# show me DRO installs for an Atlas/Craftsman 101.07403 lathe



## ARC-170 (Nov 5, 2019)

I'm considering mounting a DRO on my Atlas Craftsman 101.07403 lathe.

I've seen a few threads on adding DRO's to lathes, but I'm posting here because I want to know if anyone has added a DRO set-up to this particular lathe. I have some ideas, but don't want to re-invent the wheel.

I could mount the Z (spindle axis) DRO along the back and mount the bracket holding the read head to the carriage somehow.

The cross-slide seems like the hardest place to add a DRO on these lathes because there are no flat/square surfaces that are big enough to easily mount anything. Here's a picture of the location I'm thinking I'd like to mount it, the right/tailstock side of the carriage.



If anyone has any pictures, I'd love to see them. Thanks!


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## cjtoombs (Nov 5, 2019)

Is that the 12" regular or the "commercial"?


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## ARC-170 (Nov 5, 2019)

cjtoombs said:


> Is that the 12" regular or the "commercial"?



It's the regular one.


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## 38Bill (Nov 13, 2019)

Don't know what DRO you are planning to use but the Igaging DRO's are commonly used on the Atlas/Craftsman lathes. Here is a video (not mine) that shows one way of mounting the DRO to the cross slide. This is basically how I mounted mine and it works well unless you want to use a taper attachment.


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## bill70j (Nov 13, 2019)

ARC-170 said:


> I'm considering mounting a DRO on my Atlas Craftsman 101.07403 lathe.
> 
> I've seen a few threads on adding DRO's to lathes, but I'm posting here because I want to know if anyone has added a DRO set-up to this particular lathe. I have some ideas, but don't want to re-invent the wheel.
> 
> If anyone has any pictures, I'd love to see them. Thanks!



Here are some photos of an Igaging DRO installation on my Atlas 10F.  It's the 10" lathe, but very similar to your 12" 101.07403.  I have had the DRO on the lathe for a couple of years and it has performed well.  Bought it off Ebay for a very reasonable price.  HTH,  Bill

Edit:  I just watched the video that 38Bill posted, and the the method of installing the scale for the X is very similar to the way I did it. (Maybe I pilfered his idea )
*Here is the Installation on the X



A view from the bottom of the X and the bracket for the Y



A view from the rear showing the display



And the front of the display
	

		
			
		

		
	


*


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## ARC-170 (Nov 24, 2019)

I took some more pictures of my lathe so you can all see what I have to work with for mounting.






Not sure if I can mount the perpendicular to the long axis DRO inside the compound or not. 

The long axis DRO seems easy enough to mount, but I might need to fabricate a bracket to hold both readers heads.

I'll try and sketch up some ideas later, but I still would like to know if anyone mounted a DRO on a lathe exactly like mine.


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## 38Bill (Nov 24, 2019)

What DRO and readers are you planning to use?


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## ARC-170 (Nov 25, 2019)

38Bill said:


> What DRO and readers are you planning to use?



The iGauging ones most likely. But I'm open to other suggestions.


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## 38Bill (Nov 26, 2019)

Not really many options for the Y axis. You either have to make a stand-off and mount it on the right side of the carriage or do something like the above video shows or like Bill's photos show. Here is mine. Its not pretty as I built it as a prototype using Delrin and scraps out of the junk bin but it works great so I never rebuilt it. Now that I have a mill I may actually make it pretty some day. Whatever you end up doing be sure that you have the means to allow the read head to be adjusted to the scale. My X scale is fastened to the lathe bed using the brackets that came with the DRO. The mounting holes are very easy to drill and tap. I also upgraded to the Absolute DRO with the larger readout and the ability to use a power adaptor instead of batteries. PS: I cut the Y scale to shorten it so it wasn't sticking out so far in back.


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## cjtoombs (Nov 26, 2019)

I've been meaning to get out to the shop and take some pictures for you, finally got around to it today.  I used a low profile encoder, the full size is way too big.  The encoder is mounted by drilling two holes in the top of the carriage and mounting it to an intermediate flat bar.  The encoder pickup is attached to the crosslide via a 14 gauge sheet metal bracket bent at a 90 degree angle, it is attached to the crosslide via countersunk screws to allow for a low profile.  A chip cover is made from 20 gauge sheet metal bent at 90 degrees and attached using the end cap mounting screws on top.  I used a gingery brake to do the bending.  So far it works pretty good.  Good luck on your install.


