[ps2727]

I took the plunge a few months back not knowing if I'd be able to do this, but with the expert help and advice of fellow-Zoner Swede it seems to be coming along well.
I'll put up a few photos of the progress.

[ps2727]

After getting it in the garage ( I have a very understanding wife ) and cleaning it up we started with changing out the old resolvers with new encoders. I was lucky to get an extra motor and after checking the brushes and running them all seems well.
Since Swede had good things to say about the Flashcut system I got one too.
Here you can see the changes we made to the servos to mount the new Renco 500 line encoders.

[ps2727]

New encoders mounted on the servos. It required a little stub shaft extension and a motor case extension as well. Of course we checked to see if the extra length would be a problem.

[ps2727]

Here is the Z axis servo installed.
More to come,
Paul

[ps2727]

x and y axes installed.

[DieGuy]

That is sweet! I hope that my retrofit goes as nicely when I start in about a month.

[ps2727]

The plot thickens.......
All three axes are functional. The Flashcut software is pretty easy to learn so far but tuning the servos is not. There are several parameters and while its fun to poke around I don't really know what I'm doing so I'll have to ask more questions of the metal guru and all-around good guy Swede. The servo tuning looks like it will be different for the different axes and I don't know if its subtle differences in the motors or in the whole axis of motion once installed on the mill. If I set the rates way down everything is fine but once I up the speed things start to "chug" at an ever increasing rate and I hit the panic switch to try again with different settings. I'm sure its just a matter of the right combination.
Paul

[ps2727]

Today was a good day.....
After poking around not knowing a differential from an integral I checked out the great little tutorial from the University of Michigan.
http://www.engin.umich.edu/group/ctm/PID/PID.html
With a little knowledge and a lot of hope I started in again on the servo parametes with success.
After getting the servos going in the setup program I had trouble when trying a "dry run" with the Flashcut demo. The problem turned out to be my failure to properly log the changes in the setup. After the good guys at Flashcut helped me understand what I was doing the mill table is now off and running at up to 100 inches a minute. The setup software has an auto tune feature that is very nice for newbies like me.
(He was too nice to just say "read the book") (wedge)
Now it's on to the limit switches and then the spindle.
Paul

[ps2727]

Looking ahead to getting the spindle up and running I'll need to determine just which tooling I need. I think this is the Quick Switch 200 series but I'll put up a photo so the experts can tell me for sure. Thanks for any input here.
Paul

[machintek]

This spindle is quick switch 200. See the pin used to hold the nut open and used to snap it shut when a tool is inserted? It is a negative image of the QC30.

George

[ps2727]

Thanks, George.
It's great to have help from the pro's!
Paul

[Jamf2]

ps2727

i have a brideport series I cnc boss 6. I will soon start retrofitting it. do you have a manual for this or know where i can get one. I have had no luck with this particular model. I will post as i go.

Does anyone know where i might find one?

Joe Welker

[ps2727]

Joe
The only manual I have for my mill is an illustrated parts manual and some documentation for the Heidenhain control that I will not be using. The good news is that it is a fairly simple machine and when cleaning it up I was able to see what needed to be done to get it up to speed. There are folks here who can probably help you locate what you need.
Good luck on your mill project.
Paul

[machintek]

I purchased a BOSS 6 maintenance manual on CDROM fro www.machinemanuals.net.
The Bridgeport manuals are quite good as they explain the control in a lot of detail as well as having wiring diagrams and schematics of a lot of the boards.

George