Bridgeport Manual to CNC conversion...

[Davek0974]

Nice video, that would be what i would like ideally - feedback.

So The option is now ESS at about £150 and no feedback or CSMIO/A at about £490 with all the bells and whistles.

The motors I was looking at are from the same guy as in your video, drives the same too.

The 750W suggestion comes from the CNCZone where a builder mentions doing 30+ conversions of this type and always uses 750W, 1kw was too large and 400W too small.

He uses 1:1 or 2:1 but I favour 2:1 as I want to get the most torque I can and the machine won't handle massive rapids.

Ballscrew kits seem to be 5tpi so 5.08mm pitch

Question is - is the benefit of real-time position DRO worth the extra cash?

[JAZZCNC]

Question is - is the benefit of real-time position DRO worth the extra cash?

Yes IMO but with the Cslabs controller there's more to it than just this. You also have very accurate Homing using the Index pulse of the Encoder. You can also Fit a Servo to the Spindle and control that just like an axis so can index to position or do things like ridged tapping etc.

Then you have 24V I/O etc not to mention you don't need a BOB. This Alone is BIG Plus, esp when using servo's. Don't confuse the IP-S with ESS they are completely differant animals.
While they seem expensive they are not actually that bad when you consider that it's one complete unit nothing else is required. It's also Industrial spec and high quality.
By the Time you have Bought ESS and Decent quality BOB like PMDX126, which about the only one I'd use with servo's plus Spindle speed Control board then your not long way behind the IP-S or IP-A.
They really do not compare other than both use Ethernet and provide 4Mhz after that it's all down hill for the ESS.!!

The motors I was looking at are from the same guy as in your video, drives the same too.

Think you'll find 750W will be most likely be 80 frame(like Nema34) not 110 which will probably be better for you. Drives may be smaller too.?

[Davek0974]

Ok JAZZ, i'm sold on the CSMIO/A unit, does it have PWM output or is that an add-on? Controlling the VFD would be nice.

Will be reading up on that tonight.

Rigid tapping is a bugger because you need to get an encoder on the spindle - this is a nightmare the Bridgeport manual machines. Possible later add-on though.

Yes I think those motors will be Nema34 size.

[JAZZCNC]

Ok JAZZ, i'm sold on the CSMIO/A unit, does it have PWM output or is that an add-on? Controlling the VFD would be nice.

Yes it as Analog 0-10V Output for spindle Control built into it. Also has few Analog Inputs so can use Pot to override spindle speed and feedrate if desired.

[m_c]

A couple things to remember with the CS-Lab controllers, is if you want rigid tapping, you need to add the ENC/threading module, although not really an issue if you're happy to use a tapping head or thread mill.
Also, if you want to add a MPG, you need to buy the MPG module.
I would of suggested a KFlop+Kanalog (+ a Konnect if you need more than 8 In or 16 Out) as they'll do whatever you program them to do without any additional modules, however you need to know at least a little bit about C programming to get them working.

I was advised for my big mill, that the larger motors would be a better match. I was looking at 1000W 80 frame motors, and 1050W 110 frame motors, although I think I'll have to get 1200W to get the 3000RPM now. However I do think you could probably get away with the smaller frame motors on a standard Bridgeport, as it's not that heavy a table.

[Davek0974]

fitting an encoder to a BP is going to be hard i think, not many places to access the spindle, I have tapping heads so not really a concern yet.

I'm fairly well recommended from previous converters that 750w is a good match for this job, 3:1 reduction should help too.

I really don't want to get into C programming ;)

[dodgygeeza]

Then put an AC servo on the Spindle? I have done this on my MDI.
Its 3KW and 4KRPM. Bit small but i will see how it goes.

[Davek0974]

Control options...

Not sure we need a alpha keyboard for a mill, hows about a touch-screen monitor to do away with the mouse and a small numeric USB keypad?

Or

normal monitor (cheaper/stronger) and a track-ball and numeric keypad?

Looking at controls..
X/Y joystick
Z joystick
Knee up/down buttons
Speed override knob
Feed override knob
Cycle start
Feed-hold
Stop


Spindle motor...
This is currently run from a VFD but only at 50Hz, the head is the vari-speed unit with back-gear so i have 50-3000rpm but in two ranges and manual speed control. Whats a good option here - using the VFD won't address the variable torque ability of the vari-speed unit so can't just lock it in one spot.

Any cool options here to play with?

With a bit of fiddling the vari-speed changer could probably be motorised with a stepper and gearbox, not sure it's worth it?

Mach can obviously take over the Fwd/Rev function - still using the old switch but I wired it to the VFD so I can plug-reverse for tapping;) That was before i got the tapping head.

Any cool ideas?