series one head drive conversion

[alex 850]

i have a series one boss 5 mill. i want to change the drive system to solid pullys and a electronic varible speed controller. can anyone tell me what size pullys and tensiner and where to order them from.it has the adjustable pullys with the mill now and it is to weak this will be the 3rd rebuild.
thanks alex

[nate]

Not to be rude, but if its the third rebuild, isint that telling you that you are exceeding the capability of the bridgeports head?

Mabie you should look at upgrading the mill to a more robust unit.

Also, I'm curious what kind of work you are doing that eats the variable speed parts?

[alex 850]

this mill is a weak design from the factory! i am cutting knife parts very simple cuts for this machine. so you have no info to offer correct?
thanks alex

[HimyKabibble]

Originally Posted by alex 850 this mill is a weak design from the factory! i am cutting knife parts very simple cuts for this machine. so you have no info to offer correct? thanks alex

What Nate was suggesting, quite correctly IMHO, is that it is NOT a "weak" design, which suggests that something *else* is wrong that you have not fixed in the three previous rebuilds. Either you've got some worn part or other problem that is *causing* the premature failures, or you're over-taxing the machine. The basic design is perfectly sound, and quite robust, and what you're experiencing is not normal.

Regards,
Ray L.

[nate]

I wish I did have "info to offer"

I was simply pointing out that if the machine "as built by the factory" is not sufficient, then looking at a different machine may be in order.

That said, i'm all for modifying the machines I own when needed...

[mactec54]

Hi alex 850

nate the variable speed drive is not the greatest in these heads with the plastics bushes
can wear out quite quick

alex it's not that hard to change, what you want to do, the most problem you have is to tension the belt there is almost no ajustment, so you have to add some by sloting the flange of the motor mount,I will post some photos on here you can also see them in my photo gallery

[alex 850]

thank you !i knew thbat i was not crazy! i have replaced those bushing and had good mechanics help with the rebuild .i saw a post here a while back where some body converted theres over because of the noise.
thanks alex

[mactec54]

Hi alex 850

Here are some photos, you won't have to do your head like this, these were special heads I built for some customers, the heads have 5" taken out of the top so it will look different to your head, the motor shaft you can see that has 3.250 off this one I could of taken 1'' more off it but I was going to make some more pulleys for higher speeds, I did do one that runs at 12,000 this one runs at 6,000 so the extra pulleys are 2-1 this one in the photo is 1-1 the belt is a poly-v belt

[alex 850]

the head did throw me off. so you made all of these parts. how much would you charge me to get this setup from you for pulleys and everything else.
thanks alex

[mactec54]

Hi alex 850
I used to build them 5 at a time, but the cost is very high, You can do this yourself, not the same but will work almost as good, I could walk you through it & it should not take very long to do.

The head you see has a disc brake, there is many things that you can't see that were changed, that is why I say you can do it with what you have.
This is a photo of the brake setup

[colin1544]

Hello Mactec I would be most interested to here of your rebuild and any drawings you may have that you would like to share even at a resonable cost to do a 1-1 conversion as My machine sits very close to the ceiling of my workshop and it would help to loose a couple of inches off the height. Cheers Colin

[mactec54]

Hi colin1544

I would be glad to help anyone that wants to do a conversion, this can be simple or very complex, I would suggest the simple, which involves very little change to the machine to do this,

The one in the photos I still have, This was the last one I did just over 10years ago, it still looks as the photos do & runs production 4/ 6 days a week,

In your case were you want to take some out of the top, would take a little more than someone who just wants a straight 1-1, you would only have 4 parts to machine on the head plus the new pulleys if you make them