V2E3, anyone familiar with

[Sparky_NY]

I have a friend with a V2E3 at his shop he wants to get rid of. I could get it dirt cheap(maybe free).

I have a series 1 manual machine, 2J head that I cnc'd with steppers and am very happy with, EXCEPT..... the Y axis way is quite worn (scored). Rescraping it is probably not worth the time or money. This is a home shop hobby machine.

I looked the V2E3 over carefully and it has what appears to be the exact same knee, table, ram, etc to the manual machine. The ways are perfect to the eye and chromed.

What I have in mind is to use his machine as a base and put my Kwik switch 200 head / VFD on it along with my steppers/drives etc.

Anyone know if the V2E3 knee/table was identical to the manual machine? Did it use the same mounting under the table for the ballscrew as the manual machine? It sure looks that way. All the specs are identical to the manual machine also (table size, travels etc).

Any info would be most appreciated. This would give me near perfect ways for next to nothing. (Too much of a pain to retrofit the machine and I have tooling for my head)

[machintek]

Curious question. Why re-invent the wheel? Use the V2E3 just the way it is.
It has the drives/control of a BOSS 8 and the iron of a S1STD plus ball screws.

George

[Sparky_NY]

Originally Posted by machintek Curious question. Why re-invent the wheel? Use the V2E3 just the way it is. It has the drives/control of a BOSS 8 and the iron of a S1STD plus ball screws. George

Thought about that, and did a bunch of reading on the subject. It appears the bridgeport servo's are high voltage with low resolution encoders which would not interface to a Mach3 system without a substancial cost outlay. I have a kwik switch 200 spindle and tooling on my present 2j along with a VFD which gives me dynamic breaking and 500-5500rpm at one belt setting. I would have to retool to the 30 taper on the v2e3. My series one has brand new preloaded ballscrews which "might" mount on the v2e3 table/saddle.

If...... I could cheaply get the e2r3 under mach control I might go that way. Using the existing boss8 control would be a giant step back from my present mach control. Also, I have a 4th axis (stepper) now which wouldn't easily interface to the v2e3. Then there is the fact that it is only a matter of time until one of the obsolete BP electronics dies and a full retrofit is necessary. My present system with nema34 steppers/belt drive and gecko's is easily and cheaply serviced if necessary.

BTW, my friend bought the machine new.... and it was used mostly for angle drilling. The factory scraping looks like new.

I'd sure like to know if the table/saddle on the v2e3 are the identical parts to a series one manual machine, they sure look it.

[machintek]

Positioning resolution is .0001 inches. Are you going to get that from stepping motors?

George

[mactec54]

Hi Sparky NY

No unless your old machine is a Boss type mill, none of the parts that you want to change will fit, one look will tell you this, the knee saddle table are very different to a manual mill. The head may change ok or parts of the head

[Sparky_NY]

Originally Posted by machintek Positioning resolution is .0001 inches. Are you going to get that from stepping motors? George

Well.... From the V2E3 manual, positioning accuracy is .001, positioning repeatability is .0008. The servo resolution and input resolution is .0001.

My present machine came with a heidenhain DRO which I left on, .0005 resolution. I can position and repeat within that anywhere within the travels. I can verify within that also after a gcode run. Backlash is under .001 presently.

So... I don't think the V2E3 would do much better as far as accuracy especially with my present machine having only 8-10 hours on the new ballscrews.

I did my reading before reaching the decision. The only real benefit would be the 250ipm rapid spec of the V2E3, mine only does 150 but I have it turned down to 100.

[Sparky_NY]

Originally Posted by mactec54 Hi Sparky NY No unless your old machine is a Boss type mill, none of the parts that you want to change will fit, one look will tell you this, the knee saddle table are very different to a manual mill. The head may change ok or parts of the head

The machine in question here is a V2E3, a rare bird, not the much more common R2E3. The R2 version has a much different table (11in vs 9 on the V2E3), travels, iron etc. The V2E3 table/saddle/crossram, etc all look identical to a manual machine in a side by side comparision. It did share the boss8 control with the rigid head machines. The V2E3 has 25" X travel and 12" Y travel, much more than the R2E3 but identical to a 42 inch manual machine. The V2E3 has the same ram and head that tilts both ways like the manual machine.

I have since looked at the maintenence manual closer for the machine which has some (poor) pics of the top of the saddle showing the ballscrew mount and how it is adjusted. From the pics it looks just like a standard machine.

Quote from Chapter1 of the manual.... "Equipped with a V-Ram, the V2E3 is a standard series one manual machine modified by design to meet the demands of Computerized Numerical Control (CNC)" I wish they detailed the modifications more in detail other than the obvious motors, control, power oiling pump, column chip guard, ballscrews etc.

Also, ,my friend bought it new and in talking with him about my idea he told me back then bridgeport referred to the machine as a "retrofit" He bought it because of the head tilting in both directions for a angle drilling job he used to do on some shafts. Bridgeport gave him a R2E3 to use while he waited for delivery of the V2E3.

I do agree the more common versions of the boss mills are radically different than a manual machine.

As I said, its a rare bird so there is not a lot of info out there on it. I have the operator and maintenance manuals but not the parts manual unfortunately to directly compare part numbers.

[machintek]

There were 2 versions of the V2E3. One had a 2 line LCD display just like the R2E3. Later ones had a 8 line LCD display. The BOSS series were designed as true CNC machines. The X travel did not exceed the saddle for better support and accuracy. Most were rigid ram.
To be competitive (cheap) the V2E3 was born followed by the V2Xt and the EZTRAK.
These filled a need and specific market. They still have the limitations of the S1STD iron. One must be aware of what one is purchasing.
A guy in Georgia (about 4 years ago) in a optical R&D shop purchased a S1STD with a .0002 DRO and complained that he could not machine to and hold .0001 inches. He could not comprehend why he could not, I gave up, and let the salesman deal with the situation he created.
Near Knoxville, TN I installed a 5 place (to the right of the decimal) Sony DRO on a die-sinking machine at a Phillips plant. I was there to 3 AM machining brackets. Next morning, they fired up the punch presses for the PC boards they were making, the floor started shaking and that last digit became irrelevant.
The very large boring mills that I assemble all use linear scales for better accuracy. This is a given but even linear scales will not get you past physical limitations of design.

George

[Sparky_NY]

Going by the manual for the V2E3, the standard control is a Boss 8, with the Boss 10 available as a option. This might be the display difference you mentioned.

One thing is confusing though, I was under the impression the "Boss" term referred to the contol, the "iron" being designated by other means. Now I am thinking this is only partly true. In the case of the V2E3, boss refers to the boss 8 contol only. In the case of other machines, like a boss 3 or 5, it refers to the entire system, iron and controller.

I am going to look over the machine closer and compare it to the manual machines next to it. A close look under the saddle will hopefully better confirm it is indeed the same iron as a manual machine. In this case, it would give me chrome ways, in like new shape for free with the exception of elbow grease and I could probably sell the unused parts.

I only use it for hobby purposes but with the Y axis way worn/scored like it is, it must be affecting accuracy. So far I have only done small parts, but I bet if I did something larger it would be bananna shaped instead of flat. I just made some cnc router brackets for mounting the router today with a friend. Every dimension came out within a half thou, my positioning accuracy is great, but I know the worn ways are causing other issues.

[machintek]

BOSS = Bridgeport Operating Software System
And yes the BOSS machine 3 through 9 were very similar in that these were true CNC designs.

George