CAD CAM EDM DRO - Yahoo Group Archive

Help with Bridgeport retrofit parts and plans

Posted by CalBoy101
on 2005-05-03 19:09:12 UTC
Hello-

I'm planning to do a stepper motor CNC retrofit on a Bridgeport
clone mill. I'm starting to figure out what I'll need, and any help
with or comments on the following would be great. Money is tight so
I'm trying to go with suppliers where I'll get both acceptable
quality and good pricing.

Stepper motors-

From what I can tell, for a Bridgeport size mills, 1200 to 1300 oz-
in. motors seemed to be commonly used. I'm considering the ones from
http://www.camtronics-cnc.com/ I'm looking at their models:

1H34-113 1303 OZ IN 2.5A $195
1H34-114 1303 OZ IN 4.5A $195

Does anybody have any comments on these motors for this application
or a suggestion of better motors?

Step motor drives-

The Geckodrives look pretty good to me, I guess the new revised
version of the G210 that's coming out soon. Is that a good match for
the motors above?

Power Supply-

Probably build one, but I could use some help on how many volts and
amps I would need for the motors and drives above in a 3 axis
system. Any comments on that?

Ball Lead Screw conversion kits-

Looking at offerings from-

http://www.rockfordballscrew.com/
http://www.hiwin.com/home3.html and
http://www.danaherlinear.com/ballscrews.htm

Anybody have comments on those guys or a different supplier I should
look at?

X, Y and Z motor brackets-

So far I've only found these ones-

http://www.elrodmachine.com/x&y.htm

Real nice looking stuff, but way over budget. I guess I'll build
them from scratch if I have to, but it seems like somebody out there
must be selling a lower cost bracket set that would save me some
fabrication time, does anybody have some other suppliers I can look
at?

Controller Software-

Will try Mach2 from http://www.artofcnc.ca/ with TurboCNC as a
backup if Windows stability problems start driving me crazy.

Limit switches and "zero" switches-

Any suggestions for switch types and suppliers?

Milling machine-

If I can't find a used "real" Bridgeport locally in reasonable shape
I'm looking at the Birmingham model BPS-1649 from
www.billstoolcrib.com . Its a step pulley model with a 3 phase motor
that I'll drive with a VFD, avoiding potential problems with the
marginal mechanical vari-speed systems typically on these clone
machines. Apparently the heads on these are made in Taiwan and not
too bad. Any comments on this machine and its ability to accept ball
lead screws?

Thanks for any help you can give me-

Paul T.

Discussion Thread

CalBoy101 2005-05-03 19:09:12 UTC Help with Bridgeport retrofit parts and plans cnc_4_me 2005-05-04 01:48:31 UTC Re: Help with Bridgeport retrofit parts and plans cnc_4_me 2005-05-04 07:01:48 UTC Re: Help with Bridgeport retrofit parts and plans cnc_4_me 2005-05-04 12:13:04 UTC Re: Help with Bridgeport retrofit parts and plans Polaraligned 2005-05-04 16:26:36 UTC Re: Help with Bridgeport retrofit parts and plans CalBoy101 2005-05-04 16:51:46 UTC Re: Help with Bridgeport retrofit parts and plans Polaraligned 2005-05-05 03:23:26 UTC Re: Help with Bridgeport retrofit parts and plans