I have a lovely Bridgeport Series 1 BOSS 6.1 Machine. The idea is to make the machine work with Mach3. So far, after many hours of searching for information on the forum and other internet sites, I think I got only a bit more confused.
Can anybody send wiring info for the XDI card, or send me in the right direction to get the info I need.
I have contacted Hillbilli to purchase one of his cards with but no reply.
One post have some reference about pins 13 and 19 for the axis drives.

If I recall all the info that I've been reading, I think that it can be done. Is this right?

Thank you in advance for your help.

I have a 6.1 also which if I recall is the UK version of the 6.
Afraid I cant give you any info on the board you mention as I stripped mine and fitted new motors and drives, personally I didnt want to be hassled with 25yr old electronics.
Think a few people on the Bridgeport section of the zone have used the hillbilly bob so might be worth searching there if you have not already.

Hood

Thanks Hood!
I would appreciate if you tell me a bit more about what you did with your machine.
If I have to go that way will be good to know the experience of somebody with the same machine. You are right about the electronics but this type of circuits are the only ones that you can repair quick and easy, if you have a problem with today's technology, g..d help you.

Thanks again for your help!

I had previously converted a manual Bridgeport to CNC but it was clapped out and I saw the BOSS for aroud £400 so I bought it. I took all the drives and motors from the manual and fitted them to the BOSS.

I use G201 drives 916 ozin steppers and just have a VFD to control the spindle motor. Have a few pics of it but they are at home and will be early hours when I get home so will have to wait until tomorrow if you want to see them.

Never use the Bridgeport now as I have a Beaver NC5 which is a bit more rigid and I have servos on it so much faster but the Bridgeport did me well for a long time and still runs fine if the need arises.

Regarding the new components not being repairable, its probably as cheap to throw away stuff now than getting it repaired, well thats if you are talkng Gecko type stepper drives. But saying that I have had the mill for at least 5 yrs and never a problem.
Hood

Hi Hood.
Why didn't you use the original motors? Will they become a problem in the future or just not posible to find drives for them?

Thanks

I believe quite a few people have used the original motors with Geckos but I already had motors on the manual conversion so used them. I believe that with age the steppers can degrade so thats another reason I went with modern ones but I never tested mine so cant say what they were like. I sold my motors and a load of the boards out of the cabinet  on UK ebay and strangely the boards were all sold to USA and Australia, a few UK guys were interested in them but didnt bid on them, must have gone too high for what they thought they were worth to them.

Hood

My impression is most BP Boss conversions are handled in one of two ways:

1) Toss all the electronics, AND the motors.  Proper drivers for the original high-voltage steppers are hard to come by and expensive.  The motors can be replaced with modern ones for much less money.  If you go this route, you also have the option of using servos instead of steppers, for little additional cost.

2) Toss all the electronics, but keep the motors.  But, performance will suffer, as the modern drivers (like Geckos) will not be able to drive them to full power, due to voltage limitations.  This will, however, give a perfectly useable, though perhaps not fast, machine.

Go to CNCZone.com, and peruse the Bridgeport Mill forum.  You'll see every possible option,with pictures, and have plenty of people to ask for advice.

Regards,
Ray L.

If I was doing it again I think I would use Servos, they are much cheaper now than they were 5yrs ago.
In fact I actually have enough spare AC servos and drives and was halfway through making a panel up with them to fit to the Bridgeport but in the end I decided there was no point as I never use it much now.
Hood

Well, very interesting so far!!!

In the past, I use to work repairing all sort of machines, I've got experience with German,danish,Belgium,french,Italian, etc.. controls, and various PlC brands. We allways had some sort of respect for traditional British electric controls, good old fashion contactors basically indestructible and the same respect for American TTL technology.
Basically, I need to spend my cash on motors and controls.
Is not my intention to make this machine work 24/7, but I can see your point.
I am new to CNC machining but the configuration if I change controls and motors doesn't look to complicated (new hardware, new wiring and scrap everything). But I still have a mechanical speed control by pulley on the spindle, so scrap that too and modify the transmition to connect a frequency converter with a NEW MOTOR!!....AAARGH!
I wish I had all that time (and Dosh) to do all this.
In the meantime if any of you could put me in the right direction to get the wiring sorted for now with an opto card.I am sure that I still got a small design for an isolating board that I used on an industrial washing machine. I have got the original wiring diagrams but the TTL boards are not included and the pin connections are not clear (my fault for being new to this).

Thank you,is nice to find people ready to help.

On the Bridgeport I got the air motor to drive the sheaves for the spindle pulleys was goosed so I just fitted a hand wheel to it and I can manually adjust the speed. I have the VFD also but as this was one of my first conversions I never hooked that into Mach and I simply control via a pot. I just use the VFD to vary the speed a bit and mainly turn the handwheel to an approx RPM then if needed vary the VFD. I am not a big fan of VFDs as I feel you loose too much torque at lower speeds, this may be different with the latest generation of them or maybe even if a VFD ready motor was fitted but I have neither and have no intention of finding out. AC servo would be the way I would go if I was to redo the Bridheport then again I have a suitable motor and drive spare and they were cheap

Ok pics of my setup are attached.
Hood