I stepped up! Wells-Index 847

[T. J.]

I’ve been working on the DRO installation lately. I’m using a 4 axis kit from Aikron. I got glass scales for the X, Y, & Z and a slim magnetic scale for the quill.

The arm included with the display was a little short for my taste, so I fabricated a second arm to add some length and an extra joint. I utilized a hole in the top of the ram to mount the arm using these parts I made:



Here is the completed display mount:

 

[OTmachine]

Nice work!

 

[T. J.]

Well, I finally got the DRO completely installed. I was watching one of Stefan Gotteswinter’s YouTube videos a while back, and he made the statement that installing DRO scales is the worst job in the machine shop. I have to agree with him!

As I said before, this is a 4-axis system from Aikron. I used glass scales on the X, Y, and Z axes, and a magnetic scale on the quill (U axis).

The quill was, of course, the most difficult to install in a way that is reasonably low profile and didn’t interfere with the quill stop and fine feed hand wheel. I went through about 3 designs before I settled on this one. It involved making a new quill key. The arm that the DRO read head attaches to also serves to trip the quill stop.

Overall, I’m pleased with the system so far. My only complaint has to do with the scale shields that were sent with the system. They are 1-1/2” wide, which is about 1/2” wider than they need to be. It only causes a potential issue on the X-axis scale. Where I’ve got it installed, it takes away some Y-axis travel. I guess if I’m ever in a situation where I need another half inch of Y-axis travel, I’ll have to fabricate a different shield. I doubt it will ever come up