Newbie and the Bridgeport

[Ceej0103]

Day 17...

Got the head completely torn down to include the quill housing. So the clutch housing that I was having a problem with just needed a little more encouragement. I used a pry bar and just pulled on it between the housing the the lever that goes towards the front of the machine. Came out pretty easily with some pry bar encouragement.

From there I went back to the front of the machine to make a run at that bushing that has the slot head screw, spring and ball in it. Come to find out, the ball was jammed so firmly down in to the ball's recess in the shaft that it would't come out. So basically when trying to pull that bushing off, it was being retained by the ball sticking half way out of the hole. I tried to free it with some picks, some light taps to rattle it loose, but it wasn't coming. So, instead of stopping in my tracks and trying to find an easy solution I felt probably didnt exist, I just went ahead with cutting the bushing with a pneumatic cutoff wheel. Sucks, it was a perfectly good part, but I wasn't going to be able to dismantle further without getting it out of the way. Once I had it compromised to the point that it had some give, I pried it over the ball bearing stuck in the hole.

Now on to the shaft with the stuck ball bearing in it. The ball wasn't coming free no matter what I did. So I ended up using that same pneumatic cutoff wheel and scoring the edge of the hole just deep enough to get a pick under the ball and pop it out. It worked. I looked up the cost of that shaft with worm gear assembly at the end that drives the clutch and it's like $200. So I'm going to use a little JB weld to fill in that recess and then sand it smooth. Should work fine again.

After those two items were tackled, I just moved around the head without issue. The entire head is sitting on the bench now and I have the pulley's soaking in evaporust. I did find out where that random key came from that was sitting near the motor. The stationary side of the disk attached to the motor shaft was missing the key, but still had the set screw. Either it worked itself out, or someone didn't tighten the set screw.

I also decided to tackle the power feed today as well to see if I could figure out why it wasnt working. I'll attach a video instead of writing that up.

I'm placing another order to H&W for the parts I need for the head. Assuming they ship as quickly as last time, I think I should have every part I need to have this machine 100% back together by middle of next week.

 

[hwelecrepair]

I am watching this and wanting to type stuff that I am assuming you already figured out, but I will type it anyways. The switch on the right is the on/off switch, but the button on the left hand side opposite it is the circuit breaker. Gotta make sure that is pushed in and is allowing power to the on off switch. The spring you are talking about as you get the 4 covers screws off is on the fork assembly and pushes the gears apart when in neutral. Ok, I too am curious where the plastic came from, but that monstrous fuse is NOT normal... FYI. Wait wait... you dont like to see exposed wiring in electronics? lol Ya, that is not normal. That fuse (if you want to get it back to original and properly working) has gots to go now. Again, I am trying to type as I watch the video. I have to agree with your inner monologue, it probably isnt the safest trying just to touch those two together...

That fuse should not be there. There is a circuit breaker that needs to be in the spot behind that orange bubble lookin thing. That way when it trips, you arent gutting it and tearing it apart just to replace the fuse. I will look and see if I have that circuit breaker in stock... we don't typically stock Align parts, but I do have some parts here in my work area. If I do, we can pop it into the next order.

Can you check your brushes and tell me how long the carbon is?

Jon

 

[Ceej0103]

I am watching this and wanting to type stuff that I am assuming you already figured out, but I will type it anyways. The switch on the right is the on/off switch, but the button on the left hand side opposite it is the circuit breaker. Gotta make sure that is pushed in and is allowing power to the on off switch. The spring you are talking about as you get the 4 covers screws off is on the fork assembly and pushes the gears apart when in neutral. Ok, I too am curious where the plastic came from, but that monstrous fuse is NOT normal... FYI. Wait wait... you dont like to see exposed wiring in electronics? lol Ya, that is not normal. That fuse (if you want to get it back to original and properly working) has gots to go now. Again, I am trying to type as I watch the video. I have to agree with your inner monologue, it probably isnt the safest trying just to touch those two together...

That fuse should not be there. There is a circuit breaker that needs to be in the spot behind that orange bubble lookin thing. That way when it trips, you arent gutting it and tearing it apart just to replace the fuse. I will look and see if I have that circuit breaker in stock... we don't typically stock Align parts, but I do have some parts here in my work area. If I do, we can pop it into the next order.

Can you check your brushes and tell me how long the carbon is?

Jon

I’ll check this morning real quick. Not sure if you work near Debbi, but I placed an order yesterday and she sent the link to the tracking number this morning. Maybe tell her to hold that package a second so you have time to see if you have anything.

 

[hwelecrepair]

if you placed it yesterday, prior to about 3EST, then it shipped yesterday.

