Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Newbie bridgeport cnc conversion quetions

Hi Ian,

To be honest if you want to end up with a decent machine then converting
what you have is not the best way. CNC retrofits to manual machines tend
to get expensive very quickly, especially if the machine is a bit worn
(trust me - I have been there). Ideally you want to try to get hold of a
CNC with a blown control. Controls are very expensive to repair so older
CNCs with blown controls are worth very little. Bridgeport series 1 CNCs
are ideal candidates. Replacement boards are getting difficult to obtain
and the lack of a toolchanger makes them unpopular for production work.
It is not difficult to rip out the existing out of date electronics and
fit modern drivers and control software (Mach2, TurboCNC etc). You end
up with a much better machine for less money. My Series1 cost me 600UKP
(~1100USD) which I consider to be a bit high. However it came out of a
training college and spent most of it's time sitting in a corner doing
nothing. I have probably spent another 500 pounds retrofitting it. I did
make the mistake of trying to reuse the original steppers so this price
includes four stepper drives (I blew up two) and three servo drives.

For a Bridgeport sized machine I would recommend servos. Steppers are OK
on relatively light machines but they really don't work well on a larger
machine like a Bridgeport. In this size there isn't a lot of difference
in cost between steppers and servos. If you hunt around you can get some
good deals on servos. eBay is your friend :-)

Les

toorigid wrote:

>I have been a member of the group for a while and read the posts in
>the digests sent to my email. I have a old bridgeport series 1 with
>a 1J head. The table and the ways are not the greatest and I cleaned
>and painted it to make it a respectable machine. I just bought
>another machine much nicer and I am considering selling this old
>
>