[motoguy]

I'm looking for a home / hobby / prototyping CNC machine. Price is more of a factor than space. I recently ran across a seller with the following machine, and I thought I might run it by you all here, as you seem to have experience refitting / bringing some of these old, dead CNC's back to life.

I'm also curious what you would consider a reasonable price for this unit. It's about 10 hours from me (one way), so I'd like to gather all the pertinent info I can BEFORE I invest in a trip to go get it...

Here's the poop:

"It's a Bridgeport Series II CNC Mill

Needs a Monitor
It is a Bridgeport Series II With Heidenhein Control
I need this mill out of here. "

In response to my first round of questions:

"I don't know the answer to most of those questions.
I bought it from Motorola.
They ran it but when I got it to the shop the monitor was bad and now the parameters are goe because the battery is dead and it has been without power for about 2 years.
It appears to be in great shape."


My questions below:

"I am interested in the mill mentioned above. I'm curious how far it is from
running. Is the monitor the only defective issue? How are the ways,
motors, controllers, etc? If there are issues with the CNC components, how
is the mechanical / physical aspect of the unit? What's it repeat?
Condition of ways, screws, etc?

I would still be interested if the CNC aspect is shot, but I'd like to know
the core mechanicals of the unit.

If you could provide additional information and / or pictures, I would be
most appreciative. Something like this may work great for my needs as a
hobbyist."

Here are photos of the machine:

[gus]

SII Is a good piece of iron

the 151 is a good control , a replacement monitor might be expensive, but parameter lists are available, and if it is as stated it could run

or not....

[motoguy]

SII Is a good piece of iron

the 151 is a good control , a replacement monitor might be expensive, but parameter lists are available, and if it is as stated it could run

or not....

Thanks for the info! Other, more knowledgeable questions I may want to ask? Ideas on valuation, or things I may want to ask to determine valuation?

Is 5k an appropriate weight guesstimate for this machine (for transport purposes)?

Thanks, and ANY input is appreciated. I'm really not comfortable enough to KNOW what I'm looking for in a used machine. However, for a good deal on (what otherwise should be) a solid machine, it's a risk I'm willing to take.

[motoguy]

I have a bit more information. Here is the text, with pics below. Sounds like I'd be out $500 for the machine, $500 for th tool holders, 20+ hours of driving / travel / gas / lodging.

What do you think? Worth a $1000+ gamble?

"I have not but my friend at Motorola said it was running when he told me it was for sale, so I never went to see it run. It was ready to be moved when I went to go get it.
Bottom line for the machine is $500. I have 25 plus tool holders I will sell for another $500.
However I need to get this mill out of the shop I need space. So make me an offer If you think $500 is unreasonable. I have a scrapper coming to look at it for scrap value today.
I have a forklift I can load it on a trailer within reason.
I can take some pics if you are still interested. Just let me know what you want."

Here are the pics he sent me this morning:















[/img]

[gus]

Any machine that is not running is a risk.

These machines are tough, so it probably isn't 'broken'

Compared to a boss it is a steal, as it has servos and encoders already.

There was a monitor in ebay recently, if that was all it needed, you could be making parts in a hurry

[gus]

should double check to see i fany of these is the right thing.

also the driver chip in the machine can go bad, it is available from heidenhain or commercially for much less



http://cgi.ebay.com/Heidenhain-TNC-1...item1c104d3cab


http://cgi.ebay.com/Heidenhain-Monit...item20af8a13ea

http://cgi.ebay.com/Heidenhain-Monit...item20af49d5c6

http://cgi.ebay.com/Heidenhain-CRT-C...item20aec31447

[ichudov]

I was actually the person who ended up buying it. I figure that at the price, there is not much risk of losing money, only that of wasting time. Wasting time on this is better than drugs.

Any pointers on this machine will be appreciated, such as, if the seller is telling the truth and the monitor is bad, how difficult is it to find a replacement.

