CNC Kit and Ball Screw set Install on Eldorado Bridgemill

Does anyone have any detail pics of their Ball Screw/CNC install on the Bridgemill?

I purchased a kit from Dan Mauch and the ball screws from Shoptask - was working on the Z Axis last night and from what I can see the ball screw for the CNC upgrade will require disabling the manual quill feed.

Also - I am a little perplexed as to the actual ball screw setup for the Z axis.

It seems that it would require removal or disabling of the spring return.

Any thoughts, comments, and pics would be appreciated.

Thank you.
Gary

yes, things work better if you remove the little cross shaft that is behind the Z turn handle, but leave the gear that engages the Z quill shaft!! AND, keep the spring that engages this as well. It is best to set the sping tight enough that it will slowly...... pull the shaft back up toward the top (just enough force to do this). That will keep the Back lash down since there is always a back force applied to the shaft, also it keeps you Z axis speed in transitions up, since the wieght of the shaft is almost "balanced".

Your Z ball screww mounts to the little flange arm that sticks out at a wierd angle and your servo dirves the pulley that your ball nut fits into.

here are some pics of my machine on this very forum:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19058

Also Bloy has some excellent pics and is probably the resident Guru on shoptask mods, without a dought he has the prettiest machine.

Scott

All else being equal, it would be nice to have the option of selecting ballscrews with a .1" pitch to match the dials on my machine. I still do manual operations often. Any suggestions there?

Scott,

Is this all done from the front of the machine and do I need to be concerned about something springing out as I open the front?

Also, I notice what looks like a large plastic cap on on the rear of the quill in line with the coarse feed handle, anything to be done here?

Gary

from front of machine,

the plastic thingy, is where mr. spring lives for the z axis, and it will go sprong, if dont pull it off carefully.

Scott

So the spring lives behind the plastic thingy on the back of the mill head.

But you say all adjustments can be done from front.

I guess I will see when I pull the front apart. I hope your right Poppabear.

BTW, in case any of you have read my inquiries regarding the VFD upgrade, I am about to to do this too. Got a nice package from Harrold Brenner @ Delaers Industrial Equipment...constant torque VFD and 2 new, matching 3 phase 1.5hp motors rated continuous duty, delivered for 420 bucks. Beats scrounging around on ebay for used undocumented, untested stuff, at least I think so, since my budget allowed.

Gary

I am also looking for info on shotask Ball Screws. I have the NOOK catolog but not sure to go with metric or SAE screws and rolled or ground there is hundreds of configs in this catolog. Anyone bought them direct from nook? if so what did you buy www.customfabrications-texas.com

one important note, my spring cap is left hand thread. My adjustment screw is on the back as well. You should be able to dial out most of the spring tension. If I remember correctly I pulled mine let it unwind to its relaxed state and reinstalled. This reduced the excessive spring tension and allowed me to add just enough to raise the quill instead of snaping back really hard. If you still plan to do manuall operations it would be nice to have a bit of tension.