Bp s2 r2e3 transporting? Decent deal?

[chevyracer5613]

Hey there, I am new to the site and decided that my 2nd post should be here

Long story short I am wanting a CNC to make a few prototype parts and maybe small runs.....mostly automotive stuff (such as flanges). The cnc is about 5 hours from me but to me seem to be a decent deal. First I am trading straight up for a 24' enclosed trailer worth about $3500 (give or take 500). What I will be getting is (and these are his words so if there are any inaccuracies or discrepancies please let me know)

Series II bridgeport R2E3 CNC with ezcam, tool holder and tooling. I am not suer what all tools it comes with but he said he has a box full, he also said he'd include the large surface plate that is on the machine. He has all the manuals for the machine and he said its in great condition, the previous owner used to make miniature molds and things of that nature. He mentioned it has quick change tooling, and requires air...not sure what for though....air brake maybe?? Also he knows someone that builds rotary phase converters so I am having him get a brand new one built for me....so in theory I should be able to get it home wire things up and start cutting...I think. I have two pictures of the machine that I will include below:
http://s173.photobucket.com/albums/w...acer5613/toys/

The computer looks ancient but I suppose its better then using tape.....any chance I could cheaply get it working with a standard PC? Any ideas what these machines can and cannot do? (such as rigid tapping)

Now assuming it is a good deal how in the heck do I get that thing into my garage?!? I guess the first question should be getting advice for transport back to charlotte......I will be driving a 97 f350 dually powerstroke pulling the trailer down there and dropping it off.....I assume my options for bringing the mill home are to load it into the bed somehow or rent a small trailer? Once i get it home I am not sure how to get it into the 7 foot garage opening.....i'd rather not take a bunch of stuff off if I dont have to since I am not familiar with these machine.........any one near charlotte want to help haha

Lastly I will be talking to him this weekend again and he might fax me one of the manuals.....is there anything in particular that I should ask or make sure of?

Thanks,
David

PS. allegedly the owner before him worked for mitsubishi or some other TV manufacture and when they moved a deal was made for that machine to stay...the current own says it is in superb condition visually but he is not familiar with cnc's.

[polaraligned]

The machine weighs 5000# and believe me, you will not have an easy time getting it on a trailer. It is over 7' tall and you will need to remove the top end of the varidrive to get it through the door. Lastly, I am of the opinion that it is not worth more than $2000 if the iron is in good shape.

[A1CNC]

Hi chevyracer5613,
I recently sold one of these. No rigid tapping, They have servo's. The memory is small (12,000 characters) But, if you are only doing 2d stuff the control is pretty easy to use. 3d stuff and drip-feeding not so good.

If you wnt to retrofit the control, I would suggest GALIL and mach3, you could keep the original motors and drives.

the easiest way to get it in your garage will be to remove the head and strap it on the table.

the series II R2E3 actually weighs 5500 # so it is a solid piece of iron.


Good luck,
Eric

[chevyracer5613]

Polaraligned: Thanks for the response, right now the main selling point is the additional tooling, new rotary phase converter and him willing to barter sincel I am cash poor........do you think there is a better machine to be had for someone in my situation?

A1cnc: Thanks for the response, I was under the impression that servos were good to have? Also from the pictures of the machine, since it comes with a computer,albeit a old one, I assume it has been setup for drip feeding already? I do not plan on doing alot of complex contours although it would be nice, but I would hope the machine is more then capable of making fairly precise circles? Also in your opinion do you think there is a better option to be had for something around this price range? How difficult/costly is it to change the control, I assume not too much since I can retain the motors? With new controls would be it a good machine able to do 3d parts well? Also is rigid tapping a feature that could be added via controls or would the actual hardware of the mill need to be changed? (bare with me I am still learning)

I really want a CNC machine so I can start making a few parts, but at the same time I dont want to back my self into a corner where I will have to shell out a lot more money in the end....which is also why I thought this machine is a decent deal because of all that it comes with.

