Is this Boxford 160TCL salvageable?

[conor1n]

Hello everybody,

I have been in discussion with a local machinist back here in Ireland, who has had a Boxford 160TCL for a few years now (No idea how long...)

He has offered it to me at the token price he paid for it, which is "a couple of hundred euro" ..

From the initial research, I have seen that it would need to be converted over to modern electronics to support something like Mach3 / LinuxCNC etc. This is interesting to me, and i'm confident that I could successfully achieve this. I would enjoy this and also refurbing the unit, such as respraying the case etc ..

What concerns me is the following:

1. He said he turned it on a few years ago and all it did was "hummm", he couldn't get it to do anything and turned it off again.
2. I don't know how long ago (1) was done, but it has been out in a shed with all his other gear all the time, and has since developed a bit of rust here and there... most specifically on the ways.. which concerns me. I am sure at this point that if the rust was cleaned off with a chemical there would probably be minor putting.. very minor as it's only rust from the damp air (I guess).

For me this would be the ideal project and it's something I could likely bring back to London with me and work on in my bedroom (my main garage/workshop is back in Ireland) .. That said, I only want to embark on it if it makes sense..

From an economic perspective:
1. There is a 160TCL listed on eBay for about £2000 - although paper never refused ink.
2. I have seen mentioned in various places that a company will convert the unit to Mach3 for £500 - so let's conservatively assume it's £400 for parts and £100 labour.
3. I'd probably need to buy a small PC / mouse / Keyboard to complement it. £200-300.
3. Bought for a couple hundred quid and another few hundred quid on parts etc, could still make me quids in if I wanted to get rid of it.

That is provided the spindle and two steppers still work, along with the ways not being in unusable condition. I think I just saw the ways online for about £250..

..Then again, if I could pull this off and get it up and running, it would be a great intro into machining with the ability to make a small batch of repeatable items if it ever came to it.

I feel like I could even part any money for it, I would need to diagnose if the steppers and spindle motor work and that there has been no precision loss on the ways. I wonder would he let me strip the ways out and put it in my ultrasonic cleaner with a bit of vinegar. I might offer to that for him anyway and then he can spray it with oil.

Oh and because you read this far.. here is one of the other tools the guy has, it's a "slotting machine" I think.. he showed me the plaque and look:

I've never seen something like this before, especially the annual depreciation..

This guys workshop was pretty cool.. he is 78 and still working away there, he has a large plasma there and he showed me a fresh batch of 6 or so attachments for rock breakers with the two pins/bars where you would attach to the arb of a digger or whatever. He really is an inspiration to _to me anyway_

I got to know him from a few months ago, when he tig welded the oil feed on the oil cooler for my Range Rover.

 

[fizzy]

Nice little machine. Rust usually cleans off ok. And anything is fixable with the time and effort!
Small machines are easier and cheaper as the parts costs so much less. Cheap Chinese ballscrews, motors and motion controllers are easily available.
I would give it a go if cheap enough.
Be nice to see some more photos of the slotter.

 

[m_c]

Hello everybody,

I have been in discussion with a local machinist back here in Ireland, who has had a Boxford 160TCL for a few years now (No idea how long...)

He has offered it to me at the token price he paid for it, which is "a couple of hundred euro" ..

From the initial research, I have seen that it would need to be converted over to modern electronics to support something like Mach3 / LinuxCNC etc. This is interesting to me, and i'm confident that I could successfully achieve this. I would enjoy this and also refurbing the unit, such as respraying the case etc ..

What concerns me is the following:

1. He said he turned it on a few years ago and all it did was "hummm", he couldn't get it to do anything and turned it off again.
2. I don't know how long ago (1) was done, but it has been out in a shed with all his other gear all the time, and has since developed a bit of rust here and there... most specifically on the ways.. which concerns me. I am sure at this point that if the rust was cleaned off with a chemical there would probably be minor putting.. very minor as it's only rust from the damp air (I guess).

For me this would be the ideal project and it's something I could likely bring back to London with me and work on in my bedroom (my main garage/workshop is back in Ireland) .. That said, I only want to embark on it if it makes sense..

1) Could be one of many things. It wouldn't put me off if the price is right.
2) Will most likely clean off without much effort. Try some WD40 (or any other release oil of your choice) and a rag. You'd be surprised how a bit soak with WD40 and a rub with a rag will shift surface rust and dirt. You may however have to consider a full strip and clean though.

From an economic perspective:
1. There is a 160TCL listed on eBay for about £2000 - although paper never refused ink.
2. I have seen mentioned in various places that a company will convert the unit to Mach3 for £500 - so let's conservatively assume it's £400 for parts and £100 labour.
3. I'd probably need to buy a small PC / mouse / Keyboard to complement it. £200-300.
3. Bought for a couple hundred quid and another few hundred quid on parts etc, could still make me quids in if I wanted to get rid of it.

1) Haha. Only worth £2000 to somebody with more money than sense.
2) More like a couple hundred for parts, if that. If the lathe was working, you'd only be looking at a suitable breakout board, 3 stepper drivers, and possibly a couple PSUs.
3) Could be done with a far cheaper second hand PC.


Personally for a lathe, I'd only suggest Mach if you wanted the turn macros so you can create code and run it in the one place, but I'd strongly advise using an external motion controller. However you have to be aware not all external motion controllers support turn (lathes).
If it was me, I'd be considering a standalone controller, but it mostly depends on what kind of work you'd like to do. Standalone controllers are fine if you don't plan on doing much programming at the machine, but if you plan on lots of one off jobs with changes on the machine, I'd probably be swayed to something PC based.

What PC based software, I couldn't say at this moment.
For an upcoming project, I'm seriously considering Mach 4, but that's only because I still have an unused license for it.
I did spend a good bit time with LinuxCNC at the start of the year, and although I did get it kind of working (I was playing with some EtherCAT drives), there were just too many issues for it a to be a serious option (I came to the conclusion that LinuxCNC isn't a 'complete' product. It's an unfinished nerd project with everybody doing their own thing, so there are lots of incomplete options, and some major issues if you want to run it on modern hardware).
I think UCCNC (CNC Drive) now supports turn, which would give the option of one of their UC controllers, but you'd have to check it supports turn/threading.

 

[indy4x]

I have one, and it sounds in a similar condition to what you have been offered

It has surface rust and powers on but none of the controls work

As others have said, rust will clean up, any minor pitting won't be an issue and there are a few threads online where people have converted these to modern electronics. Most of the online conversations are fairly basic but I did find a guy who had a running blog and that has lots of useful info, will see if I can find it

Have not even started looking at mime, just too many projects, I did list it on eBay a few years ago and final bid was somewhere around £800 from memory but I withdrew it from sale after having second thoughts