Looking for advice on a small (ish) mill

See if you can get an exploded diagram, that will tell if you have a mechanical issue or just rust.
 
See if you can get an exploded diagram, that will tell if you have a mechanical issue or just rust.
This machine has been so modified, I don't know what to look up. The cnc conversion, I learned, was done by the last company who owned this. They did all of it themselves (my buddy helped convert it, but he said he doesn't know what the spindle is)
 
Also..... Check out the table. Scotch brite, wd-40, and mineral spirits have done wonders (along with hours of elbow grease)
 

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This machine has been so modified, I don't know what to look up. The cnc conversion, I learned, was done by the last company who owned this. They did all of it themselves (my buddy helped convert it, but he said he doesn't know what the spindle is)

Well, if you have the capability to use ER tooling you could leave it be until you have a better idea of what it is and how to take it apart. I'm sure someone on here will recognize the system and speak up eventually.

John
 
Updates:
Table is looking awesome. Mostly clear steel across the whole top. There is pitting and rust in the low spots, especially where they sent a drill into the table.

I was there until 1am last night going over wires and my plan. They have line voltage coming in to a transformer, which then feeds a bridge rectifier, which then hits a big capacitor, which then feeds nice filtered DC to all 3 driver boards. It works perfect, I won't change a thing.

They have their 3 phase coming in (I don't have 3 phase) that hits 2 big contactors wired in parallel, which then feeds 3 phase to a breaker, which then feeds 3 phase to the spindle motor. I'll feed 220 to my VFD, which will feed 3 phase to my motor. So those massive contactors will go bye bye and be replaced by a smaller setup for 220 single phase.

Heres the best updates:
I purchased Mach 4 hobby, and downloaded fusion 360 and have been learning them. They're awesome. I took drafting in college for 2 years before going to motorcycle tech school so it was simple for me to pickup. Then I bought a PMDX-424 smart BOB USB control board. This will interface directly to my current driver boards and allow me to run this Bridgeport with my laptop.

IIts all coming together!! Thanks for all your help with this. I'm up to around $1,200 total in what I've spent to get this thing going, but that includes a 6" mill vise I bought, the board, Mach 4, etc... Everything.
 

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Could you use the existing 3 phase breaker to interrupt the output of the VFD? What happens if you cycle the VFD power as you describe? Does it restart where it left off?
Robert
 
Could you use the existing 3 phase breaker to interrupt the output of the VFD? What happens if you cycle the VFD power as you describe? Does it restart where it left off?
Robert
Generally no switches between a VFD and the load. It’s easy enough to manage VFD functions from the CNC control board.
 
Generally no switches between a VFD and the load. It’s easy enough to manage VFD functions from the CNC control board.

Oh right, I didn't mention: from pmdx, I also got their 407 spindle control board, which plugs into the 424 board. This will be able to control spindle speed from Mach 4 (407 board manages the vfd). My boards should be here this week, and I will be able to start wiring them up. I could possibly be running a program within a week or so!
 
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