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Results 241 to 257 of 257
  1. #241
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Posts
    2502
    Great to have you back, Adobe. And, that's a very nice looking enclosure as well!

    Best,

    BW
    Try G-Wizard Machinist's Calculator for free:
    http://www.cnccookbook.com/CCGWizard.html

  2. #242
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    440
    A very good friend called me and asked me if I wanted a series 3 Bostomatic Mill that appeared in very good condition, but had been sitting in storage for 14 years, he said it looked good.(this has always been my "dream Machine ) Well ,I looked ( and bought this beautiful machine )..this machine has two spindles ne 200-7000 rpm and one that goes to 40,000 rpm ( gawd what do you machine at 40,000 rpm ? The table is immuculate.. nary a scratch, they ways ( what I could see) are like new and covered in Turcite, the way covers do not have any scratches,. no indication of use whatsoever..The machine came with 34 Bostomatic 40taper tools with collets, ( almost look like a CAT 40 )most looked brand new...

    Originally this machine was sold to the biggest Southern Arizona Aero Space Co to make prototype electronic boards..after finishing the job, the machine was sold to a high up employee, but they stripped the memory and damaged the control. The machine was shut down at 4460 hrs. There it sat for the last 14 years.

    As you can see it includes a very nice 4th axis, 2 huge cabnets ( one is actually air conditioned to cool componets ) . I will not use the cabnets in a retro-fit, but they have some neat componets if any one wants the cabnets (free)

    I'm transporting to my shop this week end, and will begin cleaning and retrofiting immediatley..will post as this goes along !

    Adobe (old as Dirt. but younger than Dizaster)
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails jsw_086.jpg   jsw_087.jpg   jsw_089.jpg   jsw_090.jpg  

    jsw_092.jpg  

  3. #243
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    440
    Thansk very much Bob W., how are you doing with your "projects" ?

    Adobe Machine (old as Dirt)

  4. #244
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Posts
    2502
    Never as much time as I'd like, of course. But the mill is CNC'd and running well. Lately I've been spending most of my "shop" time on my G-Wizard Machinist's Calculator.

    Best,

    BW
    Try G-Wizard Machinist's Calculator for free:
    http://www.cnccookbook.com/CCGWizard.html

  5. #245
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Posts
    1602
    Adobe,

    You could use that 40,000 rpm spindle and 4th Axis to make your wife a nice ring!

    bob

  6. #246
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    1306
    A very good friend called me.....

    Now that is a friend. You'd better have another kid so you can name it after that friend

    Good to have you back Adobe.
    Regards,
    Mark

  7. #247
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    440
    Yeh, I'm sure she would appreciate a nice ring, but I'm more into Hot Rod Parts ( shiney stuff) than rings and baubbles...Also, I had to buy her some "gifts" when she found out I was dragging another machine home ( what do you need that for ?How much is this one costing ? What is your fasination with old machines? and on and on..)

    I was wondering if any one of the members have any experiance with Bostomatic 300 or 400 series machines ? The cat 40 tooling on the main spindle requires hydraulic Pressure to lock/unlock the tooling, but I did not see a pump in either cabinet ( it was getting dark, and the person we are buying the equipment from was in a hurry)The hydraulic lines were long enough to go to one of the cabinets ?

    My second question is the high speed spindle. There are lines going from and to the high speed spindle which are the liquid cooling lines.The one cabinet has what is labled as
    " Heat exchanger" and again I did not see any hook ups for the two liquid lines.

    Although there were 7 books that came with the machine , most had to do with motion control, but there are very few pictures . I will say this is one of the more complex machines with a two HP spindle I've ever seen.No doubt it would take an operator some time to learn the machine and the operating system. The section to calibrate and bring to .0001 ( that is expected) is 11 pages long !

    Again, if any members have experiance with this machine I do need help, so I won't break something or burn the thing down.

    Mark, glad to hear from you, how is the Plane Project ? Ours is going slow, slow ( watching paint dry ) And yes Bob is a very good friend, out of this deal he got a working CHNC (?) Hardinge lathe in very, very good condition. But no more babies for us ! We raised 9 ( a few adopted) children, and I would never want to change a dirty diaper again, ever.

    Every one, have a good and safe Thanksgiving !

    Adobe ( old as dirt, but a lot younger than Dizaster !)

  8. #248
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    1306
    The Plane project is on the back burning, as we still don't have a house.

    In the meantime I built a Valve guitar amp and have been working on the controller to CNC the mill.
    Regards,
    Mark

  9. #249
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Posts
    107
    What a nice machine!

    Glad to see your doing ok

  10. #250
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    440
    Got the machine home and in the shop..There were some heart stopping moments with the last phase of getting the Bostomatic off the trailer..The 1st part was real smooth,my friend Bob rented the biggest forklifts I have ever seen, and it handled his lathe and my mill like nothing was being lifted.In fact, we could not get the fork lift at his house through his gate, so the boom was long enough to reach into his shop, with a 5000 lb machine on the forks..that is a 15 to 20 ft boom streatch ,with the machine in idle !

