Hi
I have had DRO's fitted to the X and Y axis of my X1 and X3 mills for some time now and they absolutely transform the machines, I wouldn't do without them. I would love to fit the better quality glass scales but they are well down the wish list at the moment. A DRO on the Z axis of the X3 mill would be a real bonus but with the column roughly 29" high a scale to fit is still a bit pricey. It occurred to me that when machining only a short amount of movement needs to be measured so a 6" scale and DRO found itself on Santa's xmas list.
I got one
This is how I'm attempting to fit it.
I found a length of C shaped alluminium that would make the vertical slide. I made up 2 pieces of steel machined to be a nice sliding fit in the channel. They are roughly 2" x 1" x 7/8". 2 holes are drilled and tapped 4mm 1" apart
Then counter bored with a 1/2" end mill.
2 pieces of 1/2" round brass about 3/32" thick make the pressure pads
A piece of flat steel strip sits between the 2 sliding pieces to fill the gap and the DRO is fixed to this with 2 4mm cap heads
Drill and tap 4mm at the base of the column.
Fit the alluminium channel with a cap head at the bottom and a large self tapper at the top with a suitable spacer
A couple of thumb screws made by knurling some 3/4" steel bar, drilling through 4mm then a counter bore the size of the cap head bolt on the reverse side.
Cross drill
And press in a roll pin
An alluminium bracket drilled 3mm and counter bored fits on the back of the DRO with the supplied screws
Heres a bit of video that explains what I'm trying to do
Thats it so far
Cheers
Rich
