DRO for Vertical Mill or Lathe - Info & experiences

[JimDawson]

Not sure yet. The bow is 'bow' is 'away' from the table. Finally heading into the shop on this beautiful day an am going to ponder it.

Wow. That is an interesting problem. Two possibilities: 1) Flip it over and clamp it down to your table on the ends, maybe with a shim in the center, I would try without the shim first. Then take a heat gun and warm it up, maybe this would straighten it out or bow it slightly in the other direction. Or, 2) send it back and get another one.

The problem with #1 is that I don't know how the glass scale is held in the housing and how much heat it would take.

 

[middle.road]

Back on the 'X'-Axis this afternoon.
*NOT* happy.
Check your end cap screws gang. They were loose on one end and barely snug on the other. 'Y' & 'Z' scales are tight.
And they are cast pieces. both of mine are different. Notice the 'missed' drill points in pict.
Also had to de-burr it.
I'm attempting to square it up now. Break out the feeler gages and shim stock. Is it 5 o'clock somewhere?
Also they are NOT double wipers. I thought they were... Also mine on the 'X are short.

 

[tjb]

Back on the 'X'-Axis this afternoon.
*NOT* happy.
Check your end cap screws gang. They were loose on one end and barely snug on the other. 'Y' & 'Z' scales are tight.
And they are cast pieces. both of mine are different. Notice the 'missed' drill points in pict.
Also had to de-burr it.
I'm attempting to square it up now. Break out the feeler gages and shim stock. Is it 5 o'clock somewhere?
Also they are NOT double wipers. I thought they were... Also mine on the 'X are short.

View attachment 262452

Dan,

Couple of questions:
1. a. Will the mismatched end caps result in an operational issue?
b. Also, could that in any way be contributing to the bow?
2. What do you mean by 'double wipers'?
3. What's the consequence of them being short?

I'm still days away from beginning my installation. Need to finish a project before I can get some stuff out of the way. Opening the package everything looked good, but I've obviously not yet examined the material in fine detail. I plugged both axes into the board, and everything appears to work as it should. Hope I can say the same after further examination.

Sorry to hear you're having trouble. Hopefully, it turns out to be nothing more than a temporary nuisance.

Regards,
Terry

 

[Bob Korves]

Man, we lost a few posts drat-it-all.
I'll start off re-posting what I can remember.
Here's a sketch of dimensions that are missing.
Bottom side of the read head, the (4)-threaded M4 holes, and the hole pattern for the Display Head Panel.
The Display Head mounting surface has an angle of 65° on it.

I've got my 'Y'-Axis installed, and started on the 'X' but there is a bow of over .020" on the rail when I clamped it to the table.

View attachment 262280

Dan, I went to a buddy's house today that has one of these DROs on his mill. The "missing bracket" is actually 2 right angle half brackets with 3 holes each, painted black. They are in one of the plastic bags with a bunch of other hardware

 

[middle.road]

Dan, I went to a buddy's house today that has one of these DROs on his mill. The "missing bracket" is actually 2 right angle half brackets with 3 holes each, painted black. They are in one of the plastic bags with a bunch of other hardware

Been a hectic couple of days. I've been snatching shop time where I can and haven't had time to post.
Yep-yep. Wilson sent a photo finally Friday night / Saturday morning. Shows an Easson, but the mount is the same.
And here's a pict of the two halves in my kit. I can't quite figure out how it's going to work with the one bracket having an ear that is 'angled'.
I've also attached a copy of the pict sent from Wilson.

 

[middle.road]

Dan,

Couple of questions:
1. a. Will the mismatched end caps result in an operational issue?
b. Also, could that in any way be contributing to the bow?
2. What do you mean by 'double wipers'?
3. What's the consequence of them being short?

I'm still days away from beginning my installation. Need to finish a project before I can get some stuff out of the way. Opening the package everything looked good, but I've obviously not yet examined the material in fine detail. I plugged both axes into the board, and everything appears to work as it should. Hope I can say the same after further examination.

