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Mill dro

Search on mill dro on the forum. Lots of members have done it. Lots of us are very happy.
 
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I have a KING 3/4hp Mill that I added an IGAGING EasyView DRO.
See the photos.
It does not have a round column, but you can get creative.
 
Here’s mine, RF30 round column with Amazon $300 DRO.

Y-axis is nice and solid, a few chunks of aluminum angle, drilled and tapped a couple of holes in the base. Notched angle bar to clear the x-axis lead screw.

X-axis attaches to the limit switch slot in the front of the table, with a couple of holes drilled and tapped for the reader head. PITA, it blocks the travel locks. New Years project is to pull it all apart and drill and tap the table to mount the scale and reader on the back of the table closer to the column. I’ll lose a bit of table travel but will then regain use of the travel locks.

Z-axis is inside the mill head, completely protected. Drilled a couple of holes to mount the read head, and Rube-Goldberged a bracket to connect the scale. Head is fixed, scale moves. Other New Years project is to fabricate a better scale mounting arrangement.

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I installed a new DRO on my round column a couple of months ago. Start at:

trlvn

Post in thread 'DRO descends into madness'

To close out this thread, I have just finished replacing the DRO on my RF-30 style mill. To recap, the X axis on my old DRO regularly made a clicking sound and that sometimes seemed to cause the display to jump 15-20 thous. After taking the read head off, I could no longer get it to work at all. Still have no idea what went so badly wrong. I decided to buy a new, modern DRO.

I looked at Aikron, Ditron and Sino. Reviewed past threads and info on the Touch DRO site and decided that I wanted glass scales. Decided that there was enough room so that I didn't need Slim or Xtra-slim...
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Craig
 
My mill/drill did not have a hole in the casting behind the spindle like the others so I searched out an alternate solution on the internet. Mine is not as nice as what I found, but it works. The X and Y are modelled after @DavidR8 install on his previous mill/drill.


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I would recommend making a small block for a drill and tapping guide so you get the holes and taps straight. That is what I did with a small (maybe 1.5" x 3" x0.5" thick) piece of aluminum. You can hold it in place by hand or a clamp when you need both hands. I used it start the drill and the tap. One hole for the drill size and one hole tapped so I could tap through from the block for the first few threads then remove the block. Just mark the holes so you don't drill the threaded one.
 
I think it did briefly, but not any longer for me. Sorry I didn't see that this post was older. Hope your installation went well.
 
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