DRO is supposed to be here Monday!!!

Now why wasn't that type of LCD display offered when I bought mine. :(
That looks perfect for my tired eyes.
 
Janderso said:
You'll love the DRO.
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I got the Z axis reader head bracket fabbed up before I went to bed this morning. Of course I had to power it up to see if it worked and it does. I still need to go back and indicate it in 2 axis to get it true, but is sure was cool watching the numbers change as I cranked the handle.

The y axis is going to be tricky in getting the reader head bracket fabbed. I suspect it will be several iterations of test fitting as I go to get it to fit. And then there is the x axis which will be pretty straightforward in itself but it looks like I will have to make 2 extensions for the oil cups from scratch and that will be a bit time consuming.
 
You have a small playing field, and will have to sacrifice some of that to get this stuff located. I have read many posts, on many boards, about how to discern where to give and where to refuse to give. I am curious about YOUR decisions about which axis, and which end of said axis, you choose to sacrifice to the digital gods.
 
westerner said:
You have a small playing field, and will have to sacrifice some of that to get this stuff located. I have read many posts, on many boards, about how to discern where to give and where to refuse to give. I am curious about YOUR decisions about which axis, and which end of said axis, you choose to sacrifice to the digital gods.
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It is a small space to fit a lot of hardware into but so far the only trimming I have to do is cutting about 1/2" of the chip guard off the x axis for the full length in order to clear the oilers on the back of the table. That would be a shame because I spent a bit of time today making brass extensions for the oilers so they would be accessible once the scale goes on. But I am pretty stubborn and if I go straight to a 1 shot lube system then I won't have to trim. So far I haven't seen any need to lose travel anywhere. But, I am not done yet. Time will tell.
 
Montana , did those books get there today ?
 
mmcmdl said:
Montana , did those books get there today ?
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Oh, yes they did. Was headed out the door to round up kids this afternoon so didn't get a chance to look at them until a few minutes ago when the wife asked, "What is that?". She had that tone so I had to show her it wasn't guns.
 
I did a 3 axis on my mill last year. The only axis mounting that game me any fits was the knee. The column is so sloping I had to fabricate some brackets for that. Drilling and tapping the CI went fine. Calibrating the system took me quite awhile. Great accessory, makes it so you can come right back to the same spot. Use mine all the time. The functions that do bolt hole circles, lines etc. are great. I use the calculator a lot
 
So the x axis wasn't as straight forward as I hoped. There wasn't enough room to drill the back of the cross slide so I had to improvise. The way cover for the knee has 2 drilled and tapped holes in the cross slide so I made a bracket of angle of aluminum which let me use the bolt holes already there. Then it was just a matter of piecing all of it together in a compact space. Reminds me of the gynecologist who went to mechanic school. Final exam was to tear down a small block v-8. 50% of the exam was taking it completely apart and 50% was putting it all together again.

When final grades came out he had gotten 150% on the exam. So he is confused and goes to ask the professor how he could have gotten 150%. Professor tells him, you took the engine completely so that is 50%, you put it back together and that is 50% and you disassembled and reassembled it all through the tail pipe, another 50%.
 
Everything is mounted with the exception of the chip guard on the z axis. The supplied guard will have to be modified or a new one created. Because of the slope of the sides of the column there isn't enough width to cover the whole length but the measuring head is to the rear so I doubt many chips would make a u turn to get into the works.

As for travels and losses in them x axis is 14.75 which is exactly what is was without the DRO.

Y axis is 5.36 so I lost about 1/2". This is due to the chip guard extending beyond the scale. I can surely live without that 1/2" but also realize that my very next project will require that 1/2" without a doubt.

Z axis is 11.73 which is what is was before DRO.

I ran through the handwheels and found they are all about .001 long to what they say. So now I have something to explain my old scrap. But double edged sword, now I won't be able to use that excuse any more.

My parents always say I am the hardest kid to buy for so this year I gave them my list. End mills, insert cutting tools and stock
 
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