Sorry to hear you're having trouble. Hopefully, it turns out to be nothing more than a temporary nuisance.

Regards,
Terry

I reworked both of the end caps. De-burred them and on the one I had to redrill the holes. I used a #36 drill. Crappy quality.
Then I grabbed feeler gages and some blocks and trued it up on the top of the table, using .030" as my offset to the rail on the mounting surface side.
And the 'Bow' is gone. Thank goodness.
Double wipers. There's slots for two sets of wipers, this set only has one and on mine they were cut and assembled too short, by about .30".
That could allow chips and swarf to get into the rail. That'll mess up your day for sure.
I searched for awhile but couldn't find any pictures of the double wiper arrangement.
I'll be contacting Wilson to get at least one pair of replacements and to also find out if I can purchase additional wiper material to add a second wiper set.

I managed to get the 'X' mount machined last night. Going to try to find some shop time this afternoon and begin drilling and tapping holes to mount it. Then on the to 'Z'.

 

[Bob Korves]

I can't quite figure out how it's going to work with the one bracket having an ear that is 'angled'.

The angled bracket is not correct. Contact quality assurance...

 

[middle.road]

The angled bracket is not correct. Contact quality assurance...

I called, the number has been disconnected...
Wish I had the 3D Printer running, I could do up a neat mount. Meanwhile I'll be fabbing one from whatever is on hand.
'X' and 'Y' are mounted and functioning. Was able to use the existing holes from the Mitutoyo scales, except for two #10-32's on the table.
I need to go back and retake 'Dimensioning 101'. When I figured out the length for the 'X' I wanted to make doubly sure that I didn't get it too short like the Mitutoyo was and end up messing up the scale. I calc'd for 1.5" extra.
Well the ends of the scale came out right on the drain holes. Don't it figure?
Going to route the cables and mount the head - hopefully today. And retake some picts of the install thus far.
Went through my picts this morning that I took last night and they suck.

 

[Bob Korves]

I called, the number has been disconnected...
Wish I had the 3D Printer running, I could do up a neat mount. Meanwhile I'll be fabbing one from whatever is on hand.
'X' and 'Y' are mounted and functioning. Was able to use the existing holes from the Mitutoyo scales, except for two #10-32's on the table.
I need to go back and retake 'Dimensioning 101'. When I figured out the length for the 'X' I wanted to make doubly sure that I didn't get it too short like the Mitutoyo was and end up messing up the scale. I calc'd for 1.5" extra.
Well the ends of the scale came out right on the drain holes. Don't it figure?
Going to route the cables and mount the head - hopefully today. And retake some picts of the install thus far.
Went through my picts this morning that I took last night and they suck.

Something seems strange, Dan. I don't remember what mill you have. On my Millrite, the table is 32" and the travel is 21.5". The table ends almost reach the saddle at maximum travel. Still, the X scale will not come close to reaching the end caps, by several inches. I ordered the X scale 1"+ longer than the travel. When I saw your mounting it scared me, so I just went out and checked the scale travel I got and double checked the table travel. It is correct. Did you measure the travel correctly? Did Wilson actually send you the scale you ordered? Whatever, it looks like it is going to work for you, and what I am seeing may just be the differences between our mills. And what is the reason for the drains at the front of the table? Seems like they would constantly be in the way if using them to drain to a coolant sump. All the ones I have seen are on the back of the table. I wonder if someone has switched the end caps at some point in the mill's life?
Edit: Oops, your mill does not have end caps, that explains it. Still, why in front?

 

[middle.road]

It's a 9x48 Bridgeport with 36" Travel. I did mount it on the backside.
The Mitutoyo setup had an 'X' scale for a 32" travel machine. See my old post here for background.
The Tapped hole to the left under the pink towel is for the previous Mitu.

Question: can you post a picture of your display head mounting brackets? I'd like to include it in my message to Wilson. Thanks.