Bridgeport Series 2 Interact II Retrofit

Post your completed retrofits for the world to see.

Moderator: cnckeith

Jay
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 2:30 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: No
Allin1DC CNC Controller: Yes
Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: A900438
DC3IOB: No
CNC12: Yes
CNC11: Yes
CPU10 or CPU7: No
Location: Regina, Sask

Bridgeport Series 2 Interact II Retrofit

Post by Jay »

Well it's time I figured I should start documenting the conversion. I picked up the mill about 4 years ago, thought to have a go with LinuxCNC, but decided somewhere along the way I wanted something a little more turn-key - so after searching around landed on the AjaxCNC/Centroid approach. I picked up an ALLIN1DC and accessories and promptly put everything in a box for a couple of years. This year I cleared my calendar of all other projects to focus on the mill.

The mill is a Bridgeport Series 2 Interact II w/Heidenhan TNC151 Control I picked up out of the Springbank Airport, near Calgary. The control worked, but when using the MPG for X+, movement was choppy.

I brought it home into my garage, had to pull the head to get it into the garage, and started stripping it down - mainly to clean it up and replace way metering valves, etc. generally to restore it somewhat.
2015-02-16 20.15.25.jpg
..and the head in a box
2015-02-16 20.15.38.jpg
Down to the column and knee - grungy!
2015-02-28 16.04.41.jpg
The knee coming off
2015-03-07 13.18.16.jpg
Last edited by Jay on Sun Sep 10, 2017 2:13 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Okotoks, Alberta
Jay
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 2:30 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: No
Allin1DC CNC Controller: Yes
Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: A900438
DC3IOB: No
CNC12: Yes
CNC11: Yes
CPU10 or CPU7: No
Location: Regina, Sask

Re: Bridgeport Series 2 Interact II Retrofit

Post by Jay »

I wanted to keep the patina where it I could so rather than repaining everything I cleaned it up with solvent and a 3M scrubby, then used automotive cut-wax to bring the shine back out.
2015-03-14 20.50.59.jpg
Parts everywhere!
2015-03-18 19.36.31.jpg
Cleaned up the way covers, getting them ready for fresh wipers
2015-03-25 21.08.13.jpg
The motor is tricky - I wanted to go up to a 5 HP from the factory 3HP, but couldn't find one in this short configuration - so decided to stick it out with the stock motor
2014-05-06 08.23.51.jpg
Okotoks, Alberta
Jay
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 2:30 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: No
Allin1DC CNC Controller: Yes
Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: A900438
DC3IOB: No
CNC12: Yes
CNC11: Yes
CPU10 or CPU7: No
Location: Regina, Sask

Re: Bridgeport Series 2 Interact II Retrofit

Post by Jay »

Oops! broke a pulley that I needed - ended up having to order a new one from ebay
2015-01-02 08.51.54.jpg
Okotoks, Alberta
Jay
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 2:30 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: No
Allin1DC CNC Controller: Yes
Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: A900438
DC3IOB: No
CNC12: Yes
CNC11: Yes
CPU10 or CPU7: No
Location: Regina, Sask

Re: Bridgeport Series 2 Interact II Retrofit

Post by Jay »

Lots of scrubbing! - reminds me of my days as an apprentice building aircraft engines - starting out in the gunk tank room
2017-03-28 15.55.57.jpg
But now starting to come back together - new Bijur metering valves out, lube tubing, etc. to bring it up.
2017-03-28 18.21.32.jpg
After cleaning up the head - switched out the vari-drive for a couple of 2-belt pulleys, and carefully slotted the motor mount for belt adjustment
2017-04-15 10.18.55.jpg
The head, empty electrical cabinet, and lube cabinet back on
2017-04-15 18.30.02.jpg
Okotoks, Alberta
Jay
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 2:30 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: No
Allin1DC CNC Controller: Yes
Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: A900438
DC3IOB: No
CNC12: Yes
CNC11: Yes
CPU10 or CPU7: No
Location: Regina, Sask

Re: Bridgeport Series 2 Interact II Retrofit

Post by Jay »

I cleaned up the QC30 Spindle Nut - but had a heck of a time trying to figure out which way the little pin goes back - so had to try different variations until it felt right - ie. easy to tighten but resistance to come undone - BTW if someone actually knows a little advice here would be great!
2017-04-29 11.52.20.jpg
2017-04-29 11.53.01.jpg
2017-04-29 11.53.38.jpg
2017-04-29 11.53.56.jpg
Okotoks, Alberta
Jay
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 2:30 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: No
Allin1DC CNC Controller: Yes
Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: A900438
DC3IOB: No
CNC12: Yes
CNC11: Yes
CPU10 or CPU7: No
Location: Regina, Sask

Re: Bridgeport Series 2 Interact II Retrofit

Post by Jay »

