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The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Hi there, does anyone know what taper is standard on the boxford 260vmc, i know they came with Easychange tool holders from Coventry but what the taper is i have no idea and after trawling the net all day i still have no idea, there is so little information about these machines it makes me wonder if anyone actually ever owned or used one!!:rolleyes:
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Rick
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Its the same as the 190VMC. You might find out more info by talking to Coventry Toolholders on +44(0) 24 7664 5999. They make them for R8, MT and other tapers but could probably tell you what was supplied to Boxford. Or talk to Boxford on +44 (0)1422 358311
I'm guessing its going to be R8 or MT3
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Not sure but I'm certain it's INT35
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
I did find this comment on the web:
"Here i have for sale an excellent condition Boxford 260 VMC cnc milling machine with R8 easychange toolholder, which is converted to Mach3" so there's a clue....
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Sorry, I was thinking Denford, had no experiance of Boxfords.
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Good grief!! can i just say thank you to those of you who have taken the time to help me out on that, be sure if there is something i can help you with you wont have to ask!!!
So im thinking from what has been said that R8 is the order of the day and if it is R8 then that has made my day.... im going to have a look at the said machine friday.. that should make a nice little project for me..
Again i cant thank you all enough..
Rick
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
I think as there is so little information on this mill that I will make a thread showing what i find out (Specs & observations) when I get this machine home and also a step by step of how I fully convert it to MACH3 so that others will not have to ask such stupid questions in the future.
Rick
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Steady on,Rick...you'll have heads swelling. :heehee::wink:
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ricardoco
I think as there is so little information on this mill that I will make a thread showing what i find out (Specs & observations) when I get this machine home and also a step by step of how I fully convert it to MACH3 so that others will not have to ask such stupid questions in the future.
Rick
Theres a documented conversion here
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
I did try that link but i cant make it work, has it been moved??
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1 Attachment(s)
Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
works for me....
The zip file is a MHT web archive, you should be able to unzip and open it in your browser locally
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Thank you for that, im not sure why i couldnt get the link to work, and yes that is a very interesting page. I will still however do what i said, as i will probably do a complete strip down measure and refurb on the unit including new steppers and the such.
but again thanks, its always easier to do a project when you know there is a font of knowlege such as the people on this forum to help out when you get stuck.
Rick
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Nope,works fine here,Rick.
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Cheers George I guess it may be because im on the works laptop and they are super secure and for that reason super fussy!!
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
All the ones i've seen are R8.
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
This site has the manualon the VMC260...but its £40 :surprised:
http://www.lathes.co.uk/manuals/
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GeorgeD
:surprised: :surprised: :surprised: George thanks for that it made me laugh, I think i will write my own, £40 is taking the P*## a bit. I often wonder just how much these people think about marketing, I bet they sell a load at that price!!!
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Ok the machine arrived last night and the first thing i will say is "If you want to know how much one of these things weigh, well 4 big lads all struggled to move it, and I mean big strong lads."
More to follow!
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ricardoco
:surprised: :surprised: :surprised: George thanks for that it made me laugh, I think i will write my own, £40 is taking the P*## a bit. I often wonder just how much these people think about marketing, I bet they sell a load at that price!!!
surely the opposite is true... its supply and demand... how many people want one? very few, therefore to make it profitable to sell it attracts a premium. Most of the manuals Tony sells are £15 - £25. He has to cover his costs, whether he buys them in or reprints them. I bet if you went to Boxford and asked to buy a manual they'd ask a lot more, assuming they'd sell it to you at all.
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Quote:
Originally Posted by
irving2008
surely the opposite is true... its supply and demand... how many people want one? very few, therefore to make it profitable to sell it attracts a premium. Most of the manuals Tony sells are £15 - £25. He has to cover his costs, whether he buys them in or reprints them. I bet if you went to Boxford and asked to buy a manual they'd ask a lot more, assuming they'd sell it to you at all.
Hey i take your point however that is just too much full stop, and by the same token if it had been around £20 I would have paid it in a flash, as would others I suspect, but as it is ive walked away. How much money was made from that? A product is only worth what people are willing to pay for it. Whilst I understand that costs need to be covered and profits need to be made, is it not also true that if few people are buying maybe its the price that is too high, high prices are usually dictated by how many people want the product and so are willing to pay more than the others, A very very succesfull auction site on the net is testament to that, the greater the demand, the higher the price. But at the end of the day if i want it bad enough i will pay whatever is asked, so maybe that is the reason the manual is priced at £40 its upto who ever is selling it and please dont think any insult to the seller was intended, its just too pricey for me.
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
i2i has kindly pointed something out to me. The Steppers & Stepper drivers are usable however i have to devise or find a way to interface the 12v drivers with the 5v parallel port, has anybody here addressed this problem? the stepper drivers are : - "PKS-DIGIPLAN SD3's" ive found some Free manuals for the drivers on the DENFORD Site which i am at this moment digesting (or trying )
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ricardoco
i2i has kindly pointed something out to me. The Steppers & Stepper drivers are usable however i have to devise or find a way to interface the 12v drivers with the 5v parallel port, has anybody here addressed this problem? the stepper drivers are : - "PKS-DIGIPLAN SD3's" ive found some Free manuals for the drivers on the DENFORD Site which i am at this moment digesting (or trying )
That wont be hard to achieve as long as the signals are the same (e.g. Step & DIR), do you have wiring diagram?
