Bridgeport Series II CNC w/ BOSS - Programming

[rocknrolljunky]

Hi everyone. I'm new to these forums. My father and I just picked up a late 70's/early 80's Bridgeport Series II CNC with the Boss controller. The machine is working great. Neither of us have ever programmed before.

I got it to store my block and automatically run a program, stop for tool change, etc. What I can't figure out is how to set the feedrate. Is it the knob that goes from 0%-100%? Or is it done through code? I've tried the following:

N045 X 6.250 F6

It doesn't seem to be slowing the machine down any. Do I have to add a G94 at the beginning of the block?

Any help I could get on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance everyone.

[machintek]

You need a programming manual. The machine defaults at boot to a G0 which is rapid. You command a feedrate with a G1 followed by a destination followed by F___, all on one line. On the BOSS 6 you do not use a decimal point in the feedrate. On later BOSS machines, a decimal point is used. G2 is clockwise feed, G3 is counterclockwise, etc.

George

[rocknrolljunky]

Thanks for the help. I've been trying a few things, but can never remember what I just did, so I always have to start from scratch. This will help me a lot.

As far as the manual goes, does anyone have a site where I can get noe or a copy of one? I've been poking around eBay and can't seem to find anything under $100.

Thanks again George.

Scott

[tbriggs]

I have the BOSS10 manual. At least I think I do. I can look around if that is the one you need.

[rocknrolljunky]

I don't even know what series the BOSS is. I looked around it and couldn't find any description of the controller. We didn't get diagrams or anything with the machine. Luckily our electrician has done a few of these.

Does anyone know if I can find out what version I have by the serial #?

Thanks in advance.

[phil jones]

I beleive the Boss # shows up on the screen when the control boots up

[MnotLyon]

Originally Posted by phil jones I beleive the Boss # shows up on the screen when the control boots up

Not on a 6 or older.
If you have a terminal set up it will give you the Boss # when you comunicate though.

[rocknrolljunky]

No terminal, just the monster tape drive adding 600 lbs to it! I'm gonna keep poking around. Thanks for all the input everyone.

Scott

[machintek]

Does not sound right. Late 70's there was a S2BOSS6. Prior to that the only series 2 was the old NC2 which had a stand alone control.
Maybe you have a BTC2? I never worked on one of those.
Does it have a tool changer?
Try machinemanuals.net for a programming manual on CDROM but you need to know what machine you have.

George

[Ken Burdges]

I have a Boss 1 and 2. They communicate via rs232 cable with a pc fine. It is a little trouble to set up and get working, but the machines do a fine job. I cut wind tunnel models, using CADKEY to program 3D surfaces to cut with a ball nose cutter. When it communicates with a pc, the BOSS 6 will come up on the screen.
Ken Burdges
Novatek Inc.

[colin1544]

Hello if the 600lbs tape unit has got a little panel on the top which if I remember gave indication in red L E D readout which was for tool change information and tool offset's then your machine is one of the old series II NC machines with the C 6 boss option if this is so then the top of the table flips up when you release a catch on the back underneath the work top and inside is the C 6 option with the boss control boards in it it should also have a two round connectors on the back one of these allowed the connection an external computer to be connected or one of the old teletype machines using the old style 20 volt connection if it has then you can still connect a modern P C to it using a Dos program to link up with it, it will also when connected give a listing of which Boss control is being used. If it hasn't got this extra control box and it's just got the control panel with the large transformers in the base and the tape reader built into the front panel then it will just be an N C II machine which needs programs input through the tape drive but you can put basic G code commands into the control one line at a time but it was very laborious and I think it very limited on the memory. I hope this might give you some useful info keep us informed cheers Colin.

[MotorGeek]

Originally Posted by Ken Burdges I have a Boss 1 and 2. They communicate via rs232 cable with a pc fine. It is a little trouble to set up and get working, but the machines do a fine job. I cut wind tunnel models, using CADKEY to program 3D surfaces to cut with a ball nose cutter. When it communicates with a pc, the BOSS 6 will come up on the screen. Ken Burdges Novatek Inc.

I have a Series 1 with a Boss 6 control. I have had it for years and works well. You got my attention when you mentioned using CADKEY to program 3D surfaces. Is CADKEY a code writing software or a CAD program that you use to manually pick the grid points from a wire frame?

Jerry