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Very possible, fairly easy to do. From what I can see, there is only one obvious problem, that chewed up or broken splined shaft. What is it?Originally Posted by Crusty1007
Yep, lots of people here, and several just a bit further along than you are, which is quite helpful.So far from all the threads I've flipped through, sites I've hit there is a core group of people that are balls deep in these things.
Needless to say I hope they chime in when i get into the thick of things.
I like that fact that the machine is quite dirty. That means that the lube pump is probably working, which is a good thing. An oily mill is a happy mill. That looks like an automatic tool changer. Nice to have, if you need it.
Before you dig too deep, you need to clean the machine up a bunch (I use solvent, and 409 (but not together), and a couple of rolls of paper towels. Make sure you get the dirty paper towels out of the house or shop every night. Now it gets X rated. Take the skirts off the old gal and inspect her ways. Don't be embarrassed. Hopefully they are in good shape. If not, others can possibly help you, but not I. (No knowledge)
The fact that it says NC instead of CNC leads me to believe (I'm no expert) that this is an old machine. That computer may work, but keeping them working can cost a fortune. Keeping a PC working is cheap and easy.
When you start to strip the electronics out of it, start by tracing down the wires from the steppers or servos, disconnect them rather than cut them, and mark them, and preserve any existing markings. Same with all the wires from the switch panel on the head, the limit switches, etc. Start by buying a package of wire labels, maybe $20 at your local electrical supply house. Assuming you're going to run it off single phase power, using a VFD, almost everything else can come out, but save the 24 volt transformer, if there is one, as you'll probably need one later to drive all the relays and such. Save all the small 24 volt relays. They'll be used later to drive all sorts of things, like the lube pump, coolant pumps and valves, etc. You might even just keep these all connected for the time being.
Looks like there is/are one or more DIN rails with terminal strips and circuit breakers and fuses. Keep at least one or two rows of terminal strips. Use one for 110 or 220 volts, and one for 24 volts. Makes it easier later to figure out what voltage is which just by looking.
Suspect you're going to want to yank out all the old "computer" boards. If the machine is new enough, there might possibly be a market for them on fleaBay or Craigslist. Who knows. I advertised mine, then took them to the dump.
Have no idea how your lube system works. On the Bridgeport (and many of these import machines are just blatant copies) there is a piston pump (the Bijur, which you have). You can lift the piston up by hand and a spring pulls it back down. There is also a clockwork motor which turns an internal cam in the pump, which lifts the piston to the top of its travel, then drops it, and the spring pulls it back down. Then there are lube metering units, which are spring loaded one way valves with an internal orifice. Each of these results in a measured amount of oil flowing to each oil dispensing point. You need to insure that each of these dispensing points is, in fact, dispensing oil. If not, you'll soon have dry metal sliding on dry metal.
On my machine, the clockwork is set to raise the plunger in about 30 seconds. Get the part number off the cover to which everything else on the pump mounts, and you can look up the timer speed in a Bijur book. There are several copies floating around.
You're gonna have fun. I envy you that auto tool changer.
Well, I've answered a lot more questions than you asked, so I should shut up and let the more experienced heads have a chance. You can watch my progress at http://tomwade.me/tw/machinist/nm/
But do remember that not everyone is glued to the computer waiting to answer questions. Don't be discouraged if it takes several days to get the right answer.
Tom