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Wellifyou intend to service it,Rick?
Just video closely what you do to remove/disassemble and then watch the video onhow you removed it to begin with....mind you you will have to play the vid backwards on assembly:heehee:
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Quote:
Originally Posted by
irving2008
That wont be hard to achieve as long as the signals are the same (e.g. Step & DIR), do you have wiring diagram?
I have managed to find a wiring diagram named digiplan using two BC547's and a couple of 3k3 resistors it does seem to be a very simple circuit (but then they all are if they work!) but i can see from the diagram what is going on and i must say i2i is a very help full chap.. did you have an alternative to the digiplan interface ?
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GeorgeD
Wellifyou intend to service it,Rick?
Just video closely what you do to remove/disassemble and then watch the video onhow you removed it to begin with....mind you you will have to play the vid backwards on assembly:heehee:
Hey George i will be taking lots of pictures and notes believe me :heehee:
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ricardoco
I have managed to find a wiring diagram named digiplan using two BC547's and a couple of 3k3 resistors it does seem to be a very simple circuit (but then they all are if they work!) but i can see from the diagram what is going on and i must say i2i is a very help full chap.. did you have an alternative to the digiplan interface ?
Yes, thats what I'd guessed it would need, a simple level shifter... easy to build... I would have drawn you up one if you'd needed...
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Quote:
Originally Posted by
irving2008
Yes, thats what I'd guessed it would need, a simple level shifter... easy to build... I would have drawn you up one if you'd needed...
Thanks Irving its certainly nice of you to offer. I am going to get some pictures up in a moment so you can all see what i am refering to..
Rick
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3 Attachment(s)
Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
A look inside finds some nice goodies
Attachment 2496The Stepper drivers (SD3)
Attachment 2495The Switching
Attachment 2494The Speed controller
More pictures to follow (I so Love taking things apart :whistling:)
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1 Attachment(s)
Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Maybe i should have uploaded this one first but here it is anyhow (missing 1 driver that im examining)
Attachment 2497
Oooo The Electrics.:surprised: :naughty:
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2 Attachment(s)
Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Ok here is a look at the machine before i picked it up.
Attachment 2499
And here is a picture of the breakout and control board. (ooooo that looks complicated)
Attachment 2498
Incidently this board has a date on the back of 23/1/95 so I suspect is an upgrade or replacement but without any pictures or the original board/machine electrics I cant tell what mods have been made to this machine.
If you have any thoughts or knowledge on the subject please pipe in!
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Does anyone recognise this main board???
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
That main board looks like a proprietary job. To be honest, I'd scrap it and assume using MACH3 and a BOB to the existing stepper drivers via level shifters as previously discussed or to new drivers & Steppers. With the standard software you start the run on the PC but nothing happens till you press the green 'cycle' button on the lower left of the panel. Obviously the panel could be rewired to input into Mach3 - e-stop, jog, etc...
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
it is the standard board that comes with the machine
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Its Gone!!! ive ripped it out as i have everything that will not be utilised by Mach3, except the lights of course. What fun that was... I will be using the existing steppers, Drivers and power supply and anything else i can get away with. I was reading the SD drive manual and it looks like there is provision for each drive to control two steppers...errr.
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Quote:
Originally Posted by
irving2008
That main board looks like a proprietary job. To be honest, I'd scrap it and assume using MACH3 and a BOB to the existing stepper drivers via level shifters as previously discussed or to new drivers & Steppers....
Quote:
Originally Posted by
irving2008
Obviously the panel could be rewired to input into Mach3 - e-stop, jog, etc...
I think you were reading my mind then, because that was exactly my plan..
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Good lad, You won't regret it.
Done a load of Denfords and they were all kludges to get working on original software.
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Quote:
Originally Posted by
John S
Good lad, You won't regret it.
Done a load of Denfords and they were all kludges to get working on original software.
The thing is Mach3 is such a nice piece of software that i was always going to go that way, Joking aside though it always seems like such a shame to rip it to bits, when someone has put so much time and effort wiring it to begin with, it was so neat and tidy its made it a snip to see whats going on ... but still times move on dont they???
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1 Attachment(s)
Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Oh i forgot this little board attached to the end of the Lenze 534 speed controler: it looks like it maybe be an interface board for software speed controll via the old main board.Attachment 2500
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Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
We don't want to see the computer,Rick...we want to see the machine itself,so some more pics please of the heart of the machine.:wave:
By the way that computer belongs to Noah. :heehee:
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7 Attachment(s)
Re: The illusive Boxford 260vmc
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GeorgeD
We don't want to see the computer,Rick...we want to see the machine itself,so some more pics please of the heart of the machine.:wave:
Ok here they are then...
Attachment 2504 Attachment 2507 Attachment 2502 Attachment 2505Attachment 2506 Attachment 2503 Thats the outside done.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GeorgeD
By the way that computer belongs to Noah. :heehee:
Attachment 2501
:rolleyes: :redface: Hmmmm..