I wanted to stay with the original design and much as practical so kept the head controls relevant to manual milling/drilling - I setup a e-Stop, Spindle Start, Spindle Stop, Brake Auto/On, and a Spindle speed controls all in the original holes and was able to keep the original face plate wording. Also the joysticks are wired up as factory. I ended up needing to purchase a PLCADD1616 board to accommodate all the I/O from the joysticks and rapid buttons
2017-06-07 18.32.34.jpg
Finally at a point where I can bench test the ALLIN1DC board. I picked up a miniATX motherboard and i5 CPU and case - but later I swapped out the case in the picture as it's too big - I'm putting the computer into a Console I'm making
2017-06-08 13.19.50.jpg
Now starting on the backplane
2017-06-09 19.51.33-1.jpg
The mill with nitrile apron, some of the electronic parts laid out. BTW I could not find a factory roller for the apron so I ended up going to Princess Auto, buying two cheap rollers, deconstructing them and welding them together.
2017-06-09 19.51.38.jpg
Okotoks, Alberta
Jay
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 2:30 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: No
Allin1DC CNC Controller: Yes
Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: A900438
DC3IOB: No
CNC12: Yes
CNC11: Yes
CPU10 or CPU7: No
Location: Regina, Sask

Re: Bridgeport Series 2 Interact II Retrofit

Post by Jay »

The backplane with the parts wired up on it. I may have went overboard on the power conditioning accessories for the VFD - oh well - shouldn't hurt.
2017-06-24 17.57.37.jpg
Also had to rebuild the lube pump - the little magnets on the float were in wrong so the lube alarm wasn't triggering correctly.
2017-07-17 17.29.31.jpg
Now time for the servos and encoders - to make sure they still worked!
2017-07-17 17.42.01-1.jpg
One of the servo's had some electrical leakage between the case and a brush - so despite all the FUD around taking a servo apart I decided it's already gone unless I can fix the leakage. I carefully took that back half off without removing the armature out of the main body, cleaned it up and put it back together (now crossing my fingers the servo still works). The screw-in brush caps were brittle and breaking all over the place. I searched and found some for something like $140 for 4 caps (!@#$!) - so I ended up making some out of delrin rod.
2017-07-17 19.58.43.jpg
Last edited by Jay on Sun Sep 10, 2017 4:00 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Okotoks, Alberta
Jay
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 2:30 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: No
Allin1DC CNC Controller: Yes
Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: A900438
DC3IOB: No
CNC12: Yes
CNC11: Yes
CPU10 or CPU7: No
Location: Regina, Sask

Re: Bridgeport Series 2 Interact II Retrofit

Post by Jay »

Now onto the X/Y Joystick and one of two MPG connectors. I want to place my MPG either here or on the side of the console, so I wired in two connectors depending on if I'm more manual cutting or automated cutting - per the design philosophy of this machine.
2017-07-21 16.39.00.jpg
I don't have a lathe so had to jury rig building spacers for the 1/2" encoder to fit the 6mm servo shaft with my cheapo drill press. But before I did this I bought a good quality chuck to hold the brass shaft true. I ended up being within .0005 on center.
2017-07-22 13.51.12.jpg
The Electrical cabinet in place before I start wiring up the outside components
2017-07-23 07.31.07.jpg
Last edited by Jay on Sun Sep 10, 2017 3:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Okotoks, Alberta
Jay
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 2:30 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: No
Allin1DC CNC Controller: Yes
Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: A900438
DC3IOB: No
CNC12: Yes
CNC11: Yes
CPU10 or CPU7: No
Location: Regina, Sask

Re: Bridgeport Series 2 Interact II Retrofit

Post by Jay »

Now onto the Console - this I simply designed up in Solidworks - and started fabricating. Don't look at it too closely as all I had was a jig saw, welding grinder, and square to build it up.
2017-09-01 17.04.43.jpg
An early fitting of the console - also notice the Z-Servo - the encoder is in a ziploc bag taped on. My first project is to cut encoder caps!!
2017-09-01 17.30.29-1.jpg
A little further built out
2017-09-04 19.20.44-1.jpg
As of last night ...Into the paint booth
2017-09-10 13.36.35.jpg
Okotoks, Alberta
Jay
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 2:30 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: No
Allin1DC CNC Controller: Yes
Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: A900438
DC3IOB: No
CNC12: Yes
CNC11: Yes
CPU10 or CPU7: No
Location: Regina, Sask

Re: Bridgeport Series 2 Interact II Retrofit

Post by Jay »

Here's the latest schematic for anyone who's interested. This is a work in progress, but nearing the end of any revisions.

Jay
TKG_Bridgeport_S2I2.Rev-H.pdf
(13.77 MiB) Downloaded 274 times
Okotoks, Alberta
Post Reply