Bridgeport clone ball screw question

[hdskip]

From the looks of the plates on the x & y handles and the long shafts, I suspect this machine once had some kind of CNC set up. I could be wrong but I've seen several older vertical machines with similar set ups. That would explain a ball screw set up.
Gary

 

[JimDawson]

Great job!! Looks really good. Now you need to post some pics with chips all over it.

 

[tertiaryjim]

Glad ya got er back together. She's looking good and the price was rite.

 

[sharab85]

Ya I was thinking it was a CNC at one time also, the only thing that I can't explain is that there are no holes drilled anywhere that would indicate that there was a DRO or scales anywhere.

I plan on doing a lot of learning on this mill but I need to start saving up and slowly purchase tooling, I have a feeling that the cost of the machine is going to be one of the smallest investments.

Thanks everyone for all of you help.

 

[Muzzer]

It didn't need a DRO or scales to be CNC controlled. Many (most?) CNC systems don't actually measure where they are, they just command the motors to go where they are needed and expect it to happen. But you may find that there are screw holes for the limit switches to stop the X and Y axes from crashing at each end unless it was a real DIY conversion. The ballscrew looks like the real deal though and it looks as if you have square ways, not dovetails, so probably a fairly solid machine.

Yes, the tooling will cost you more than $450 but it's worth it. To me, the best investment on mine was a 3-axis DRO, followed by an Align X-axis power feed. These make it possible to do quicker, accurate tidy work that you simply couldn't do manually. Then perhaps you could look at (re)conversion to CNC!!!

Good luck!

 

[hdskip]

Here are three images that show CNC retrofits. I'm not sure if they are commercial or DIY. I know early Prototrax looked similar to these.
Gary