On a side note I had found another machine that appears to be better....but I do not have the money for it....but perhaps someone else would be interested in it
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nasa-III-3-axis-...f#ht_649wt_939

[machintek]

That PC is a old NEC PC that runs EZCAM2 from 2 8 inch floppy drives. It weighs a ton and the serial number of the EZCAM software is also burned onto a PROM inside the PC so the software cannot be used anywhere else. Yes it can DNC.
That is a series 2 BOSS 8 so it has some more travel and can support more weight. But it is OLD. I installed these from about 1984. If it blows a board, it may be hard to replace. You may be looking at a retrofit. Machines such as these require a rotary phase converter that has good regulation. That may be hard to achieve. Bridgeport sent out a service bulletin that these machines would have their warranty voided if run on a phase converter.

George

[A1CNC]

As far as is there a better mill to be had in your situation? Well it depends on how soon you need a machine, and what exactly you need.

I sold my Bridgeport for a couple reasons, the chrome on the ways on mine was worn through on the y axis and I could not mill anything flat. Also I wanted/ needed another machine with a tolchanger. Production work with manual toolchanging = NO FUN! I did a job with 100 parts that took 12 toolchanges per part.

The mill itself is good, and it would interpolate circles within .001"

I would suggest you look at the mill, run it yourself, and see if it suits your needs.
The travels will be, X-30" y 15" and z 5" the maximum clearance table to tolholder will be ~18 or 19".

If you decide to do a retrofit the cost can vary depending on if you can do it or you need to have it done. Look at the Machmotion site for a plug & play.

Later,
Eric

[polaraligned]

The phase converter is good....but most would prefer to run the spindle motor on a VFD that only costs $150. That would give you better control over the motor. Soft start, speed control, etc... You don't need a phase converter unless you are using the original junk electronics. The guy could never get $3500 for it on e-bay. I paid $500 for BOSS 6 iron in excellent shape and the guy had a hard time getting rid of it.
Having the servos is great. They are DC units and I personally thing the Ajax conversion is the easiest and maybe best. It will be about as plug and play as you can get for a conversion. Same hardware as a Centroid...
The only thing with those servos is that you will probably have to install optical encoders on them.

Selling you on tooling? It better be a heck of a lot of good tooling. The spindle is a 30 taper and the toolholders, collet holders, etc are pretty readily available on e-bay for $25 each.

As for the iron itself, it is the best knee mill iron that BP ever made. Huge box ways, table that never overhangs the saddle, etc... BTW you asked about air, that is needed for the speed control, brake, and to raise and lower the knee. If the iron is in great shape then it is a good candidate for a retrofit.
If you cannot do a retrofit, then look elsewhere but there is not much that is going to fit through a 7' garage door. Maybe nothing that is good.

[chevyracer5613]

machintek: How will I know if a phase converter is good enough., that guy is having one built for this machine so I would like to think it would be built correct.....any way to make sure though? Also is there a simple or cheap way to run that machine off a newer style computer?

A1CNC: Well need is a relative term, I supposed I do not need one at all, I just really want one so I can start making some parts for my street/race cars and prototype a few designs I have. He said the machine has quick change tooling which should help a little, but a ATC would be nice haha. I am mechanically inclined since I have been working on cars for quite a while but I am new to this kind of machinery, so hopefully I could do the work myself. Thanks for that site I will take a look here in a bit, hopefully it will describe more the the retrofitting process/cost.

polaraligned: I might have to look into a VFD, I had planned on running the orginal equipment untill I can ge the money up to retrofit it with something better. What is the differences in the boss 6 and boss 8, i'd like to think the boss 8 would be better and more valuable? Well say it includes 30 tools @ $25 each...thats $750 that I dont have to spend out the box. It sounds like what you are saying is with a retrofit this mill would be awesome?

I wonder how hard it'd be to build a 6000 lb capable "dolly" that could hold the machine tilted back at a 30* angle....then it'd fit in the garage possibly