I have a couple Bridgeport Boss mills i am upgrading.. i will follow along !!
what spindle motor are you using, motor RPM's, and pulley ratio ?
I have a mill thats in good condition with low hours originally servo driven. I will upgrade with MESA cards, Linuxcnc, modern servoes, 5 HP motor and VFD (variable drive removed), and maybe a full enclosure.
My progress thus far is the 5 HP motor is installed and I"m about to fire it up. I also have the Mesa cards and mpg.
PS I will be on the lookout for reasonably priced Kwik Switch 200 tooling. I may even make them from scratch at some point if I feel like doing a little tool post grinding, depends on if I can get what I want without paying inflated prices...
Grab CAD link:
https://grabcad.com/library/bridgepo...-vfd-upgrade-1
Similar Threads:
Aluminum frame CNC router, JET GHB-1340 Lathe conversion, Bridgeport BOSS Retrofit, I'm gonna be busy for a while.
I have a couple Bridgeport Boss mills i am upgrading.. i will follow along !!
what spindle motor are you using, motor RPM's, and pulley ratio ?
Aluminum frame CNC router, JET GHB-1340 Lathe conversion, Bridgeport BOSS Retrofit, I'm gonna be busy for a while.
i think the spindle will handle more than 4200 upgrade the bearings if necessary
Aluminum frame CNC router, JET GHB-1340 Lathe conversion, Bridgeport BOSS Retrofit, I'm gonna be busy for a while.
The Spindle can run at much higher than 4200 I have run them at 12,000 RPM the main problem at higher speeds is the long splined shaft if it is not perfect which most are not then 6,000 is a safe speed for them to run, the speeds I have done on these machines is at 1:1 and 2:1 direct drive and with no Back Gear in place
Mactec54
Mactec54
I have seen your rebuilt drive before and I must say its very slick! Interesting to hear of someone who has run these spindles at this speed. I will still probably not change the pulley ratio or go much above 4200, i'm a bit chicken, lol. This iron is in very nice shape, hardly any wear as far as I can tell, so my goal here is to make a setup that will last for a long time. It seems like most spindles with quality bearings like this should do 6k just fine with quality grease, above that ceramic seems to be the way to go, and above the 8k range, I think you pretty much need an oil air mist for long term dependability. At least this is what I have gleamed from reading and listening from folks a lot smarter than me.
PS any recommendations on a quality 750w servo that can get splashed with coolant?
Aluminum frame CNC router, JET GHB-1340 Lathe conversion, Bridgeport BOSS Retrofit, I'm gonna be busy for a while.
Well I got it running today. Runs great and rpm is dead on. Just one problem, there is a slapping or grinding noise coming from the spindle. At low speed (200 rpm) in high gear, it makes a knocking sound exactly once per spindle revolution. At higher speeds its sounds more like grinding with more than one noise per revolution. When the quill goes 3/4 of the way down or more, the noise seems to disappear. In low gear the noise is not as distinct as in high gear. I think I need to check out the spline drive and bull gear. I fear that the spline or bull gear shaft is worn in the area it was most used. The ways, ballscrew backlash, and quill on this machine look amazing and fresh so I'm hoping to find another source for noise. I did have to replace the bearings for the belt pulley, they felt trashy, so maybe I'll get lucky and find another cheap part that needs replacement.
I'm hoping I don't need to replace the spindle or anything. I'm not sure if these would even be the same as a normal bridegport parts.
Aluminum frame CNC router, JET GHB-1340 Lathe conversion, Bridgeport BOSS Retrofit, I'm gonna be busy for a while.
mactec, I have read there is a world of difference in the type of bearing and preload between a heavy duty milling spindle and a high speed light duty/ router spindle. This seems to be why they can get away with the speeds where the milling spindles cant. though as with many things the extra speed probably just shortens the life but will work for some time.
Aluminum frame CNC router, JET GHB-1340 Lathe conversion, Bridgeport BOSS Retrofit, I'm gonna be busy for a while.
Mactec54
Just needed a little alignment to get the clutch dogs lined up. Now it sounds much better.
I rebuild the kwik switch nut too, it's a little sticky I'm thinking the roll pin might be oriented so the edges are digging into the nut. Might just need breaking in, I'll take it apart again and check.
Aluminum frame CNC router, JET GHB-1340 Lathe conversion, Bridgeport BOSS Retrofit, I'm gonna be busy for a while.
Mactec54
Got some more progress now. Now I'm looking at getting the enclosure designed. I'm also looking at how to better protect the ways. I'm kinda surprised the simple rubber flap is the best anyone has done. I was thinking of metal covers on the y axis right in front of the user, I kinda doubt it would fit on the other side of the y axis, rubber flap might be the best there.
I'm thinking of having a chip tray that slides outside the bottom of the enclosure. I'd like to add more rubber flaps to the knee so chips go into a pan not under the knee.
DB, looking good ! i know what you are saying about those rubber covers, but all the boss' i have run into over the years have exceptional ways.. so they must work ! Im hoping to build an enclosure around the table itself so it will contain the chips there... guess we will see..
here is a picture of my way bellows on my heidenhain BP ... mind you the ways are smaller than on the boss if you find something like that LMK and ill be buying them as well !!!
Joe
Aluminum frame CNC router, JET GHB-1340 Lathe conversion, Bridgeport BOSS Retrofit, I'm gonna be busy for a while.