the head but I assure it's quite safe it weighs altogether about 400 LB's remove the 4 retaining screws with someone helping just to steady the head while you get ready to take the lift just bring the head forward slightly and make sure you can hold the lubrication pipe and feed it through clear of the ram and taking care that you don't kink it lift it clear and get it down of the ground, to protect the quill in the ram from getting dirt on it I alway's put some clean cloth's in the opening at the back of the head till it's ready to be re-assembled any dirt or grit will damage that nice Chromed Quill now you can move the machine into place . Re-assembly of it all when you get the machine place is just a reverse of what you have just done there is a gear on the back of the head which is used in conjuction with the adjusting worm for adusting the head using a D T I set as wide as possible to make sure it's all nice and square to the bed take time to get this correct the accuracy of your machine depends on it all being nice and square .I hope this helps it's not as bad as it first looks just take your time with care. Cheers Colin.

[Hood]

I have a series1 rigid ram, got it through the door that was 4" too low by lifting it with one fork of a forklift on the lifting eyes then attaching a ratchet chain hoist to the other fork and down to the back of the base. Tightened up on the ratchet causing the mill to tilt over, got it through the door and then lossened the ratchet and placed the mill down on rollers for final placement.
Hood

[TPMX]

Thanks for all the info.I am going to give it a try as soon as I get a break in the weather,i'm in Ohio and its cold here now.The mills still on the trailer oiled down and tarped good.
I was wondering about the oil line I will watch out for it.I am not sure about the gear you talk about.Is this on the solid head or just 1 that tilts?
THANKS AGAIN

[colin1544]

Yes the gear is on the fixed ridgid ram type but is only a limited movement not enough to lower it down by six inches it's the main spindle motor that stops it Cheers Colin