Right then been a very very very quiet on the build front for a good while now for very good reason. To remedy this i thought i would kick off with what the immediate future plans are.
I need to downsize my workshop a bit to move stuff out of the house to make way for our new arrival (no not the new mill?). To do this i took the decision to sell the Bridgeport as that take the most room up and if need be i have access to another. It really pains me as that is my favorite toy :cry:. Before i have had chance to list her i got the chance of an Arboga, great machine but does come with some challenges. It is in great shape and now in pieces on my workshop floor ready for when i can start.

Bad points:

1. 415v two speed motor - found nothing to say i can rewire for 240v, many have tried
2. Spindle has an MT3 taper with a locking ring around the base as there is no way to put a draw bar because of the gearing above (my locking nut M62x1.5 is missing so will need to make a new one)
3. The drill chuck is stuck in the taper (looks like it has never been removed since new)
4. Table is not massive

Good points:

1. Very sturdy machine and knocks spots off most medium size mills, even modern ones
2. Big enough for most things i play around with
3. Everything is metric
4. Takes up very little room
5. 20" of gap between bed and spindle for those tall jobs
6. Lots of space to hide anything and everything
7. Quill has 140mm of movement which means i can run that as my Z and leave the column manual for different job sizes

Plans:

1. Strip it down
2. Clean and repaint machine
3. Make a new nut for the M62 thread (In case i need anything MT3)
4. Make an ER32 collet holder to fit over the M62 thread instead of using the MT3 taper
5. Pull the motor windings that are built into the machine and retrofit the guts from a 3phase 1HP 2800rpm doner. I will loose the two motor speeds but will get this back from the VFD control and will still have two mechanical speeds to play with.
6. Use 20x5 ballscrews on the X and Y. Still not made my mind up about the Z?
7. May need to make some new gears for the head but until i get it running will not know. The ones i may need to replace will be made out of tufnol. This will keep that head nice and quiet.

So far:

1. Purchased machine
2. Ordered ballscrews
3. Sourced new switches and things
8. Have a 3phase motor (only 1400rpm) to test theory of swapping over gubbins.

This is not going to be a quick project as my new son is due home next week after being born 9.5wks early. This has taken most of my time up as i have been left to look after the other kids and work full time. In the end i may loose my bridgeport which i still need to sell but will have a CNC mill.

Lets see if i can be better at updating this log with more detail and pics than before :tup: