Bridgeport Series I CNC, how to run it.
 

I finally brought that Series I CNC Bridgeport to my warehouse.

It does power up.

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/Bridgeport-Series-1/

It does not complain of anything, however, I was pressing various
buttons and I could not get it to do anything, such as move in X, Y,
and Z.

I did take it out of E-Stop.

I am wondering if anyone has a manual for it, or a simple instruction
like "press this and then press that button" to just get it to move
and move the spindle.

Thanks

i

Bridgeport Series I CNC, how to run it.
 

Ignoramus28574 wrote:

I finally brought that Series I CNC Bridgeport to my warehouse.

It does power up.

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/Bridgeport-Series-1/

It does not complain of anything, however, I was pressing various
buttons and I could not get it to do anything, such as move in X, Y,
and Z.

I did take it out of E-Stop.

I am wondering if anyone has a manual for it, or a simple instruction
like "press this and then press that button" to just get it to move
and move the spindle.

You may need to have air, and the lube pump switch needs to sense
there is oil in the tank. Is this a BOSS? It may have blown or
dirty fuse contacts in the motor drives.

Jon

Bridgeport Series I CNC, how to run it.
 

Jon Elson fired this volley in
:

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/Bridgeport-Series-1/

Man, Ig... is there really a market for stuff in that tuff of shape?
Was it really, really, really cheap (like scrap weight value)?

LLoyd

Bridgeport Series I CNC, how to run it.
 

Jon Elson fired this volley in
:

You may need to have air, and the lube pump switch needs to sense
there is oil in the tank.

The only BP's with lube switches I'm aware of only suppressed spindle drive
(which enabled program-controlled motions), but did not suppress jogs.

Lloyd

Bridgeport Series I CNC, how to run it.
 

"Ignoramus28574" wrote in message ...
I finally brought that Series I CNC Bridgeport to my warehouse.

It does power up.

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/Bridgeport-Series-1/

It does not complain of anything, however, I was pressing various
buttons and I could not get it to do anything, such as move in X, Y,
and Z.

I did take it out of E-Stop.

I am wondering if anyone has a manual for it, or a simple instruction
like "press this and then press that button" to just get it to move
and move the spindle.

Thanks



I haven't run one of those in about 35 years but if I recally correctly, it needs to be put into "setup" mode in order for the jog buttons to be active.

http://www.lowryindustries.com/BridgeportManuals.htm

Bridgeport Series I CNC, how to run it.
 

On 2012-06-27, Lloyd E. Sponenburgh lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:
Jon Elson fired this volley in
:

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/Bridgeport-Series-1/

Man, Ig... is there really a market for stuff in that tuff of shape?
Was it really, really, really cheap (like scrap weight value)?

I paid not too much for it. One Chicago guy I know recently sold the
same machine for $1,999. If I can figure this machine out a little
bit, I can probably get that much, especially if I can explain the
buyer how to convert it to PC based controls.

Someone emailed me some instructions on getting it going in manual
mode, I will try them tomorrow.

As far as "tuff shape" goes, I think that this machine, as of now, has
two known problems:

1) It is very dirty
2) It has a very obsolete control.

I will see if it has other problems. I think that it has a potential
to be a fun toy for someone, and to be retrofitted to EMC2 or Mach3
for under $1k cost.

i

Bridgeport Series I CNC, how to run it.
 

On 2012-06-27, Lloyd E. Sponenburgh lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:
Jon Elson fired this volley in
:

You may need to have air, and the lube pump switch needs to sense
there is oil in the tank.

The only BP's with lube switches I'm aware of only suppressed spindle drive
(which enabled program-controlled motions), but did not suppress jogs.

The way mine was wired, and I kept it this way, the lube level switch
is wired in series with E-Stop. Low oil means nothing is done.

i

Bridgeport Series I CNC, how to run it.
 

Ignoramus28574 fired this volley in
:

Someone emailed me some instructions on getting it going in manual
mode, I will try them tomorrow.

The Lowrey site has a "student manual" specific to that model, and it has
operation instructions.

LLoyd

Bridgeport Series I CNC, how to run it.
 

Ignoramus28574 fired this volley in
:

The way mine was wired, and I kept it this way, the lube level switch
is wired in series with E-Stop. Low oil means nothing is done.

If that's the case, then check to make sure there's more than 1/3 tankful
of way lube. My switch gets "jitzy" near 1/3, and shows empty when it's
not.

LLoyd

Bridgeport Series I CNC, how to run it.
 

On 2012-06-28, PrecisionmachinisT wrote:

"Ignoramus28574" wrote in message ...
I finally brought that Series I CNC Bridgeport to my warehouse.

It does power up.

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/Bridgeport-Series-1/

It does not complain of anything, however, I was pressing various
buttons and I could not get it to do anything, such as move in X, Y,
and Z.

I did take it out of E-Stop.

I am wondering if anyone has a manual for it, or a simple instruction
like "press this and then press that button" to just get it to move
and move the spindle.

Thanks



I haven't run one of those in about 35 years but if I recally correctly, it needs to be put into "setup" mode in order for the jog buttons to be active.

http://www.lowryindustries.com/BridgeportManuals.htm



Wow, awesome page!

Bridgeport Series I CNC, how to run it.
 

On 2012-06-27, Ignoramus28574 wrote:
I finally brought that Series I CNC Bridgeport to my warehouse.

It does power up.

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/Bridgeport-Series-1/

O.K. That is the stepper motor powered version - with an LSI-11
as a CPU.

The view in the back shows the big three phase transformer, and
below it three saturable reactors (Mag-Amps) which control the voltage
to the stepper motors. A lower voltage (something like 50 V IIRC) when
holding position or stepping slowly, and bumped up to 80 V when stepping
fast. I'm not sure what the black things are above the three phase
transformer. This is a somewhat newer one than mine. (I'm currently
most of the way through fabricating a diagonal motor mount for a Y-axis
servo, which is too long to fit where the stepper did -- nesting in a
cavity cast in the knee. :-)

It does not complain of anything, however, I was pressing various
buttons and I could not get it to do anything, such as move in X, Y,
and Z.

I did take it out of E-Stop.

I am wondering if anyone has a manual for it, or a simple instruction
like "press this and then press that button" to just get it to move
and move the spindle.

First -- are all three axes off the limit switches? (The Z axis
has three switches in a housing where the depth stop rod lived on a
manual lathe of the same period -- top and bottom limit, and a "home"
switch, while the X and Y axes have a single switch (lever-operated
Microswitch which switches when the lever/roller is pressed in either
direction).

Now -- going to the photo of the control module

Go to the block called "AXIS MOTION", and select a step size
with the upper left switch, an axis with the switch to the right of it,
then turn the "MOVE" switch to whether you want it to go + or -, and
finally press in the "MOVE" switch (yes, it is a pushbutton as well as a
direction selection switch).

There is something else which you have to do as well. This is a
newer one than mine, so I'm not sure. On mine, I had to open the door
on the top of the computer chassis (may have a punched tape reader in
there, or may have a blanking panel), and on mine there were switches on
a 1U rack panel, one of which was a CPU reset switch. That had to be
hit before anything else would work. That may be the
START/(RESTART/CONTINUE) switch in the FUNCTION block on this one. This
also is a rotary switch to select a mode, and a pushbutton to do what
you've selected. And I think that the "MODE" switch needs to be in the
"SETUP" mode (green, to match the background color on the motion control
switches.

Not sure whether the EDIT/RDI switch needs to be set and pushed
or not on this one.

At least here are some things to try.

Mine had severe electronics Altzheimer's -- within 30 seconds
after a reset, it would lock up again -- unless it was too hot in the
shop to work without drowning everything in sweat. This was about
fifteen years ago, and I started pulling the stepper motors and
replacing them with servo motors back then -- and got hung up on the
Y-axis motor mount -- until I finally got the ability to weld. I am now
working my way towards making it usable again.

Be sure to cycle the DeJur lubricator on the left side before
you try moving axes. That is the thing at the bottom of:

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/Bridgeport-Series-1/Bridgeport-Series-1-0008.jpg.html

Normally, you pull up on the mushroom on the left top -- but it sort of
looks like it is stuck up right now. Make sure that the reservoir is
full of Vactra No. 2. There is a level switch in the reservoir which
may keep things from working if there is not enough oil in it.

Yours has the pneumatics for the air motors to change the speed
and to operate the spindle brake while you are changing tools. Mine
never had those

Good Luck,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---