Large dials for an Atlas mill

They also sell one with 100 teeth. Of course, everyone is free to set their machines up as they wish. And some machinists do think that the so-called "direct reading" cross feed dials are the way to go. But not all will agree with that. One should also consider the cases where it would be a disadvantage to convert a machine from normal before doing it.
 
wa5cab said:
They also sell one with 100 teeth. Of course, everyone is free to set their machines up as they wish. And some machinists do think that the so-called "direct reading" cross feed dials are the way to go. But not all will agree with that. One should also consider the cases where it would be a disadvantage to convert a machine from normal before doing it.
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I agree, one of the reasons to go to a larger dial is to make it easier to read. If you then make it 200 div it is just crowding it up again. I did use the 200T to make a 100 div dial just used every other tooth.
 
Yes, there is that as well.
 
On a lathe, it makes sense to go to a dial with 200 divisions because you are reducing the diameter of the stock. But on a mill I don't really see the benefit. I would actually find it more confusing.
 
VSAncona said:
On a lathe, it makes sense to go to a dial with 200 divisions because you are reducing the diameter of the stock. But on a mill I don't really see the benefit. I would actually find it more confusing.
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Bridgeport's have a 200 division dial. It has to do with the pitch of the lead screw. If they had only 100 divisions every line would be .002 movement instead of .001
 
JPMacG said:
Very nice work woochucker. Tubal Cain's method was similar to yours. Is 200 a common saw blade tooth count?
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I got my idea (well not mine) from Tubalcain. The cost for dials on EBAY is the $300 range. When I found that the ply blade I had from the 1970's (7" blade) was 200 teeth I was shocked. I had to count it a few times. If I do another dial I will make the etches deeper. I love direct reading.. So much more accurate now. I would never go back to 100..

I don't know if it's common, I just had it.
 
Well, each to his own. Just remember to double everything if you are threading, milling or using a DOC table.
 
wa5cab said:
Well, each to his own. Just remember to double everything if you are threading, milling or using a DOC table.
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There's no need to double anything. when you use a dial that is moving .001 per .001 you need to 1/2 your cut. When you use direct reading, when you are shooting for a .325 and you are at .335, you only need to move the dial .010, with the my old dial, I had to divide by .5 and move .05 So for my preference, I am much quicker, more accurate (due to less F ups), and much happier.
 
Nope. Most of the cuts made on a lathe are governed by trying to remove metal as quickly as possible. About a month ago, I had to make a part out of a 3" diameter chunk of 4140 that was all that I could find for the job late Friday afternoon. The largest diameter on the finished part was 1-1/2". And that dimension wasn't critical anyway. It was just a handle. The actual important work didn't start until two-thirds of the billet was reduced to shavings. Which took half the night.

Then there are plenty of other cases where the critical dimension is how far the cross slide moves, threading, grooving and milling being three.
 
I purchased the dial blank and made a set for a 12" craftsman commercial lathe I just restored. As previously mentioned, not cheap but a nice item. I added thrust bearings so it was a little more work. A write up of the job is over at machinist web.
 
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