Retrofit Completed Pictures

[tsquint1138]

First off, thanks to everyone for the information posted to the forums, and a special thanks to HillBilly for the work he has done.

I've attached some pics of my (almost) completed retrofit on a 1978 BOSS 4 with the original steppers & drives.

I wanted to keep it as stock looking as possible, as the original owner's had kept it in such good condition. The operator panel was cut in half, and I TIG welded in aluminum flat bar spacers to make room for a 15" monitor, and the original jog buttons (I kind of liked the way they looked.) The computer was located where the tape reader used to be, an I made a panel to access the CD-rom and USB thumb drives.

Control is interfaced with a knock-off of HillBilly's interface that I point to point wired on protoboard.

Everything is back up, and working, and I'm very pleased with the results. It was the cheapest retro I've ever done, most of the parts used were just stuff I had on hand.

Thanks

[123CNC]

Nicely done. I especially like your artistic detail on the tape reader's replacements. How did you stencil and apply the 'Bridgeport' and white section outlines?

Is the video game green button the power on for the PC?

What keyboard did you end up using as well? Was the touchpad part of the original keyboard? Touchpad and keyboard source? Your fusion of old and new is very nicely done. Makes me think of the retro muscle cars on the market today.

Again, nicely executed and thanks for sharing.

[tsquint1138]

Thanks for the comments

The keyboard is a "USB mini-keyboard with touchpad" from Adesso. I bought it from CDW, but lots of computer suppliers have them.

All the new panels (keyboard, LCD. and Tape Reader) were machined from 1/8" Type 1 PVC sheet.

The Bridgeport logos & all the lettering are vinyl graphics. (I've got a vinyl cutter/plotter.)

[Zhyyra]

Looks great! Well done.

[kenny price]

how did you connect the oem bp jog buttons to work with mach3 or the bob.
i'm installing a hillbilly bob in my bp boss5 mill and i really like your setup.
this is from a old man machinist ,but not to old to learn.
thanks,KAE

[ichudov]

Looks really great!

I did the same thing as you, except I used EMC.

You will be very happy with your setup, I am sure.

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