RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Bridgeport CNC Mill???

Hanermo,



You have definitely been around the block many times with the information
you have written below.

I would appreciate it if you could share your wealth of information with me
also.




About three months ago I acquired an Alliant Mill with a Anilam Crusader II
CNC controller from eBay.

I paid $800 for the Mill and $300 for the guy to rent some equipment to get
it from his shop to my truck.

All in all I think I stole it. The guy I bought it from was very honest, and
upfront about telling me that controller

did not function properly other then the DRO.

I am an electrician by trade, but have absolutely no background in
electronics. I have a friend with a background
in electronics that has not been able to figure out what's going wrong. If
you are into CNC electronics that would be
incredible, if not I know you will be able to steer me in the right
direction as you did with Rich.

The main problem is that controller will not talk to the servo box. We can
get the servo motors going, but have to make
jumpers in the servo box to do this. Even though we can get the transformer
that powers the servo cards energized, the
controller does absolutely nothing other than the DRO digits lighting up.

I have all the schematics for this controller but they lack an incredible
amount of information needed for trouble shooting.
My electronics friend and I have spoken to the Anilam technical support guy
a number of times, but I don't think he's
that interested because we're talking 1984 vintage.

I think I got an incredible deal even though the CNC controller is not
functional. Some paperwork came along showing
that the guy had changed the spindle bearings about five years ago. I have a
machinist that backs up to my shop. When
he saw it he was totally impressed, and he has all the high-end stuff, which
made me feel even better.

At this point I don't know what to do. I know the servomotors, and
controller cards work so I wouldn't think I would need to replace them.
Do you know of anyone that makes an affordable controller that would work
with the existing servo box? This mill will not be used for production work.
I have been using the mill in manual mode, and it works great, but I am
starting to see the possibilities of what I could accomplish if the CNC
controller worked.

I might have a little long-winded here, but I figured the more information
the better.

Thank you very much in advance for giving me a hand.

Larry B.
















________________________________
From: ""hanermo" - CNC 6-axis Designs" <gcode.fi@...
<mailto:gcode.fi%40gmail.com> >
To: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com
<mailto:CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO%40yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 6:43 AM
Subject: Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Bridgeport CNC Mill???

At 700 $, its a steal.
The ballscrews and nuts alone are worth 2000$ (if they are ok).

The questions are;
1. Is the spindle ok ?
Can it be run, at all speeds, does it make noise.

2. Are the ways ok ?
Most Bp CNCs were little used, by all reports.
If so, this is a great deal.

If 1 and 2 are good, you have a great machine.
If not, the cost is high.
Reconditioning the whole thing is about 2500$.

Is it worth it ?
Absolutely, if you need an indusrtial CNC mill.
If not, well then it depends. What a hobby worth ?

New bearings cost about the 700$ mentioned, installed.
NOS may be available, but hard to find, at around 150-200$.

The old steppers are junk, so their condition is immaterial.
Bin them, use new steppers, new drivers. Cheap.

It is relatively easy to anything on a CNC Bp, and costs for pieces are
in the 200-500$ range, per piece.

A perfect running condition CNC Bp (I assume this is a BOSS, not a
series 2) can do excellent work to current commercial quality stuff,
somewhat slower (1/2 - 1/5) than a new commercial VMC at 35.000$.

Desired upgrades cannot be quantified with this info.
It depends on how much you can afford, how fast you want to go, and how
big you want it.
For 1800$ or so in bits, assuming 1 and 2 are good, you get treadmill
servos, a hw controller, micron resolution, industrial quality hw. Add
1000$ for brushless industrial servos (needed only/mostly if running
production).
Centipede 600$, 1 kW treadmill servos with 1 micron encoders, 70-130V
DC, granite devices servos (or HP UHU), 1:3 HTD belts and pulleys, 400
inches rapids.
That would be about 4x more accurate than factory new, 3x more powerful,
3x faster.

For 800$ new steppers, gecko 251s, belts, psu, bits n pieces. Add
200-300$ for cables, connectors, energy chain, estops, bobs etc.,

Add 800$ and put linear guides knee. Huge enevelope, very accurate, rock
solid, very rigid.
Add 200-1800$ for ballscrew on knee (C5, quality rolled) to C1,
precision ground.

Pick any set you like.
Any nr of guys can make you a kit, mounts, cables, etc etc if you want.

I have a combo on everything above, and these are the numbers as I found
them.
Note that the steppers, nema 23 3Nm ones, are only 50$ or less, each.
Total non.issue.
Note that industrial quality mounts, if you cannot make your own, for a
ballscew, are about 700$.
You can make almost as good for 50$ in parts per end (make them heavy!
in good steel) with 32006 AC bearings and a good lathe, if you know how.
Note you need 6 ends (one is cheap).
A better solution is a screw in tension, and rotating nut. not hard,
just different.

So the end result is, there are lots of good options and lots of right
answers.
My mill has steppers, and works well.

If I start to produce parts for $, I will put in industrial brushless
servos, at 1000$/axis.
Some options, for you to have an idea of the ballpark, for now.

>
> I'm just a Home hobby guy. I do want to make some Billet
> snowmobile/ultralight heads with it.
>
> What I'm wondering is, has anyone here upgraded one of these to run off
> Mach3, with a PC?
>

Many have, it´s quite easy to do so.

>
>
> I think it has stepper motors, not servos.
>
> Does this have Ball Screws already since it's CNC already?
>

Yes.

>
> I was short on time when I got there, and I'm not sure if it has an RS232
> port. Can you send G-Code to it from a PC?
>
> What upgrades would you recommend for it, and approximate cost?
>
> .001 is good enough for anything I will ever make. So I don't have to get
> to high tech.
>

> I know it's 3 phase. Last time I checked I couldn't get that at my house,
> so I'm looking at using one of them VFD's.
>
> Thanks for any info.
>
> Rich Gillen
> Ames, IA
>

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