PM-728-VT quill DRO replacement

[IStream]

Yeah, I'm definitely jumping the gun because I don't have the mill yet so I can't take any measurements of an iGaging read head or the faceplate cutout so I figured I'd pester y'all and see if anyone had done it already. This is what happens when your mill was supposed to arrive two days before Thanksgiving but didn't and now you've got the whole holiday weekend to stew...

 

[kenjesse]

I did the upgrade on mine using a micro magnetic scale. Off the top of my head I cannot remember the brand or model, I will have to look back at my records to figure that out.

As for installing, I had to remove the electrical box from the side and it attached to the side of the housing requiring two threaded hole. For attaching the moving sensor to the quill I used a length of stainless steel flat bar I had in the scarp bin attached to a length of aluminum bar attached to the holes previously used to attach the digital scale (which I removed). Everything is tied together using Touch DRO.

I ordered my mill with the magnetic DRO system preinstalled and replaced the readout with Touch DRO using their prebuilt combo reader for glass and magnetic scales.

 

[IStream]

Oooh, that is pretty slick! I do have a spare 6"/5um glass scale laying around that I was using for my lathe cross slide before I upgraded it with a 1um resolution unit. Once I get the mill in hand, I'll take a look and see if this configuration could work.

 

[ChazzC]

I ordered my mill with the magnetic DRO system preinstalled and replaced the readout with Touch DRO using their prebuilt combo reader for glass and magnetic scales.

If (not when because it will take a windfall) I upgrade my Mini-Mill & Mini-Lathe my plan is to visit PM (only 4 hour drive) to finalize my selections and negotiate having them equip with optical scales (or at least tapped mounting holes) but no DRO so I connect to Yuriy’s latest model adapters.

 

[IStream]

Before ordering, I talked to them about getting it with the scales but without the DRO readout and they said no dice. For a moment after that I thought about just buying my own scales and mounting them and while it would've saved me several hundred bucks, I decided it just wasn't worth it. I did that on my last mill and a couple different lathes and at this point it smells more like work than educational/fun. I'll get my DIY DRO fix retrofitting the quill

 

[ChazzC]

Before ordering, I talked to them about getting it with the scales but without the DRO readout and they said no dice. For a moment after that I thought about just buying my own scales and mounting them and while it would've saved me several hundred bucks, I decided it just wasn't worth it. I did that on my last mill and a couple different lathes and at this point it smells more like work than educational/fun. I'll get my DIY DRO fix retrofitting the quill

You need to work on your negotiating skills!

 

[Zaneman007]

I replaced the quill DRO on my PM 30 mill. There was plenty of room for the iGaging absolute, but.... drilling the two mounting holes into the stainless steel gage supplied was a problem. The material work hardens quickly. So make sure your bits are sharp and have zero burrs or roll over. I dulled several drill bits before I realized what was going on.

 

[IStream]

I replaced the quill DRO on my PM 30 mill. There was plenty of room for the iGaging absolute, but.... drilling the two mounting holes into the stainless steel gage supplied was a problem. The material work hardens quickly. So make sure your bits are sharp and have zero burrs or roll over. I dulled several drill bits before I realized what was going on.

Thanks. I've drilled into those scales before and after burning up one drill bit I went straight to a small center-cutting carbide endmill and showed it who's boss.

 

[yota]

I did the upgrade on mine using a micro magnetic scale. Off the top of my head I cannot remember the brand or model, I will have to look back at my records to figure that out.

As for installing, I had to remove the electrical box from the side and it attached to the side of the housing requiring two threaded hole. For attaching the moving sensor to the quill I used a length of stainless steel flat bar I had in the scarp bin attached to a length of aluminum bar attached to the holes previously used to attach the digital scale (which I removed). Everything is tied together using Touch DRO.

I ordered my mill with the magnetic DRO system preinstalled and replaced the readout with Touch DRO using their prebuilt combo reader for glass and magnetic scales.

that is pretty slick.

 

[van462]

I also went with a magnetic scale, the read heads are fairly small and I wanted a quill travel stop as well. summed z scales work great. I can lower the quill, zero the dro and raise and lock it then lower the head into position.