Started installing the DRO on my Bridgeport

Some time ago I bought a Uniq three axis DRO for 9x42 milling machines like my Bridgeport. I reasoned that if I went with a DRO, the added expense of the third axis is not that much. So I got a three axis version.

I have started installing it, trying very hard to avoid screwing anything up permanently. Actually, as of this moment the mill has not been drilled or tapped.

The added hassle is that there is no installation diagram. But this webpage was helpful.

So far I have assembled the reading head and the Y axis. I believe that both X and Z, are considerably simplier than Y due to the fact that for X and Y, the surfaces that move along each other are parallel, but for Y they are perpendicular.

This DRO seems to be nicely made, actually, with splash guards, strain reliefs, and other niceties.

My expectation is that I will make some mistakes, but I hope not to break anything permanently.

Is there anyone else who installed their own DRO on the mill?

It seems you have to count on making some of your own mounting hardware. When I bought the Anilam DRO for my lathe, supposedly with the mounting kit for my exact model lathe, it still required some fitting and parts-making to the saddle. The "instructions" were more of a general description of the mounting principles, rather than step-by-step application to the machine I actually had.

Anyone anticipating a DRO installation should have been/be searching eBay for installation kits/brackets.

When I was looking into DROs, there were numerous sellers offering complete new install kits for knee or vertical mills, and lathes, some for as little as $12, IIRC. When you can get the heavy duty brackets already drilled and tapped with good quality mounting hardware, shims, and even the printed layout dimensions for the mounting holes, the task is greatly simplified. Searching the major DRO brand names may turn up some similar kits.

Then there's the option of making your own and improvising the install, which may end up costing a lot, for a setup that isn't accurate.

WB ......... metalworking projects

make sure the scale is level, make sure the reader travels level along the scale and doesnt drag on the scale,, make sure you figured your ends of axis travel...the rest is simply mechanics

And use a dial indicator to double check your installation for accuracy. some DROs have dip switches for compensation IE..if you move 3.002 and the dro says 3.0....adjust the dip switches..if any.

Gunn er

at yoyodyne they were all veterans of the psychic wars exiled from the eighth dimension where the winds of limbo roar"              mariposa rand mair theal

This Uniq kit, actually, comes with quite a few brackets. I tried putting the X axis brackets together, and I think that there is enough of these mounting things. These should fit Bridgeport mills, I think.

On Sat, 28 Jun 2008 23:59:47 -0500, Ignoramus14972

He who makes no mistakes usually makes nothing at all.

Somewhere, in your archives, are the pix I sent you of the install I did with the same unit on the 2-axis version. Throw the instructions out and just "common sense" it. Make sure nothing binds. For the "Y" axis, I used the bracket stuff with the unit but had to cut some pieces. For the "X" axis, I made a piece out of a 1/4" x 1.5" x 6" with a pocket milled in it for the encoder. That way it has just the right thickness. I used 1/4-20s for everything. Once I had a plan, it only took a couple of hours. Do you want me to see if I still have the pix or shoot new ones?

On Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:44:07 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Dan@ (Dan H) quickly quoth:

That is a mistake in and of itself.

-- Such is the irresistible nature of truth that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing. -- Thomas Paine

Tom, with great regret. I must say that unfortunately, the message is not in any archives, I have no idea what happened.

I think that I have made a good Y axis mounting, as of now.