Installing a DRO

wvnitroman

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Hello,
New to the group and made my first post yesterday. I have a question, If I buy a knee mill how hard would it be for me to install a 3 or possibly 4 axis myself?
God Bless,
Kevin
 
In my experience, most DRO kits require you to make or modify the mounting hardware that comes with them.

For me, that was the hard part, which wasn't really hard. The installation of the DRO is fairly simple.
 
Like boostin53 said the mounting brackets will need to modified. It’s similar to aftermarket performance auto parts “universal fits nothing”. But since you have a mill, modifying or making entirely new brackets shouldn’t be an issue. You just need to think it out and come up with a plan on how to mount the scales and reader. There are lots of videos on YouTube to get ideas from. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think that the majority of the members here find figuring out how to accomplish a project is one of the most rewarding part of this hobby. Think of the install as an individual project and enjoy.


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I agree that the rewards of self satisfaction are great. I have heard some conversations that it took "experienced" machinist 2 or 3 days to do the install so my concern was that it might take me 2 weeks. LOLOLOLO!!!
 
BTW, welcome to the group!
I wouldn't be concerned to the difficulty, I agree that mounting the scales are easy, but the mounting hardware for the reader is where the modification will be needed. The mounting hardware that comes with them provides a good stating point and usually is easy to figure out what is needed for the mount to work.
 
I agree that the rewards of self satisfaction are great. I have heard some conversations that it took "experienced" machinist 2 or 3 days to do the install so my concern was that it might take me 2 weeks. LOLOLOLO!!!

I am just a hobbyist, I recently installed a 3 axis dro on a Grizzly G0704. I planned it out about 2 or 3 days, the actual install took me about 3 full days. I watched numerous YouTube videos for ideas and what others did. Every dro install will be unique depending on the mill it’s going on.

Here is a video of the install I did....


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3 days?? That sounds complicated. I have been thinking of adding one on my Bridgeport.
 
I installed the 4-axis DRO (TPACtools.com) on my Jet JVM-830 mill in a couple of days. Did the X-axis with shop made bracket on the front of the table T-slots. Had to make a new central bracket for my power feed limit switches and adjustable stops. The X-scale is spaced away from the table about 1" so the power feed switch, stops and table locks are still accessible. So, bolt on, no drilled holes into the mill.

Y-axis for me went much the same. The JVM-830 has a T-slot track with adjustable stops in the Y also. I made up brackets that mount to the track to mount the scale.

Z-axis was a bit more of a challenge. The mill column is tapered, so made wedge pieces that bolt to the column. Then adjustable brackets that attach to that. I mounted the Z-axis scale with the opening to the back to keep chips out.

4th axis was a digital vernier caliper on the spindle. Made a couple of bracket for mounting it, probably took 2 hours. All of my bracketry was made from 1/2" thick aluminum.

The work is well within the capability of hobby machinists. If you're not there yet, it's a great learning project. I consider myself to be at an apprentice level; all self-taught. I still make mistakes all of the time, but have completely gotten over my fear of making mistakes. That's how you learn. If you post your mistakes here you don't have to worry able being made to feel stupid. No egos here.

Bruce
 
I did it for a living for a while...
Everything needs to float... No binding.
Glass scales break real easy.
 
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