New Machine Build- Another Series 1 Bridgeport Retrofit

[deanq]

I just picked up this Series 1 Bridgeport with working BOSS 6 controls. Plans are to remove the old controls and controllers and replace with Geckos. For now I'll keep the Sigma steppers,brake and speed control. It came from a shop in Phoenix and was in service until the day before I picked it up. Originally came from Intel, cutting plastic. It even has the original blue print electrical drawings (sheets 1-6); Now I only need the maintenance manual.
This machine has an original mist system. It's currently non-functional. Is it worth going through? Has anyone ever seen one working?
I plan on this being a more modular retro with off the shelf components. More money than time now days.
I parked it in the middle of my shop to give me incentive to get it done and moved out of the way!
DQ

[novice5]

I have the same machine. If you would like to share what you are doing to the machine. I would welcome any advice. Thanks

[deanq]

Well, it's taken until today, but I finally finished. The whole project came together quite well. Everything worked perfectly... Until the very end.

The biggest thing that helped was that I made a drawing/schematic of everything and then followed it. I tried to add-lib once and almost made a mistake with my wiring of the Bijur lube pump. I may re-think using the timer, It pumps out a lot of oil.

The only thing I kept from the original machine was the rear cabinet, with the power disconnect, and the T1 240v/120v step down transformer. If I had wired my shop differently, running a neutral with my 240vac lines, I could have eliminated the transformer too. As it is, that was the only way to get 120vac into the machine.

I used a Keling 65vdc power supply and wired the steppers just like they were from Bridgeport. All three of the Superior motors ran smooth right from the start.

I used a cheap 24vdc switching power supply I got off ebay for the spindle speed control and brake. They work great.

I did use a big piece of heat sink from the old cabinet to mount the Gecko 203's on. I may add a heat sink fan later. Only some hard use will tell if it gets hot.

I reused a lot of the original wire too. That alone saved a lot.

Pretty uneventful...until the very end. I didn't wire up the cabinet cooling fan because I was working with the cabinet door open. After I ran my first program, I decided to call it a night. Before I left I decided to hook up the fan and close the cabinet door and see how loud it was.
As soon as the fan started, I smelt that dreaded burnt smell. I opened the door, and the fan had blown a piece of foil cable shield that I had missed, across the 65vdc power supply. Bummer.
I'll look at it tomorrow.

[deanq]

Well, I got into the power supply this morning. What I thought was cable foil, was actually the PCB copper foil burned off of the board! It looks like the copper runs on this board are rather thin.

I'll call Keling on Monday. Bummer. I don't know if I can stare at it for two days without trying to re-engineer it.
UPDATE: Un-soldered everything from the board and hard wired them. Remounted on the heat sinks and this baby is purring!

Has anyone ever seen this before?

[HimyKabibble]

Originally Posted by deanq Well, I got into the power supply this morning. What I thought was cable foil, was actually the PCB copper foil burned off of the board! It looks like the copper runs on this board are rather thin. I'll call Keling on Monday. Bummer. I don't know if I can stare at it for two days without trying to re-engineer it. UPDATE: Un-soldered everything from the board and hard wired them. Remounted on the heat sinks and this baby is purring! Has anyone ever seen this before?

"Has anyone ever seen this before?" - Lotsa times. That's what happens when you run too much current through a PCB trace....

Regards,
Ray L.

[deanq]

That's what happens when you run too much current through a PCB trace....

Touche!

Well......ya....
Except nothing was running. It was just powered up. I think the bridge may have been bad. One of the soldered leads on it was black (burned).

I'm definitely going to disconnect the Bijur auto oiler. I can see using it running a lot of coolant or something, but right now it just makes an oily mess. I'll just pull the plunger occasionally.

Just getting familiar with Mach3 right now. Had a buddy come over asking for the first "favor".
I don't even remember telling anyone it was finished!

[bill south]

I do so love old iron!
Good job resurrecting the old girl.
Bill

[Michael M]

Do you have metering valves between the way lube pump and the machine? If not, that may be the cause of the excess oiling.

cheers,
Michael

[deanq]

Yup, metering on every line. I think the culprit is that it cycles the pump every 15 minutes or so.
Dean

[charliepayne]

Hi. I have just aquired an old bridgeport. I have read your thread and it seems like you had good sucess. Others seem to replace the Boss drives with servos or new steppers. I noticed you did not replace the Boss drives. What kinda accuracy or steps per inch are you getting with the Boss drives? Also is there any backlash issues with mechanics of the old mill? Does anyone no how to tell what version the Boss drives are?

Thanks,
Charlie

[deanq]

I noticed you did not replace the Boss drives. What kinda accuracy or steps per inch are you getting with the Boss drives?

I assume you are referring to the stepper motors. My machine will still hold very tight tolerances (.0001). BOSS 6 and newer have 2.5/1 gear reduction for finer resolution (BOSS 5 and older are 1/1). As for speed, I max out at about 100 ipm on all axis without losing steps.

Also is there any backlash issues with mechanics of the old mill?

Not on my machine.

Does anyone no how to tell what version the Boss drives are?

I went with 4 Gecko 203V drives. I kept hardly anything from the old system except I recycled some hardware (wires & heat sinks, etc.). What exactly are you trying to identify?

For the most part, I have been very happy with my retrofit. My biggest heart ache is with the controls. i initially went with Mach3 for the controls. There are so many bugs and tweeks and glitches with it that I have given up on it.
I have changed over to Flashcut CNC controls. If you want to experiment and crash and don't care about ruining cutters and parts....lets just say I am now happy with a powerful, reliable and proven control.
Dean

[charliepayne]

I took off the steppers. It appears to be 1:1 timing belt going the X/Y/Z. So I guess I have series 1-5. I was planning on replacing the steppers and drivers. How do you figure out steps per inch? Should I just put a readout on it and drive it 2000 steps and do the math? Or does someone know the pitch of the screws for X, Y and Z?

Also do you know what size collet holders I should get. The one I have says ERICKSON #30 MMTB. I found a set of collets for it, but I no sure how to order the holder itself. Its a quick change. I know its not good practice, but I would like to put a drill chuck in it too for some jobs.

I was planning on starting with Mach III. I tried requesting a quote from FlashCut and they won't get back with me... I ordered double ended stepper motors and was planning on putting encoders on the tail shaft later down the road to make sure steps are not missed, etc. I have been using Mach III on a 4 axis router I built from scratch and it works well, a couple times it will do something weird and I will loose a bit and the part, so I think it would be nice to try a more reliable program, but for the money Mach III is great. I just can see spending mega bucks for a $4k machine... I would really like a good CAM program, Lazy Cam is way too peculiar and touchy and I often have to go back into the drawings and change things up so Lazy-Cam can handle it.