833TV Received

My tubes were bigger (circa 1978)...
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Ariel
 
Just dropped into the FrontPanel website. Very cool stuff, thanks for the lead.
 
I think that's just a bunch of switches, knobs and lights. It reminds me of Airplane 2 when William Shatner was looking at the board with red flashing lights and said "make them green".
 
So, finally, I have my Mitutoyo DRO installed. I bet I've got 15-20 hours into this thing and this is revision 4.8.

First, I abandoned putting in a stop. There's a horizontal section of casting that precludes one from using the factory hole unless I cut the casting which I decided against.. I'd need a much larger piece coming off the spindle collar to thread in the stop to put it in front of the faceplate and I felt that would obstruct my view more.

That horizontal casting also stopped me from putting the DRO bar behind the faceplate. The hole I had made in the new faceplate fit the DRO perfect and was in the right location but the casting. Of course, I didn't 'discover' the casting in the way until I was on revision 2.

I ordered a new faceplate without the rectangle cutout. I tweaked the faceplate by reducing height by a few .01" to get it to fit just perfect and had the corners rounded a touch more.

I liked David's use of the rotary table for the spindle collar so I had to copy that, twice, maybe three times. It looks like it was done by a 10th grader in shop class.

I'd say there's no way I could get paid to do machinist work. My hourly wage would be .57 cents.

mydro2.jpg
mydro1.jpg
 
If I get it right you lost the quill stop functionality in exchange for the quill DRO. Right?

If I had to do it I will do the following:
  1. Move the control box/VFD to the left (about 2 inch) by mounting it through spacers and longer screws to the head casting
  2. Keep the original stop
  3. Install the DRO between the VFD and the head casting
I hope I make sense. I know you are tired from playing but this way you will not lose functionality. What do you think?
 
I didn’t really care for the factory stop. I was going to install a BP type with 1/2-20 rod. I don’t do a whole lot of repetive hole drilling so I think the DRO will suffice. I had planned on putting the DRO in middle next to the stop. There really wouldn’t be a need to move the vfd.
 
So, finally, I have my Mitutoyo DRO installed. I bet I've got 15-20 hours into this thing and this is revision 4.8.

First, I abandoned putting in a stop. There's a horizontal section of casting that precludes one from using the factory hole unless I cut the casting which I decided against.. I'd need a much larger piece coming off the spindle collar to thread in the stop to put it in front of the faceplate and I felt that would obstruct my view more.

That horizontal casting also stopped me from putting the DRO bar behind the faceplate. The hole I had made in the new faceplate fit the DRO perfect and was in the right location but the casting. Of course, I didn't 'discover' the casting in the way until I was on revision 2.

I ordered a new faceplate without the rectangle cutout. I tweaked the faceplate by reducing height by a few .01" to get it to fit just perfect and had the corners rounded a touch more.

I liked David's use of the rotary table for the spindle collar so I had to copy that, twice, maybe three times. It looks like it was done by a 10th grader in shop class.

I'd say there's no way I could get paid to do machinist work. My hourly wage would be .57 cents.

View attachment 318454 View attachment 318453
This is a question to Brian and David and anyone else who has experience/opinion on adding a quill DRO.

In both of your installations and for David even going back to the RF45, the DRO beam is fixed and the display is moving. I believe that I found a way to have a moving beam and a fixed display inside the head of the PM833. This will eliminate the need for the SS rod that moves the display on the beam similar to installations in the pictures below. Any reasons not to do it this way? It seems to me like a simpler and cleaner solution.

Ariel

PM-25-DRO-nostand-web.jpg
shop-fox-drill-presses-m1116-c3_1000.jpg


s-l1600.jpg
 
I'd seen a few set up like that and considered it at first. The reason I went with the rod was because it's a smaller form factor. I didn't want the larger beam part of the DRO obstructing my view. It would be nice to have the reader in the same spot, though.
 
I don't see any particular reason you couldn't do as you said. I have the Mitutoyo DRO on my PM1340 tailstock mounted as you describe. The challenge you will run into is alignment of the beam. If both the beam and display are anchored, the the beam has to be aligned to the dispaly at both ends of travel prior to locking the beam in position. My RF45 did not have a cavity in the head casting to accept the display unit, otherwise I would have attempted that version. Also, make sure you mount the display so that battery changes are easy.
 
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