Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Bridgeport CNC retrofit recommendations wanted.

Here is my 2 cents, a little biased but free none the less. Check out www.southwesternindustries.com , makers of Trak Controls. They make retro kits for about 40 B'port clones and of course B'port..from ballscrews to motors and mounts and controls, whole nine yards...They will even install and tune in about a day at your residence..can RS232 to PC..Conversational..read manual and go...Rather than retro my Jet and risk picking wrong stuff and doing a lot of work I found a Sharp/First [B'port clone] with Trak Cnc 2 [3 axis] close by [35 min.] and $2500 I trailered it home. Check out the site..Let me know what you do.. Later, Seb.




heliarc_bob@... wrote:
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 wrote:
> On Tue, 2003-12-16 at 08:09, doug.rasmussen@c... wrote:
>
>
>
> > 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


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