Boxford 260 VMC rebuild

[mike-f]

Hello All,

This is a bit of an introduction and hopefully some of the information and pictures may help others faced with a Boxford CNC mill rebuild or update. First an introduction, I am a UK based design engineer based in the UK, I have owed a couple of other Boxford cnc's including a 250 CNC lathe and a a 190 VMC mill. At the time of purchasing the 260 I was using the 190 which is partially converted to Mach3 (manual spindle control). As a matter of course I have an permanent eBay search for any Boxford cnc parts or machines in the hope of picking up cheap tool holders, I was especially looking for an original machine vice. So it was found a 260VMC in very poor condition but complete with a vice and four tool holders. With biding very low it seemed a bargain for £225!

Of course collecting it was a challenge as it would only just fit in my car!











If you are considering purchasing one of these mills be warned they are pretty heavy at around 200 - 250Kg, I was lucky in that the machine was located on a farm and the seller had a forklift to get it into the boot of my car. even then it was pretty hard to get it in. Even harder to get it out at the other end.

My original plan was to strip it for parts like the vice and tool holders and sell the rest. But under the rust and muck it looked like it might make a nice machine.
First the bad bits:-
Rust everywhere, the cabinet was peelings and rusty so was everything else.
Electronics, 1980s drives and spindle. Spindle drive and electronics had obviously blown up at some point!
Other bits I did not know about until striped, Like spindle bearings shot, and very wonky Easy change chuck!

Good bits
Larger table and travel than my 190vmc
Larger ball screws 12mm vs 8mm in the 190
It has a happy ending!

The plan was to spend a few months striping and cleaning, followed by installing updated controls and spindle drive. As it happened it took a year and I ended up doing far more work than I planned!

More to follow.