Re: Bridgeport CNC retrofit recommendations wanted.

Thanks for the input. I am pretty committed to working with my
Series 1; it's almost new and it's in my garage, where space and
vertical clearance are pretty tight.

I agree that used commercial machines have the Series 1 beat in terms
of rigidity and functionality; I am just leary the used control
systems and trying to find replacement parts. I'd like to get a
system where, if something breaks, I can get replacement parts with a
phone call and a credit card.

Is TurboCNC worth looking into?

Much obliged for the help,
Bob

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, Kim Lux <lux@d...> wrote:
> On Tue, 2003-12-16 at 08:09, doug.rasmussen@c... wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> > With a budget of 15K, IMO, you'd be far ahead by purchasing a
used
> > commercial machine. In that price range there's plenty available
> > given the current state of the used machine tool market.
> >
> > The dedicated commercial controls of even 15 years ago generally
> > will be far ahead in functionality of the hobby-oriented
(EMC,etc)
> > PC controls.
>
> I highly disagree with this statement, on a number of fronts:
>
> a) *some* controllers, ie my version of TurboCNC, has everything a
> modern CNC controller has (and then some) and much, much more than
a 15
> year old controller has. For example, many 15 year old controllers
did
> not have hellical milling routines (ie G72/G73), decent on screen
code
> editors, etc. It is highly unlikely that an older controller could
be
> made to perform a rigid tapping operation, for example. 1988 was 15
> years ago. PCs were just beginning to have some power. The
controls on
> a 15 year old machine are likely to be quite limited.
>
> b) the control electronics on 15 year old machines are quite old and
> subject to various problems. What does one do when a control card
quits
> on a 15 year old machine ? We just retrofitted a 13 year old
machine
> because the owner couldn't (or wouldn't) fix a failed operator
interface
> panel.
>
> c) the flexibility and power of a "source code available" controller
> allows the owner to get the machine to do things the way he wants
it to,
> not the way the programmer *thought* it should work 15 years ago.
>
> Kim
>
>
> > --
> > Kim Lux <lux@d...>