Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Bridgeport series 1 retrofit?

hwboivin wrote:

>Can someone point me in the right direction to retrofit a series 1
>Bridgeport for cnc. I have been searching online, but would like to
>know which kits are recommended.
>
>

This is a Series I manual machine? Then there are a lot of decisions
that need
to be made. For instance, a ballscrew update is a good idea if you are
going
to be doing any precision work, contouring, etc. However, that will be
the single
most expensive part of the retrofit. But, it has substantial
advantages, such as
lack of backlash, the ability to climb mill, etc.

Do you want to retain the ability to machine manually? How about using the
CNC control as a DRO while in manual mode, and then resume CNC without
losing your coordinate alignment? I have a system that allows you to do
that.

But, stepper-driven systems without any position feedback are a bit
simpler, and
possibly less expensive. They also give lower performance in most cases.

What CNC software do you want to run? There is a wide choice, from totally
abominable DOS-based programs to Mach and EMC. And, of course, there is
also Centroid and Ajax. too.

Jon