Gallery, Projects and General > Neat Stuff

A Different Approach

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75Plus:
Over the weekend I made this into a "system". I can now use the gauge on either side of the carriage, depending on the job at hand, as well as measure the cross slide movement. When using the gauge on the gearbox side I see no need for the swing away mentioned earlier so I just use a clamp block on the ways and attach the gauge. For cross slide use I made a mounting block and embedded 4 rare earth magnets. I found two holes drilled in the cross slide for some unknown (to me) purpose which were just the right size to tap a 3/8-24 thread to secure a block for the plunger to bear against.

Here are some pictures of the results.

Here it is mounted on the left of the carriage.



Here is the setup for measuring the cross slide travel.



A view of the mounting block for the cross slide.



And the gauge with all the mounts.



For those who like to look inside here is a couple of shots.

nearnexus:
Thanks for posting those.

Interesting to see a close up of the mount which enables the gauge to be attached to a magnetic dial indicator base and used as a digital probe indicator.

I was pretty impressed with the twin functionality of that little gauge and tracked down an Ebay seller who will ship world wide at reasonable rates, so I ordered one.

If anyone else outside of the USA is interested, here is the current Ebay link.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DEPTH-GAUGE-DIGITAL-INDICATOR-2-1-DEPTH-GAGE-0-4-/190562940188?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5e6fb51c

I don't intend to modify this one, as I already have the elcheapo one that works fine for the original concept.

But for the money the Igaging one is also well worth having in the drawer, especially when you consider how the price compares to a dedicated digital probe - and my sheet of spare batteries that I bought off Ebay for peanuts fits both units.

Rob

nearnexus:
I got my little Igaging depth gauge today as used by Joe, and I must say it really is a nice unit.

Very smooth and the repeatability is excellent (100%).  

Sideways deflection on the Igaging is also not an issue, as it is intended to be used as a digital indicator, as well as a depth gauge.

The original little elcheapo DRO is the way to go to modify into a Micro DRO, and you've got nothing much to lose if you screw up.  I use mine a lot.  I see the price has come back to under $6 AU again.

But for anyone looking to get a really nice depth, come digital indicator, the Igaging is highly recommended - and not expensive if you shop around.


Rob

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