Re: Bridgeport BOSS upgrade

I have a BOSS 5 and here is what I did (in a nutshell)...

1) Start by gutting power and control cabinets. This is quite a job
in itself.

2) Installed an AC Tech 5HP variable speed drive in the control
cabinet. The control is nice because it is quite flexible. I was
able to retain the original control panel functionality on the
machine simply by programming the VFD and rewiring a few of the
switches on the front of the machine. E-Stop, speed
increase/decrease, and direction all work properly.

3) As for drivers I am using the Gecko 201's. They work quite well.
I have the mounted to a large heatsink from the control cabinet. I
am able to get 60IPM without difficulty from these drivers. I don't
frankly see a need for too much more than that on this machine.

4) The motor voltage now comes from a custom toroidal transformer
that I had Tortran, Inc. build for me. It is rated for 50VAC/36A.
This yields about 72V after it is rectified.

5) The only thing I kept from the original system was a large
capacitor bank that had about 8 5500uF capacitors. This works
perfectly for building the power supply for the motors. All you need
to do is recitify the incoming AC from the transformer and then run
it through this nice capacitor bank. You do have to rewire it first
though.

6) On the computer side, I started out using EMC but learned to hate
it quite quickly. So I switched to CNC Pro. It seems to work very
well.

7) Finally I removed the motion control panel (the one mounted on the
swivel arm) and put in a flat screen LCD in its place for the PC
controller.

One thing to note about microstepping. I have found that with these
20 year old steppers I do not get good microstep accuracy. The
system runs very smoothly but only moves properly in full steps. If
I ask for 3 microsteps sometimes it moves 5, sometimes 3, sometimes
not at all.

Here is a rough cost breakdown:

AC Tech 5HP VSD - $ 500
Custom Transformer - $220
3 Gecko 201's - $300
100Mhz Pentium PC - $0 (already had it)
CNC Pro - $199
9.4" LCD monitor - $100
Misc (wire, rectifiers etc) - $100

Total = $ 1419

~ 50 hours labor.

I am very happy with this configuration overall.

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., ace@d... wrote:
> Hello.
> I'm new to the group. Just found it 2 days ago. Man, I wish I would
> have found it 2 years ago.
> With that being said, here is the question.
> I have 2 Bridgeports, BOSS 3 & 5. The 3 has a bad control and I
want
> to upgrade. I have looked at AH-HA's system but am not impressed
with
> the software. What do I need (Drivers,PC, etc.) to get a top of the
> line, reliable, microstepping system that will allow me to use the
> original stepers.
> I am not scared to lay out the $$, but want to get the most bang
for
> my buck. I like the looks of the EMC setup's that I have seen so I
am
> thinking about using it. Are Gecko's the best?
> I appreciate your suggestions and will post a page with pics and
> performance when the project commences.