I was thinking of going the Linux route myself, since I am a computer programmer and I have been using Linux since 1995. You can visit algebra.com for an idea of what I do with Linux.

Can anyone give me a rundown of what is involved in converting this Interact II to Linux. Thanks

[Seb]

I was actually the person who ended up buying it.

Congrats on the new machine! $500 seems like a really good deal if the iron's in any kind of reasonable shape.

Can anyone give me a rundown of what is involved in converting this Interact II to Linux. Thanks

I recently converted a Series 1 R2E3 from Boss8 to emc2. It was totally painless. I used a bunch of Mesa hardware, specifically a 5i20 "AnyIO" FPGA board, a 7i33 quad servo interface board, and a 7i37 isolated I/O board. Those boards (and a PC) replaced all the old control electronics. 12 hours from start to completion & first chips.

Your first step should probably be getting all the BP manuals and circuit schematics, it would have taken me days if I'd had to trace the wires by hand...

[ichudov]

Congrats on the new machine! $500 seems like a really good deal if the iron's in any kind of reasonable shape.

I think that the iron is in great shape.


I recently converted a Series 1 R2E3 from Boss8 to emc2. It was totally painless. I used a bunch of Mesa hardware, specifically a 5i20 "AnyIO" FPGA board, a 7i33 quad servo interface board, and a 7i37 isolated I/O board. Those boards (and a PC) replaced all the old control electronics. 12 hours from start to completion & first chips.

Your first step should probably be getting all the BP manuals and circuit schematics, it would have taken me days if I'd had to trace the wires by hand...

This is VERY exciting!

Can you tell me if you do not mind,

1) Your electronics skill level
2) How much time did it take
3) How much did it cost.

I am a novice to electronics, but once I converted an existing welder to a new SCR rectifier system (big drive module and my own SCR assembly), controlled by a Cubloc microcontroller with my own code written in BASIC.

It was capable of CC, including TIG (operating solenoids and high frequency arc starter), CV, and high voltage CC DC for plasma cutting.

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/Weld...New-Rectifier/

The source code is GPLed and is shown here:

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/Weld...ier/source.txt

Besides that, my electronics abilities are kind of limited, but I hope that this explains where I come from.

[gus]

I would suggest you get the machine running, looks like 500 bucks for a monitor. You can then see if there is anything mechanically wrong with it.

There is nothing wrong with the control on it, aside from a somewhat limited memory.

[ichudov]

I would suggest you get the machine running, looks like 500 bucks for a monitor. You can then see if there is anything mechanically wrong with it.

There is nothing wrong with the control on it, aside from a somewhat limited memory.

Guys, any idea how can I check that the machine is functional, without a working display?

The Heidenhain guy told me that it was not really possible.

Anyhow, I found a board that converts EGA signal to VGA:

http://www.arcademvs.com/rgbstovga.htm

The price was $49 and I bought it. I hope that I can then use any VGA display, like the ones I have at home already.

[gus]

that would work if the heidenhain were an ega.

it is an inverted mga[hercules] with its own connector. perhaps ega is compatible, but I don't know


If you found an old old monochrome pc monitor, you can get the pin out for the heidenhain and get a usable video to test the machine.

what you will see will have a bright background with dark letters, visible retrace and whenever it wants to highlight[brighten] something it will darken it.

i imagine heidenhain monitors might be easier to find these days...

[Seb]

1) Your electronics skill level
2) How much time did it take
3) How much did it cost.

The electronics were pretty straight forward. The BP came with complete circuit schematics & all the wires in the machine are labeled. It was just a matter of figuring out what wires carried what signals, disconnecting them from the existing control boards, and connecting them to the PC.

After about 12 hours we had all three axes homing & moving well, and estop worked right. First chips! I still have to do a bunch of cleanup, hook up the controls on the faceplate, hook up a stepper to the Varispeed knob, and try to wedge a computer into the controls cabinet (currently the computer is sitting on the workbench next to the mill).

