retro bp textron series1 sr#3771

[Greg ccf]

Hello I am a farmer with 25 year old machine shop skills,cnc is new to me.
I own a bp series 1 sr# 3771 probably a boss1 upgraded to boss5. I have the machine responding to manual data input but am unsucessful at programming meaningful code one line at a time. Bottom line Im ready to retrofit to a pc and need good advice. as the electronics [transistors] are fine and so far easily serviceable I am leaning torwards the new break out board and Mach software. does anyone recommend a reputable vendor with good support to the little guy? Thanks, Greg
thanks for comments so far, here are a few more questions. the connector on the electrical panel are two 8 pin, with only one wired. what were their purpose ? Would I be crazey to try and obtain and operate the punch tape ? Is the connector at the back of the tape reader a useable input? We have two of these machines the other seems [loaded] with toolchanger and servos insted of steppers. Which is the better retro canadate? The latter is much taller and heavier.

[Agmachines]

The best way to answer your question,
Is for you, to search through the archives here, and make the conclusion for yourself.
My personal choice for a similar machine, was Darek Ashburn's "Hillbilly breakout board" and using Mach 3 to drive it.
Newfangled Solution's addon to Mach 3 for Conversational programing may be a good investment for the "G-code challenged" until you pick up the G-code a little more.
Your choices and circumstances might be different.

Russ

[Kevin Taylor]

If it is a Boss5 You should be able to com. with it through the RS232 conection located on the front of the right hand cab. at the base of the cab. some of the early machines need a adapter box Black box I would try shop floor autamation's George 'Machinetec " could tell if it is RS232 compatible Write program's in MS notepad and ship it to the machine with Hypertermanal If you aren't doing greatbig program's it would be a vast inprovement over the control pannel If you have a control that work's You can do alot more from the program at the PC than you can from the control also I strugeled with programing at the control for a long time and the com with the PC was like a new machine at little cost There are cables on Ebay but the manual should have the pinout info you need and the setup info for Baud rate ect .
I can simpthise with your plite I have 100 line program's I entered by hand at the control in MDI store and it is not fun Good Luck Kevin

[NC Cams]

A lot of what you're asking for in the way of "support" with regard to Mach is in the form of self sufficiency - that is, it is essentially a do it yourself project that involves figuring out stuff for yourself and/or crafting up wiring and setting up the computers as well.

The BEST way to implement MACH is to buy the computers that they say to buy and also the adjoining software. You should also check out the MACH user group (Yahoo I think) as MANY if not all the questions and problems you can and will face have been faced and dealt with before.

Retrofitting a CNC controller (outside of buying a factory built kit) invovles more than simple buy it and hook up the wires/hardware. There is crafting and, oftentimes on-site engineering (mechanical and/or electrical and/or computer interfacing) that can and will be involved.

Frankly, there are reports that even some factory "kits" leave a lot to be desired with regard to "bolting stuff together".

One real problem you get into with older/dated equipment is that older equipment often ran at low voltage and high current whereas todays servo's and steppers run with higher voltages and lower amps. Thus, the hassle comes in when you try to find amps capable of handling BOTH the voltage and current that your older motors can and will draw.

There may be an outfit or two who does a reasonable job of "supporting" MACH with a "kit" but I don't recall seeing any. Most MACH applications involve the blending of essentially contermporary PC's, contemporary Win O/S of the prescribed type (XP) and/or the use of appropiate BOB"s and Gecko or other step/direction servo/stepper drives suitable for use w/mach.

If Mach is your chosen direction, head off to the MACH section of this website and read, read, read away. If you don't understand what they're talking about and/or can't pick it up, you might want to think again about DIY CNC and perhaps buying a machine already fitted (IE: later model HAAS or Bridgeport or something that is more turn key). Nothing worse than getting burried in a project only to find that you're in over your head and totally lost.

Caveat emptor.