Any one use Bludworth cnc cue machine ?? A friend inherited

Duane Remick

Duane Remick

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
A local cue shop-
has bludworth cnc Cue Machine from mid 1990s-
He doesn't know how to run the machine-
Can he buy operating instructions ???
THANK YOU
 
As far as I know there are no written or video instructions. I have two. One runs and the other is just taking up space.
 
Duane Remick said:
A local cue shop-
has bludworth cnc Cue Machine from mid 1990s-
He doesn't know how to run the machine-
Can he buy operating instructions ???
THANK YOU
Click to expand...
I think you're better off replacing the steppers and electronics and use mach3 to control it .
Whatever he used is obsolete .
 
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JoeyInCali said:
I think you're better off replacing the steppers and electronics and use mach3 to control it .
Whatever he used it obsolete .
Click to expand...
dos computer system....
"sorry guys,
I just got a smart phone about 8 month ago"
Not too experienced with the computer operating systems, etc
 
It wouldn't help if Leonard were still alive he didn't know how to run it either. Buying a "like new"/broken down POS from him was the best thing I ever did to jump start my understanding of CNC. Since it didn't work right and he was clueless it forced me to learn on my own. Since I paid him good money for it I was stubborn. Had I inherited it I may have just called the scrap man.. His son Donald wrote all the code for his machines and Leonard did the building and pimping. I ended up replacing the xylotec controller with a gecko and scrapping the taper bar setup and moved a stepper motor to the saw trunnion. Donald's method of writing code I still use as it's quick and easy but I had to figure that out on my own looking at what he had written.
 
Deruki said:
It wouldn't help if Leonard were still alive he didn't know how to run it either. Buying a "like new"/broken down POS from him was the best thing I ever did to jump start my understanding of CNC. Since it didn't work right and he was clueless it forced me to learn on my own. Since I paid him good money for it I was stubborn. Had I inherited it I may have just called the scrap man.. His son Donald wrote all the code for his machines and Leonard did the building and pimping. I ended up replacing the xylotec controller with a gecko and scrapping the taper bar setup and moved a stepper motor to the saw trunnion. Donald's method of writing code I still use as it's quick and easy but I had to figure that out on my own looking at what he had written.
Click to expand...
You got his inlay machine or saw machine?
I avoided buying anything from him.
 
There is/was a cuemaker about 80 miles north of me that had both a 4-cue saw taper machine and a 4-cue inlay machine. Neither one ran or ran correctly. He had a local computer whiz working with him to straighten things out. Don't know if he ever got things going. His opinions on the Bludworths were the same as expressed above.
Gary
 
JoeyInCali said:
That Xylotex controller was a POS. It was all over the place when it ran.
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This came with my saw machine. Was old as the hills back then but it goes on and on sitting there grunting and groaning 24/7/365 I never turn it off. Use it now for my wall mounted taper machine and to this day it's never missed a beat. It came with Mach 2 but I upgraded
20220920_090057 (2) [1600x1200].jpg
with my
 
Deruki said:
This came with my saw machine. Was old as the hills back then but it goes on and on sitting there grunting and groaning 24/7/365 I never turn it off. Use it now for my wall mounted taper machine and to this day it's never missed a beat. It came with Mach 2 but I upgradedView attachment 662652 with my
Click to expand...
Speaks a lot about gecko.
 
I helped Bludworth build a some of those a few years ago.
He did all the mechanical fabrication and his son Donald, did the electronics and setup.
I think Donald is still alive and could be of great help with the operation of it.
However it might be possible to run the existing controller with Mach3 ... if not 3 and 4 axis control units are available on Ebay.
You do need to know how to set it all up and tune the stepper motors.
Not really hard and I am sure there are youtube videos about how to do all that.
 
GBCues said:
There is/was a cuemaker about 80 miles north of me that had both a 4-cue saw taper machine and a 4-cue inlay machine. Neither one ran or ran correctly. He had a local computer whiz working with him to straighten things out. Don't know if he ever got things going. His opinions on the Bludworths were the same as expressed above.
Gary
Click to expand...
My four head saw machine has ran hard for 17 years so far and still going strong. The inlay machine has been useless.
 
WilleeCue said:
I helped Bludworth build a some of those a few years ago.
He did all the mechanical fabrication and his son Donald, did the electronics and setup.
I think Donald is still alive and could be of great help with the operation of it.
However it might be possible to run the existing controller with Mach3 ... if not 3 and 4 axis control units are available on Ebay.
You do need to know how to set it all up and tune the stepper motors.
Not really hard and I am sure there are youtube videos about how to do all that.
Click to expand...
I still have all the taper files Donald wrote that Leonard gave me with my saw machine. When I had questions about them Leonard admitted he didn't know about it and his son did all that. Once you understand how they work you can look at the code and envision it in your mind on a piece of wood. Some of his shaft profiles have a bulge in inappropriate spots just out of the blue and you can spot it just looking at it. I guess the Bludworths had a lot of 220 grit on hand to fix little things like this? 😆
 
Deruki said:
I still have all the taper files Donald wrote that Leonard gave me with my saw machine. When I had questions about them Leonard admitted he didn't know about it and his son did all that. Once you understand how they work you can look at the code and envision it in your mind on a piece of wood. Some of his shaft profiles have a bulge in inappropriate spots just out of the blue and you can spot it just looking at it. I guess the Bludworths had a lot of 220 grit on hand to fix little things like this? 😆
Click to expand...
How tough could it be to write shaft taper codes?
When I wrote mine, there were 4 gradual angles then a steep one to the joint.
He must have really messed up the numbers and not caught it.
 
JoeyInCali said:
How tough could it be to write shaft taper codes?
When I wrote mine, there were 4 gradual angles then a steep one to the joint.
He must have really messed up the numbers and not caught it.
Click to expand...
It was just one number where it got fatter instead of tapering down. Maybe Leonard was screwing around with it.
 
JoeyInCali said:
How tough could it be to write shaft taper codes?
When I wrote mine, there were 4 gradual angles then a steep one to the joint.
He must have really messed up the numbers and not caught it.
Click to expand...
My G-code for shafts includes a measurement every 1/2 inch.
The more steps there are the less sanding needed to get that nice smooth profile.
The last 6 to 10 inches (toward the tip) is one step cause it is straight (pro taper).
But from the joint to about 20 inches there is a step and a measurement every 1/2 inch down the shaft.
Yes it is fairly easy and you can dupe any profile using a caliper and a spreadsheet.
It is also fairly easy to mess up.
 
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