Jon

 

[Ceej0103]

I am watching this and wanting to type stuff that I am assuming you already figured out, but I will type it anyways. The switch on the right is the on/off switch, but the button on the left hand side opposite it is the circuit breaker. Gotta make sure that is pushed in and is allowing power to the on off switch. The spring you are talking about as you get the 4 covers screws off is on the fork assembly and pushes the gears apart when in neutral. Ok, I too am curious where the plastic came from, but that monstrous fuse is NOT normal... FYI. Wait wait... you dont like to see exposed wiring in electronics? lol Ya, that is not normal. That fuse (if you want to get it back to original and properly working) has gots to go now. Again, I am trying to type as I watch the video. I have to agree with your inner monologue, it probably isnt the safest trying just to touch those two together...

That fuse should not be there. There is a circuit breaker that needs to be in the spot behind that orange bubble lookin thing. That way when it trips, you arent gutting it and tearing it apart just to replace the fuse. I will look and see if I have that circuit breaker in stock... we don't typically stock Align parts, but I do have some parts here in my work area. If I do, we can pop it into the next order.

Can you check your brushes and tell me how long the carbon is?

Jon

@hwelecrepair brushes are .620” or about 20/32”. The breaker seems inoperable. It doesn’t move. Maybe that’s why they installed the fuse. Here’s some close up pics.

 

[hwelecrepair]

Brushes look good. I am still going through some old Anilam and EZ Trak cabinets I tore into yesterday, I will look for the breaker when that is done and let you know if I have it.

Jon

 

[Ceej0103]

Brushes look good. I am still going through some old Anilam and EZ Trak cabinets I tore into yesterday, I will look for the breaker when that is done and let you know if I have it.

Jon

Thanks again for the phone chat this morning! BTW, I'm not going to do anything with this Accu-Rite DRO....happy to send you the parts if you can use them. Pro-bono of course as repayment for all your assistance.

 

[diamond]

Catching up with your progress, you're going fast! I spent an entire winter rebuilding my machine.

A bit earlier there was some posts about using a VFD. I have a 1.5hp vari-speed but I chose to use a VFD as well. I have a similar VFD setup on my lathe as well with a lot of help from Mark Jacobs (on this site) mods and I learned a lot doing that conversion. It was pretty easy to go off the experience I had with the lathe to set up another Hitatchi VFD for the mill. No where near as complex as the lathe. Rotary converters are an option but I'm liking having the VFD. To be honest I rarely use the VFD for speed control on the mill but I have it set up to do it if I want to. The VFD gives me some nice programming options motor startup/braking curves etc. You can pick up a Hitatchi WJ200-15SF for about $275. I spent more on other components that aren't entirely necessary. A minimal setup would just need a couple momentary contact switches and some shielded wire.

I put the controls in a small aluminum enclosure and mounted it where the original BP power switch goes. I'll take some pictures later today and post them here for you.

 

[diamond]

Here's a couple pics. If you're interested in more details on how I set this up let me know. You could do this without the speed pot or the emergency stop. The minimum is just need 2 momentary push switches for start/stop and the 3 pos fwd/off/rev switch. I've gotten reasonably competent at programming the Hitatchi VFD so would not mind passing along what I know.

In the electronics enclosure I have breakers providing both the 220v for the VFD and 110v (for the power feed, DRO etc.). I've also got a 12v supply in there for cooling fan, panel lights and eventually power a tach display.

 

[Ceej0103]

Here's a couple pics. If you're interested in more details on how I set this up let me know. You could do this without the speed pot or the emergency stop. The minimum is just need 2 momentary push switches for start/stop and the 3 pos fwd/off/rev switch. I've gotten reasonably competent at programming the Hitatchi VFD so would not mind passing along what I know.

In the electronics enclosure I have breakers providing both the 220v for the VFD and 110v (for the power feed, DRO etc.). I've also got a 12v supply in there for cooling fan, panel lights and eventually power a tach display.

View attachment 321313View attachment 321312

Very clean setup! and yes I'm interested. I forgot that the new lathe is single phase, so a rotary inverter just seems like overkill for one piece of equipment. You have a power draw bar also? Is that the pneumatic wrench one I've seen some people make?

If you have a parts list handy for your setup, I would happily accept it and start putting the components on order. What's the difference between an emergency stop and the other stop button located right next to it? Just easier to jam that big red E-button if something goes horrible wrong?

I ended up getting my lathe operating with the original wiring. Everything seems to work fine except the contactor for one of the motor directions. I throw the lever down and the motor turns on and starts turning the chuck. When I throw the lever up and it hits the notch where it seats, nothing. If I push the lever up even higher until it almost touches the lead screw, it activates the contactor that engages when the lever is throw down essentially spinning the chuck in the same direction. The motor is a single phase so I need to find another options than a VFD. I may just find a good electrical engineer to look at it and tell me what parts I need to order. I don't feel like trying to educate myself on all those parts.