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dro for gorton 8 1/2d mill

I have a 1956 model Gorton 8 1/2d vertical milling machine with a compound head , power feed and b and s #9 spindle taper and want to put a dro on it but am not familiar with aftermarket add ons or how the reader heads mount. I am looking at a KA mitutoyo unit on sale now. My table is 35 1/4 in long and the longitudinal power feed is limited to about 17inches before a shear pin breaks in the gear train. Travel is 10 in on cross feed. not sure how the slides and readers mount. The back of the table has about 1 3/8 inches of clearance from the table top to a street elbow drain for the coolant system. I think this is where the slide reader mounts and it cannot obviously be wider than that. I assume you have to drill into the table to mount these things. any advice?

Reply to
desperado
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for dimensional info.

You will have to drill and tap the table for mounting. If you cannot fit the Mit in you probably can use a Newall Topaz DRO because the scales are stainless steel tubes, 1/2" in dia.

Randy

Reply to
Randal O'Brian

thanks for the link Randy. I took a look at it and it looks like you can mount the slide in two ways. wide side against table or narrow side(end on). It looks like end on is the way for me. The longitudinal axis does not seem to be a problem then. The cross feed is a big problem since there is minimal clearance on the left side to mount anything due to the quick change gearbox and all the shafts and oil cups. The right side has a flat surface of about 1 inch but the cross feed lock lever is in the way; but I can bolt on a u shaped extension frame which bolts to the ends of this surface to clear the lever and mount the slide end on as above I think. The slide reader which is stationary can be bolted to the top of the feed drive motor housing. Also it looks like the slide reader is about 3 inches wide so that means I will lose 6 inches of travel on both x and y from the total length of the bar , so the 16 x 36 size model bar lengths will get me about 10 x

Reply to
desperado

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