# Tail Stock DRO



## tjb (Feb 11, 2021)

I love the Eisen 1440 lathe that I bought last year, but there's one feature on it that has been frustrating.  The linear scale on the tail stock is very nearly impossible to read - especially while under power.  I have toyed with the idea of trying to mount some sort of DRO but never really made much progress with it.  That is, until I ran across the design that Randy Richards posted on youtube (



).  I decided to try to make something similar.  I made a few modifications that I'll describe in the pictures below.

I recently bought about a two foot section of 3"x3" 6061T6 aluminum.  I cut off a section, scribed it and began milling off the excess.  Many thanks to Mikey who recommended a Tormach Superfly and Sherline flycutter.  I bought both several months ago but never realized what monsters they are at hogging off metal!  I put the Tormach through its paces on this project, and it actually performed better at high RPM's and depths of cut than I had been using.  I'm impressed:






Next step was to mill the profile to fit onto the tail stock.  It would have been easy enough to mill a 90* angle, but using an angle gauge, I discovered that Eisen's tail stock has an angle of 96*.  After scribing with a granite plate and height gauge, I began milling.  Not too difficult, but I needed to get a little creative to mill it precisely:





Once I had that critical feature milled, it was easier to visualize where, and how much, excess metal needed to be removed.  I used parallels to orient the part in my vise and milled away.  This part went rather quickly:






Here's the finished product with the digital scale attached (the ring that I fabricated to hold the stop is on the quill).  The angle of the readout is set for optimal visibility.  I didn't take any pictures, but the vertical face of the stop has four magnets pressed into it, and the horizontal face has three:





The final step was finishing the magnetic stop.  Here's where I deviated from Randy's design a little.  Instead of welding the wing onto the ring, I milled a slot, pressed it in, and pressed some bronze dowels into it.  (Randy's definitely a better welder than me.)  Also, I chose to not mill a recess for the magnet.  It's easy to place it where I want it, and cleaning up the magnet will be much easier if it's not pressed in.  And finally, instead of slitting the ring and incorporating a socket head screw, I drilled and tapped two holes and used set screws.





Turned out pretty nice.  I have a short (30 second) video demonstrating the features but don't have a clue how to post it.

Regards,
Terry


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## tjb (Feb 11, 2021)

Oops.  That's the wrong video for Randy's version.  Here's the correct one (I hope):


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## mikey (Feb 11, 2021)

Very nicely done, Terry!


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## tjb (Feb 11, 2021)

mikey said:


> Very nicely done, Terry!


Thanks, Mike.  I tried to attach the 30 second video showing its features, but it was too large.  Any tips on how to load it?

Regards


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## MrWhoopee (Feb 11, 2021)

tjb said:


> Thanks, Mike.  I tried to attach the 30 second video showing its features, but it was too large.  Any tips on how to load it?
> 
> Regards


Upload the video to Youtube and post a link here.


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## davidpbest (Feb 11, 2021)

Nice job Terry.   Send it out for hard anodize.  *This* is "grey" hard anodize 6061. I'm curious if you've needed any support from Eisen, and if so how it went. Thanks for posting.


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## tjb (Feb 12, 2021)

davidpbest said:


> Nice job Terry.   Send it out for hard anodize.  *This* is "grey" hard anodize 6061. I'm curious if you've needed any support from Eisen, and if so how it went. Thanks for posting.


Oh, very nice, David!  Great suggestion on anodizing - I'll look into it.

I had very few issues with the Eisen.  Other than timing nuisances because of the holiday season, delivery was rather uneventful.  I did have a couple of questions during uncrating and set-up that were very easily resolved by telephone.  Jason was a very helpful and quick to respond.  Several weeks later, I contacted him again with a question on lubricants.  He responded very quickly by e-mail listing what was used from the factory and US counterparts (which were not listed in the Owner's Manual).

I'd buy again from them in a heartbeat.  A great product and very helpful staff.

Thanks for responding.

Regards,
Terry


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## tjb (Feb 12, 2021)

Finally figured out how to create a youtube account.  Here's the video:






Hope this works.

Regards


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## Aukai (Feb 12, 2021)

Good job, nicely done Terry


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## tjb (Feb 12, 2021)

Aukai said:


> Good job, nicely done Terry


Thanks, Mike.


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## mikey (Feb 12, 2021)

That works slick, Terry. The video was good but the audio is really muted - can't hear you.


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## tjb (Feb 12, 2021)

mikey said:


> That works slick, Terry. The video was good but the audio is really muted - can't hear you.


" - can't hear you."

GOOD!  I planned it that way because I didn't really have anything to say.  Just kinda mumbling in the background.  (My bride says I talk too much anyway.)

Thanks for the kind words.

Regards


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## mikey (Feb 12, 2021)

I dunno', Terry. You're one of the most articulate people I know ...


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## tjb (Feb 12, 2021)

mikey said:


> I dunno', Terry. You're one of the most articulate people I know ...


I don't even want to know who you hang around with.


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