    Anyway the trip home was uneventful, then this weekend we borrowed a 5000 lb fork lift.
    We loaded the Fork lift on an Izuzu Truck with a flat bed and beaver tail, but required 5 ft ramps ...1st the fork lift broke one of the ramps going up, then slipped to one side of the flat bed, which almost tipped over the truck, the rear dullys on one side were off the ground and everything was just balanced enough to not turn over...we were able to get the fork lift over to the middle and lashed down. The 2-3 mile trip to our house was just as intresting, as the now top heavy truck wanted to sway a gut wrenching lot to both sides. At the house while transporting the Mill into the shop the rear wheels of the fork lift came up going over a small hump..Whew, any way all turned out OK. Now its up to me to figure all of the wiring out for the 4 axis.. will do pictures as this project progresses. Note, the machines table does not have one scratch or gouge..I'm going to put a 2 inch machine plate over the table, so I don't screw it up.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails jsw_come_home_bostomatic_12-02-09_001.jpg   jsw_come_home_bostomatic_12-02-09_005.jpg   jsw_come_home_bostomatic_12-02-09_006.jpg   jsw_bostomatic_home_and_in_the_shop_006.jpg  

    Bostomatic Home and in the shop 006.jpg   jsw_bostomatic_home_and_in_the_shop_003.jpg   jsw_bostomatic_home_and_in_the_shop_002.jpg  

  11. #251
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Posts
    558
    Hi Adobe,

    What a nice find! I'm looking forward to the retrofit story, perhaps if it were less exciting than the trip home that would be a good thing?

    Regarding the HF spindle - would that happen to be a Precise unit, perhaps an SC77 or SC82? If it's an SC77, I have a copy of the operation manual I can scan for you if that's any use. I think the SC77 was used when Bostomatic was Boston Digital, perhaps 20+ years ago? They replaced the SC77 with the SC82, apparently.

    Kind regards,

    Jason

  12. #252
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    476

    Tree enclosure

    Can you post some pictures of the inside of your Tree enclosure? Does the mill sit in the coolant all the time? Is it tapered inside? I have a similar mill that I would like to make an enclosure for. As mine sits, it makes a mess with the coolant.

    Thanks

    Vince

  13. #253
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    440
    Jason 3:Yes an SC 77..And I was able to trace the circut. They use a real complicated
    VFD with a transformer that reduces 230 3 phase to 120 3 phase, but use up to 660 Hz (max) ! Thats how they bump the spindle to 40,000 rpm. I doubt that I can find a resonable priced VFD for this , so I'm must make the old VFD work , at least for the HS spindle. The regular spindle can use a late model VFD, but also requires cooling . The heat exchanger is "Missing in Action", so I'm fabricating a chiller, using the Cabnet AC, a small pump and an old AC condensor.

    Really appreciate your offer of info,can you scan and email? If there is any expense involved, just email me and I will reimburse. Again, thanks

    N4NV: Yes, the entire machine is in a "Pan"(welded and glassed together) approx. 8' x
    12', then we walled in just 4' x 12', approx 1/2 half of the machine actually in the wet zone. No leaks so far. The wet area holds approx 120 gals of coolant, that is circulated and filtered. I also bought an E Bay skimmer, so after I'm through for the day, I turn on the skimmer, and most of the tramp oil is picked up. ( I really oil this old machine, need it to last awhile.)

    Pictures may help you.

    Adobe ( Old as Dirt)
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails jsw_inside_tree_enclosure_006.jpg   jsw_inside_tree_enclosure_001.jpg   jsw_inside_tree_enclosure_002.jpg   jsw_inside_tree_enclosure_005.jpg  


  14. #254
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    476
    Thanks for the additional information. Now I have to figure out how lift my 5,000 pound mill high enough to slide a pan under it.

    Vince

  15. #255
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Posts
    558
    Hi Adobe,

    I'm really pleased to hear that auxiliary is an SC77 - I was beginning to think I was going to have to go it alone commissioning mine. It would sure be nice to use the existing VFD but if that's not possible, maybe there are some other affordable options - I have at least one VFD here to try that will allow the maximum motor voltage to be set and will reach 660 Hz ok so I will be sure to let you know how I get on.

    I pulled out the manual - it's pretty sparse I'm sorry, titled 'operating and maintenance instructions', only 4 pages. I'll PM you for an email address to send it to.

    I can see you have at least one tool holder for yours, so you are some way ahead of me!

    Best regards,

    Jason

  16. #256
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    440
    N4NV: The pan is made of 3 sheets of 22ga, the middle sheet ( which the machine sits on) has two bends at each end of 6.25 inches., so I only had to lift the machine a little more than the thickness of the sheet.That was not nice, that heavy Tree did not want to move, took almost all day to get the one sheet under. The two end sheets were bent 6 inches on 3 sides, then welded to the middle sheet.

    Welded the corners, then glassed all of the seems and corners. The sides were erected around the pan,sealed the small gap between the pan and sides with sealer. As I stated, no leaks yet, And I have really turned up the coolant.

    Good luck with your project,sure liked the Lathe build.

    Adobe (old as dirt)

  17. #257
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    250
    It is a nice project.

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