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| Adding iGaging Readouts to A Grizzly G0704 Mill |
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| 75Plus:
Several months ago I purchased a set of iGaging brand digital readouts to install on my Grizzly mill/drill a BF20L clone. I recently got around to installing them. I was not impressed with the mounting hardware supplied so the first order of business was to design and fabricate what I think is an improved mounting system. My system is somewhat machine specific so it may not adapt well to other machines. These sketches show the mounts I am using. Using pan head or button head screws the scales are clamped into the supports. The supports are designed to mount to the machine with one 10-32 or 5mm screw which reduces the number of tapped holes required in the machine. The one hole solution also helps in the alignment of the scale end to end. The first scale installed was for the X axis. I used the existing dovetail nuts that had held the stops for the X axis to support the ends of the scale. The holes that had attached the fixed stop was used to attach the pickup head. This axis is the only one wherein the pickup head is stationary and the scale moves through it. The other two have fixed scales and moving pickup heads. As can be seen in the pictures the gib locks had to be extended to provide clearance for the scale. I used a couple of M6 X 50mm bolts that I cut the heads from and added over sized wing nuts to provide necessary torque when locking the gib. Not shown on the sketch for the X mount is the two tapped holes used for securing the cover. The hole can be seen in the picture. The cover/coolant guard is made from light weight ali angle. 1 X 1 X 1/16. It can be sealed with a strip of silicone caulking if swarf or coolant is a problem. The cover ends are mitered to reduce sharp corners. Here are the pictures of the X axis readout. The DRO uncovered, The read head and the extended gib locks. Picture showing the mount with a tapped hole for mounting the cover, The mitered corner. Here is the guard installed. Next came the Z axis readout. There was nothing special in mounting this one and swarf and coolant is not a problem in this area. Here it is securely attached to the column. The Y axis was last and I got a couple of pictures of the mounting system before I bolted it onto the mill. And here it is tucked under the table. The only thing left to do is make a mount for the three displays and determine how best to route the connecting cables. Joe |
| Bernd:
You got me thinking about adding DRO's to my Grizzly mini mill. Going to have to look into this after all the Christmas bills are paid. Bernd |
| Troutsqueezer:
Nice job Joe! Best mod I ever made to my mini mill, Bernd. You'll wonder why you waited so long. |
| DaveH:
Joe, Nicely done :thumbup: Well shown :clap: :beer: DaveH |
| cfellows:
Very nice job, Joe, and timely. I just finished tearing down my Enco mill/drill, cleaning it up, and reassembling it with a new x-axis table nut. I've had a set of the Grizzly DRO's setting on the shelf for close to a year and just decided to install them. Your method of attaching the scales is elegant and perfect for my application. I also like how you attached to the x-axis guard directly to the scale mounting brackets. Thanks for posting! Chuck Edit: Did you use one of the supplied brackets to attach the pickup head to the fixed stop holes? |
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