Build Thread- BTC-1 retro fit using DSPMC/IP controller.

[TOTALLYRC]

I have been saying I was going to do this when I got around tuit. I was never able to find a round tiut , but I finally made one on my lathe.

I am the proud owner of Gus's BTC-1 and as the title says I am doing a retro- fit.
Current thinking is this.

It is already a ball screw machine with 0-10v servo drives, 1to 3 phase 3hp Hitachi vfd, 3hp spindle motor, 100V power supply, copley servo amps, matching servo motors, belt drives to the screws and a whole bunch of other stuff that will make it a lot easier to retrofit than a conversion of a manual mill would be.

It will also be a cheaper because the cost of ball screws to convert my manual mill was more than I paid for the BTC-1 delivered.

I will be using Mach3 and a pc from the parts pile to run it.
I will be posting pics as soon as decide on where I want them hosted, as I don't want to have to resize every picture to post it in the thread.

It has a rotary 24 tool position tool changer and came with a bunch of tooling.

With the I/O requirements in mind I am using the DSPMC/IP from vital sustems. 36 inputs and 16 outputs.
It is still in late stage beta testing but it is working well and will be out of beta soon. It is available now if you want to get started on your own retrofit/conversion.

http://www.vitalsystem.com/web/motion/dspmc.php

[TOTALLYRC]

Here are a couple of pics that I took when getting out of Gus's shop.
The rollback in the pictures was the greatest idea in the world to get it from the loading dock down to the trailer.
I was so comcerned and tired that I for got to get pictures of it loaded on the trailer or pics of the tow vehicle.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/S1050352.jpg

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/S1050351.jpg

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p.../S10503512.jpg

here it is loaded on the rollback waqiting to go onto the trailer

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p.../S10503552.jpg

[TOTALLYRC]

More pics.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p.../S10503532.jpg

This picture is taken in my backyard and shows the 4x6's that I used to allow the machine to easilly slide from the dock onto the rollback, and from the rollback onto my trailer.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/S1050364.jpg

[TOTALLYRC]

While talking with Gus on the options to get it inside, he suggested cutting a large hole in the building and just pushing it into the building
As many of these pictures show, the machine had ONE hell of a coating of aluminum chips glued on with dried coolant. Everytime I touched the machine, the word "ouch" always seemd to escape my lips, even when wearing gloves.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/S1050377.jpg

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/S1050366.jpg

After taking a hard look at how big of a hole would have had to been cut in the building and talking it over with my CHARMING, LOVING, SMART, AND EXCEPTIONALLY BEAUTIFULL WIFE, we decided it would be better to take the machine apart and move it inside in pieces.
There were two reasons we took it apart.

1 The hole would have been a structural nightmare the way the building is designed.
2. The machine needed a good cleaning and it just made sense to do it now instead of waiting until it was inside the building.

After my boys and I did as much dissassembly as we could by hand, removing the table and such, we realized we needed help.

I callled a neighbor and he charged me $75 to come over with his bobcat with the forks. Together with my son Gabriel and neighbor (thanks Dennis) we took the machine apart into the largest pieces we could get thru the door. About 1 hours worth of work.

In hindsite, I am glad i had to take it apart, as I found a lot of loose bolts that you would not normally find without major dissassembly.

Here is were we took off the electrical console, which was a major under taking, as there are about a million wires to be disconnected.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/S1050371.jpg

To give an idea of hoe far it was broken down, I took this picture

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10386.jpg

More pictures to come.

[TOTALLYRC]

During the tear down process, I was faced with several descisions.
Was it going to be sterilized and painted and turned into a show piece?
How do I handle all the wiring, reconnect it all the way it came or do something different?

Here is the as received wiring.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10380.jpg
http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10381.jpg

here is what the control wiring looked like when the main box was separated from the base of the machine.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/S1050373.jpg

The final problem was where in the shop does this beast go.
The footprint was much larger than my j-head bport.
The biggest concern was how far from the walls did it have to go.

The major electrical access is to the rear, which would have required it to stand 3-4 feet from the wall. This would have placed it smack dab in the middle of the working area. I found this to be completly unacceptable.

With all of this in mind I went for a complete rewire using a wall mounted cabinet off to one side. Plus I decided on cleaned up but not painted. I will paint it in situ when I have made sure it is working the way I want.

close up
http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10472.jpg
Full view
http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...yrc/btc-11.jpg

Here is how that cabinet came to be.

They throw stuff like this out at work all the time from decomissioned machines

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...rc/bigbox1.jpg

I bolted three of them together to form a tall cabinet. The top 2 are identical and had a large panel cut out along one side. I flipped one cabinet so the large openings face each other and now the top cabinet opens up and the middle cab opens down, making a great shelf to hold tools and such while working inside.
The bottom one was set up to open to right so I can have the door open and still get around the cabinet take access the rear of the machine.

