Boxford 240 conversion help?

Hi, I am new to the forum and to cnc machining! My name is Matt and I have a Boxford 240 cnc Lathe. I bought it as an unfinished project, it has been converted to mach3 but I think there is room for improvement.

Before buying the lathe a friend promised to help me finish it as I have zero electrical knowledge. He has since let me down so I now feel a bit stuck.

I looked on the cnc doctors website,it looked spot on but cant get any response from him.

Can anyone point me in the right direction or help me at all?

It wont successfully thread cut and the original motor only runs one way and doesn't have a lot of torque. Can these motors be upgraded? Is the torque the reason for poor thread cutting?

Regards,

Matt.

Hi Matt,

Read your post re Boxford 240 tcl lathe, it looks as though your ahead of me, mine being a non-runner at present.

I am in the middle of a full conversion of a 240 tcl as follows. Changing all electrics including front panel have drawn up a new one have yet to make it fitted with many function buttons using the Mach3 OEM codes.

My biggest worry is getting the 8 station tool changer working having difficulty getting a macro and instructions how to set that up.

My conversion is :- spindle is 1.5kw 3 phase motor controlled by inverter, Forward-reverse-stop-start-jog and variable speed. I am not going for Mach3 software control at present to be done later when i have the 240 running.

Spindle control for screw cutting by index pulse card. I have changed the transformer, stepper drivers, fitting a spindle rev counter to the front panel.

I am about half way through building the circuit board and wiring up ready to fit back in the machine.

Can i ask if you have any information on setting up the tool changer i would be grateful.

I have converted a Boxford 190 mill with the aid of my husband, which is great.

Best wishes,

Cheryl

Edited By John Stevenson on 26/04/2015 01:33:47