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## ARC-170 (Jan 2, 2020)

bill70j:
I'm planning on doing something similar on the long axis (X-axis, correct?). I see you mounted the aluminum block in such a way that it grips the screw heads holding the bearing plate. Any reason not to just screw the aluminum block onto the bearing plate using longer screws that replace the ones that hold the bearing plate? How well does your method hold the block on?



I want to use these screws to mount the block that holds the DRO. I thought I would just get longer ones. This plate just seems to hold the carriage on and not have any critical tolerances (or does it?):



The other option is to drill and tap holes in the bearing plate for separate screws. Thoughts?

CLARIFICATION
Just so I'm clear: is the X-axis is the long one (L-R as you are looking at the lathe/along the spindle axis) and the Y-axis is the short one (fore/aft; controls diameter of part)?

However, I thought the Z-axis was always the axis of rotation. In that case, using the right-hand rule-right hand, palm up, thumb to right, index away form you, middle finger straight up (so thumb is positive X, index is positive Y and middle is positive Z)-t if you orient your hand to point the middle finger along the axis of rotation, he long axis would be the Z-axis and the short one would be the Y-axis and there would be no X-axis.


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## bill70j (Jan 2, 2020)

ARC-170 said:


> Any reason not to just screw the aluminum block onto the bearing plate using longer screws that replace the ones that hold the bearing plate? How well does your method hold the block on?


Jeff:  
I see no reason why your idea of longer bearing plate screws wouldn't work.  The reason I didn't do it that way ----  is because I didn't think of it.  The way I did it works just fine, but as I see it now - was far too exotic.

As you know, there are shims under those plates, but as long as you put them back the same way they came out you should be good , so no critical tolerances to worry about.

As far as drilling and tapping for additional screws, I have a personal bias against doing that - don't know why, I just do.  On this installation, I did drill and tap for the two "long axis" scale brackets because I saw no way around it.  I did however double-stick tape the aluminum swarf guard in place so saved drilling a couple of holes for that.

Good luck on your installation.   We look forward to seeing your work in progress!

Bill


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## bbutcher (Jan 3, 2020)

ARC-170 said:


> I'm considering mounting a DRO on my Atlas Craftsman 101.07403 lathe.
> 
> I've seen a few threads on adding DRO's to lathes, but I'm posting here because I want to know if anyone has added a DRO set-up to this particular lathe. I have some ideas, but don't want to re-invent the wheel.
> 
> ...


Here is my concept for mounting a full size glass scale to the Atlas for both Z and X Axes. I am in the process of machining mounting hardware and should have it working in a few days. Basically the X-Axis glass slide (15 CM travel) is mounted behind the carriage on a "T" shaped bar bolted to the rear of the carriage using the existing 3/8-16 tapped holes. A dovetail slide is included to ensure parallel travel. One concern I have is forcing the glass slide into an over-travel condition causing damage. As a result I am using a metal "push bar" with some type of shear pin or shear bolt that will snap before damage is done. I will likely include some physical stops on the dovetail slide to limit travel to safe amounts. The Z-axis is easier as shown in the images attached.


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## ARC-170 (Jan 11, 2020)

So here's what I did:

I made a block (at left) that holds the DRO rail to the compound slide. The block at right holds the reader.



Here it is with the cover on. I bent some sheet metal:



Here's a close-up of the attachment method. I used the existing screw at left and used a smaller diameter screw (at right) through the hole used for the original cover.



Here's a view of the long axis. I mounted the bracket to the slide using the existing screws. I needed to change one to a bolt because I can't get a screwdriver in there to tighten it. I have not attached the rail yet because I need to take the lathe apart to move it to another workbench. I wanted to show what I did in the meantime.



I took some measurements of the lathe then drew the needed views in AutoCAD. I knew that there would be some slop due to measuring errors and machining tolerances (I'm not that good!) so I made all the thru-holes a little big so I'd have some play to make adjustments.


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## 38Bill (Jan 11, 2020)

Looks good!


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## Jvinblad71 (Aug 6, 2021)

I mounted Igauge dros on my 6" craftsman. I utilized the two 1/2" holes on the y axis for install. I printed some reader holders and a new lead screw cover. For the x axis I drilled 2 holes and threaded. Used the included mounts for that. I will upload pictures if I can figure out how to.


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## Shotgun (Aug 9, 2021)

With those bars sticking out the back that many of you have used to hold the reader, you're halfway to having a taper attachment already.


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