This cabinet setup allows me to push the machine all the way back untill the tool carosel hits the wall. I of course left 2" clearance to be safe so I can reinstall the covers without moving the machine.

Mike

Next up. Reassembly.

[TOTALLYRC]

Now that all the major questions have been answered, it is time to do somthing fun.

Put the machine back together.

Here is a view I took just before reassassembly

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10386.jpg


This shows the first major piece reinstalled. I never new until I did this that the rigid ram is pinned and bolted to the base. I also managed to snap a pin off when removing the ram. Luckily it was not a blind hole and I was able to punch it out . Notice the large lifting bracket. It can be used to single point lift the whole machine. It also houses the motor cooling fan.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10453.jpg


Here is the motor and spindle ready to be put in place. Weighs about 500lbs.
Definitely not installable by hand.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10457.jpg

This is where the spindle and motor stuff goes

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10454.jpg

Houston, the eagle has landed

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10465.jpg


That engine crane has paid for itself ten times over since I picked it up from a friend to move my J-head bridgeport.

[TOTALLYRC]

This is how the base came into the shop.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10395.jpg

What I did was remove everything that needed to be removed to get it thru a 36" wide door opening.

Notice the black box in the left front of the photo? It is the limit switches.


After putting the head assembly together, I reinstalled the X axis assembly, the Y axix was never removed.

Here is what the X axis drive assembly looks like. Bridgeport really did a nice job making it modular.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10459.jpg

and a shot of the ballscrew.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10460.jpg

Stuff is in nice shape for a 30+ year old machine.

I was told that the z axis screws is only a few years old.

[TOTALLYRC]

Here is another picture of the saddle area This is what it looked like as I was able to get inside the workshop.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10395.jpg

I only took off what was needed to get it thru the door.

This is the Y axis limit switch, very nice and sturdy cast aluminum housing.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10396.jpg

And they have o-rings on the plungers to keep the coolant out.

One of the nice features that came with the machine is a monitor arm that Gus made.

It mounts to the bolts that used to hold the solenoid bank to the top rear of the rigid ram

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10455.jpg


http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10456.jpg

Here is how it looks after the valve body is put in place.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10469.jpg


What you can't see is the custom c-clamp that holds it in place.
A proper mounting is on the to do list this winter.

At this point I have the table installed and I am starting to work on the electrical part of the retrofit.

Main transformer and the vfd. This is the initial layout and has been changed.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10468.jpg

My thoughts were to keep as much of the 240v ac in one box and also keep the "noise" from the vfd in the same place. I figured the transformer output would then go thru the rectfier and caps, smoothing out any "noise" from the VFD that the transformer might pickup.

[TOTALLYRC]

Control box layout.


Here is where I started to get a feel for how the controls box would lay out.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10452.jpg

The dspmc control box uses an ethernet connection to the pc. All of the breakout board connections are done using db25 cable that came with the unit. It makes for very clean wiring. The ends of the db25 cable had to be sanded down to clear each other as the space between the upper and lower connectors is tight.

One of the nice things about using a "real" electrical enclosure is the removable back panel. It allows you to do 80-90% of the work outside of the enclosure and only do the minimum of wiring while it is inside the cabinet.
One thing I did learn is to drill and tap the back panel instead of using
thru-bolts to hold the components in place. When you want to relocate something and it is thru-bolted in place, you have to take everything back out to do it.

Here is my second attempt at laying out all of the stuff that goes inside of the cabinet

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10476.jpg

Notice the white wire chase running up and down the center. Dumpster find #6002.
Unfortunetly I had to add another power supply and I had to relocate a few things to make it all fit.

Here is what it finally looks like as far as major component layout.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...yrc/btc-13.jpg

DSPMC/IP top left. Coming down the left side are the 2 breakout boards for the I/O. The boards are 16 inputs and 8 outputs each for a total of 32 Inputs and 16 outputs. A nice number of I/O to hook up all kinds of goodies.

This is a close up of the wires going to one of the output sections of the breakout board.

Bottom left just under the digital I/O is the analogue I/O boards. Notice how I stacked them using different lengths of standoff to save realestate inside the cabinet.

Coming down the right side is the 24v 10A??? power supply for the outputs.
Below that is the 24v 5??? amp powers supply for the inputs.
I went with 2 power supplies to keep the Inputs seperated from the Outputs.
It may or may not make any difference but I had the power supplies from the machine before I took it all apart.

Bottom right hand corner is the 120v input power for the power supplies. As you will notice I have some work to do on the fusing for everything.
It is on the todo list.

Also notice the temporary power cord being used for testing purposes. The input power has been since hardwired to the incoming power switch.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10489.jpg

The 16 outputs are capable of switching 2 amps each directly from the breakout board as long as your power supply is up to the task.


