Caliper Z-Axis DRO for Millrite

wildo

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It took me a couple days to get this done, and rather uncharacteristically I took almost no photos of the guts of the project. I picked up a 4" digital caliper from Harbor Freight and converted it to use as a DRO on the Z axis on my Millrite. The project really turned out well and I think this will be a much needed addition.

To borrow a photo from Mike Amick's webpage, I modified the quill feed connector nut by removing the needle and grinding down that nub that the needle fits into. There was a grub screw that held the needle in place. All of this was ground away.

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The resulting flat area was drilled and threaded 6-32 and I machined a piece of aluminum roughly this shape to bolt onto the connector nut.

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The machine was reassembled (actually- I had to take it apart multiple times to adjust and tweak the fit) and the caliper was screwed to the newly machined piece. I did modify the caliper by grinding off the unneeded jaws. I drilled the two screw holes using a carbide end mill which made quick work of it.

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I'm very pleased with how it turned out, and especially with how well it works. Here is a video I shot for some friends on Facebook, but I'll share here too. Check it out here:
 
Nice job! I wish I could do that with mine but it has a power down feed and I just can't see any way to make it work?
 
Nice! I would try to fasten the bottom of the caliper somehow. Even a blob of J-B weld with a nut imbedded in it would
give you a second point to hold the bottom of the non moving part of the caliper. Nice mill! I especially like the crank part,
good and heavy and signature of a quality built machine.
 
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