bridgeport

[Jonathan]

new toy!. another freebie.. albeit moving it involved beer tokens for literally all the blokes I know.

How many free machines is that now!

Id like to convert it to CNC ??? thoughts?

I'd advise 'getting to know it' as a manual machine first. Assuming it's in a working mode - X screw looks like it might be missing? That way when you convert it to CNC you'll have a much better idea of what settings (feedrates etc) to use and will likely break less as a result.

The tricky one is converting the knee (Z) to CNC. I spy a rotating nut...

Likewise if anybody can offer any advise, on how Im going to get it working... (its three phase).. although I hear the "pancake motor" can be run off a vfd...

Find the nameplate on the motor and see what the ratings are - i.e. voltage and power. Or just post a picture of the nameplate here.

[kingcreaky]

X leadscrew is present. just not fitted. I removed it for transportation

[komatias]

Don't have a thread but can help. I converted my KRV 2000 to CNC not to long ago. I reused as much of the leadscrew mounting bits as I could and it went quickly.

You have an older bridgeport model that does not have central oiling and that is one thing I would consider essential for the health of the ballscrews at least.

My first suggestion is think of a budget of at least £1500-2000 for the conversion if you want a professional quality machine.

The donut motors should run fine on the inverter (VFD) if you get one that is rated to the HP of the motor.

[Clive S]

I think I have read that some people motor the quill and leave the knee. I can see that this will become an interesting thread.