The cost was the cost of a PC, plus $200 for the 5i20, $80 for the 7i33, and $80 for the 7i37.

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/Weld...New-Rectifier/

Cool project!

[ichudov]

that would work if the heidenhain were an ega.

it is an inverted mga[hercules] with its own connector. perhaps ega is compatible, but I don't know


If you found an old old monochrome pc monitor, you can get the pin out for the heidenhain and get a usable video to test the machine.

what you will see will have a bright background with dark letters, visible retrace and whenever it wants to highlight[brighten] something it will darken it.

i imagine heidenhain monitors might be easier to find these days...

The Heidenhain guy said it was EGA, and he was there for 29 years.

He also recommended to buy an LCD monitor.

i

[ichudov]

The electronics were pretty straight forward. The BP came with complete circuit schematics & all the wires in the machine are labeled. It was just a matter of figuring out what wires carried what signals, disconnecting them from the existing control boards, and connecting them to the PC.

After about 12 hours we had all three axes homing & moving well, and estop worked right. First chips! I still have to do a bunch of cleanup, hook up the controls on the faceplate, hook up a stepper to the Varispeed knob, and try to wedge a computer into the controls cabinet (currently the computer is sitting on the workbench next to the mill).

The cost was the cost of a PC, plus $200 for the 5i20, $80 for the 7i33, and $80 for the 7i37.




Cool project!

Seb, this is very exciting. As I still have to bring the mill home, it will be a few days, but in case if I do not have the schematics, would it be possible to get a good picture of it, or I can pay for a copy. Would that be possible?

I can cobble together a PC without problems. In fact I have a rackmounted server wasting space at home that I could use.

Igor

[ichudov]

The electronics were pretty straight forward. The BP came with complete circuit schematics & all the wires in the machine are labeled. It was just a matter of figuring out what wires carried what signals, disconnecting them from the existing control boards, and connecting them to the PC.

After about 12 hours we had all three axes homing & moving well, and estop worked right. First chips! I still have to do a bunch of cleanup, hook up the controls on the faceplate, hook up a stepper to the Varispeed knob, and try to wedge a computer into the controls cabinet (currently the computer is sitting on the workbench next to the mill).

The cost was the cost of a PC, plus $200 for the 5i20, $80 for the 7i33, and $80 for the 7i37.

Seb, so you bought one of each? Any cabling that you needed to buy?

How hard do you think is connecting the face controls on the front of the head?

i

[Seb]

Right, one of each of those three boards, plus the 50-pin ribbon cables that connect the 7i3x boards to the 5i20, plus a bunch of spare wire to connect the 7i3x boards to the wiring terminals on the Bridgeport.

I think the face controls will be easy to hook up, just need to run a bunch of wire back to the Mesa boards, should be easy. :-)

[ichudov]

Right, one of each of those three boards, plus the 50-pin ribbon cables that connect the 7i3x boards to the 5i20, plus a bunch of spare wire to connect the 7i3x boards to the wiring terminals on the Bridgeport.

I think the face controls will be easy to hook up, just need to run a bunch of wire back to the Mesa boards, should be easy. :-)

Seb, thanks.

If I remember right, the encoders on the mill return sinewave signals. How do you convert them to square wave?
Igor

[Seb]

If I remember right, the encoders on the mill return sinewave signals. How do you convert them to square wave?
Igor

The encoders on my servos produce RS-422 (differential) signals, which is exactly what the 7i33 accepts as inputs. The 7i33 converts the signals to TTL for the 5i20.

[gus]

ega is still ttl and is mostly pin compatible. This monitor is not 'graphic' so I dunno why the guy thinks it is EGA. maybe the later ones are.

so if you get the tech manual for the 151 [or 145; monitor is compatible] and wire up a connector, you should be in business.

There are several parameter lists posted for similar machines, mostly the series one iron. You will need to change the travel parameters before trying to run the machine, and possibly the travel direction in some axis' search for heidenhain parameter here.

where are you located? maybe someone has a loaner monitor.......