Bridgeport Boss 9 R2E4 convertion

I resonantly acquired a Bridgeport boss 9 R2E4 series 1 CNC mill made in 1985. The controller is died but still in very good mechanical shape. The machine has 3 DC servos, coolant and mist systems, automatic oilier and a bunch of other systems. I am starting the conversion to using LinuxCNC and thought others would like to see this. I am I know that this has been done before and how it is done has been documented, but though I could show what I am doing and maybe get some help in the process.



Goals (kind of in order):
1. Convert this machine to run LinuxCNC
2. Use as many components on the machine as reasonable
3. Do this on a small budget
4. Do this conversion as painlessly as reasonable
5. Convert the spindle drive to use a VFD
6. Possibly add rigid taping by adding spindle encoder

What I have and have done: I have the machine moved into my garage and connected to 3 phase power by means of a rotary phase converter, this is how I know the original controller is died. I have the control computer build less the hard drive (in the mail, 60GB SSD), also the mesa card(s). This is the first part that I could use help with, I was thinking of use a 5i23, 7i33, and 7i37 or maybe 6i25 and 7i77, thoughts?

go with the 5i25 and 7i77 addon and a second general i/o card , as the servo drivers are 10v analog input this will make it easy going for you

My concern was the limited number of IO of the 5i25 at only 34 vs the 5i23 with 72. This is not going to be a limiting factor?

no i agree , i was just looking from the other perspective of using the newer range of cards , with the smart serial for extra inputs , such as the 7I73
with the 7I77 you will at least have a VFD 10V analog output for spindle with fwd/rev outputs already .

either way at least your spoilt for choice

I was not aware they had any thing like the serial connection in the LinuxCNC support, I thought there would be a bit of a buffering problem there. Very good to know. What about the 6i25 then?

yes the 6i25 is supported , it shows as a 5i25 and is identical