I went with a "waterfall" type of layout for all of the electrical stuff.
Power comes in at the top and motion comes out the bottom.

I used three surplus boxes to make the control cabinet (read dumpster finds #456-458).

Overall view of the control cabinet mounted to the wall.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10477.jpg

As always, your coments and questions are welcomed.


Mike

[TOTALLYRC]

For those of you who want to know how to move one of these, use a rollback.
If it were close enough to my house, I would have had them deliver it, but not for a 4hr drive.

Here is what the rollback looked like.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p.../S10503542.jpg

The charge to come and get it off the dock and onto the trailer was $78.
I had planned on $100
I tipped the driver $15 because he knew what he was doing and didn't drop it on the ground or damage my trailer.

The rollback has a hydraulic wheel lift which he put on the ground and raised the the deck to match the dock height. Make sure to ask for a rollback that has dock levelers or have them bring lots of 6x6's.
Remember it is your fault if they get there and can't get the machine out, and they still want to be paid. As luck would have it, these were the same people that Gus had deliver other equipment so they new what they were doing.

Mike

[TOTALLYRC]

In my best teacher with a yard stick in her hand voice.


For todays lesson classs, we will explore the wonders of installing the servo amplifiers and the dc power supply.

Step 1. Put all of the drives you will ever use in on location. See photo

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10488.jpg

I installed the three Copley 423 drives that came with the machine and a fourth that I picked up on ebay. The fifth is a brushless motor drive that I have lying around and since it uses the same bolt spacing, I put it in to fill the open slot for a while.

Then take a 30 year old set of caps and their rectification and jam it in there too. See photo.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10483.jpg

The red wires coming down are the 240v ac input from the main tranformer to the caps/rectifier. Also notice how all the blue factory wiring is twisted. I did this as much as possible to any wiring that I added.

I left all the high voltage dc stuff in the housing that it came in as a safety measure. 100vdc is not good for the heart or other parts of you.

Next I put in a high voltage dc terminal strip to get power from the power supply to the drives. See photo.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10482.jpg

What is not shown are the jumpers on the side closest to us to spread the power to all terminals. Left side is + and right side is - seperated by a not used in the middle.

Here is a better shot to show the ac tranformer and vfd (may it rest in pieces )in the first part of the enclosure, plus the amps and dc power box in the second part of the enclosure.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...yrc/btc-12.jpg

Notice that in the bottom right hand corner the caps and rectifier are hidden underneath a cover. the cover is hinged at the top and is held closed by 2 dzus or 1/4 turn fastners.

Mike

[TOTALLYRC]

I was worried that nobody was interested in what I was saying or doing, but since there are over 300 hits I will keep going.
If you are a newbie or are just a little shy, please post your thoughts, I will try to be gentle if it is your first time.

To give a feel for what is involved with wiring in a project like this I took this pic


http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10497.jpg

This is what the original z axis limit switch wiring looked like.


This was taken after I rewired all three switches

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10498.jpg

On this particular machine there are three switches for the z axis. Home, Z+, and Z-. Home is extremely important as the quill must be at this exact spot when activating the power drawbar. If not and you don't have all the safety switches hooked up yet you can burn out the second servo motor.
The original wiring that came with the machine was 20-30 years old and was stiff and the outer casing cracked easilly if you were not very carefull.
Within the last year, work upgraded a bunch of motors and drives. I was able to scrounge several nice 4-6' pieces of this wire.
Saved a ton of money.


The X and Y limits switches are housed in these nice cast aluminum housings.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10502.jpg

The switches are mounted to the underside of the cover and are activated by an o-ring sealed pin. I replaced the o-rings and they work like a charm
I don't have a pic, but the switches were made by micro switch, and they were old and gunky.
Imagine my surprise when I went to the local radio shack and they had an identical switch body and the bolt on lever to directly replace these switches.
Also made by micro switch.


I needed some temporary buttons to test my power drawbar brain in Mach3.
I also needed a big red safety button(e-stop) and some place to hange it.
I took the panel that came with the machine and drilled some new holes to mount some dumster switches in.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10503.jpg


And the back side.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/p...c/SDC10505.jpg

The picture needs to be rotated to the left but photo bucket is being stubborn.

Notice the proximity to the Z motor pulley.
Also notice that the quill ball nuts rotate and that the ballscrew is stationary, not that you can see it.

I will be doing a better job/revision of the control panel, but it works for know.

I am looking for suggestions as to which buttons to include on the control panel.
So far I want/need
estop
cycle start
rewind
feed hold
stop
power drawbar/tool release

I will have a keyboard handy, but for the day to day running of the machine, I would like to not use the keyboard and mouse.

Mike