Recently purchased a Bridgeport vertical mill at an estate sale. It's in great shape and has a 3 axis Servo II CNC system, 2 axis Acu-rite DRO along with an Acer EVS head and Kurt air powered draw bar. Even got the original Bridgeport Series I head in the deal (on a pallet, supposed to have bearing noise).
Cabinet for the CNC system has a slot for the 4th axis board but it was never installed.
First problem: computer for the CNC system will not boot up so the operating program is probably gone. It was installed in the mid 90s and the computer has a 5.25 floppy drive so parts for it will be impossible to find. The hand held controller (called a 'pendant') will operate all three axis. They run smooth and everything is tight. The Z axis seems a little too tight but it moves without excessive noise from the servo.
Found a source for the original Servo II program and parts, which leads to the second problem:
Windows 7 compatible operating system, one board and rebuilt servo for a rotary table will cost more that I paid for the machine. So if one of the other servos goes down or it smokes a board? There's going to be major expense involved in the repairs.
Started looking into CNC retrofit systems and found some on e-bay. Can get 4 stepper motors with controllers for less than 1000$. Now the third problem and some questions:
The X and Y axis bolt to the table like a standard servo, but the Z axis servo attaches directly to the knee.
What's involved with removing the Z axis servo?
Also, any advice on a which CNC system and controllers to get?
Thanks in advance, will try to post some pictures below.
Cabinet for the CNC system has a slot for the 4th axis board but it was never installed.
First problem: computer for the CNC system will not boot up so the operating program is probably gone. It was installed in the mid 90s and the computer has a 5.25 floppy drive so parts for it will be impossible to find. The hand held controller (called a 'pendant') will operate all three axis. They run smooth and everything is tight. The Z axis seems a little too tight but it moves without excessive noise from the servo.
Found a source for the original Servo II program and parts, which leads to the second problem:
Windows 7 compatible operating system, one board and rebuilt servo for a rotary table will cost more that I paid for the machine. So if one of the other servos goes down or it smokes a board? There's going to be major expense involved in the repairs.
Started looking into CNC retrofit systems and found some on e-bay. Can get 4 stepper motors with controllers for less than 1000$. Now the third problem and some questions:
The X and Y axis bolt to the table like a standard servo, but the Z axis servo attaches directly to the knee.
What's involved with removing the Z axis servo?
Also, any advice on a which CNC system and controllers to get?
Thanks in advance, will try to post some pictures below.