A short DRO story

Brian Rupnow · Nov 10, 2015

Literally---A short DRO. Although my new lathe has a lot of carriage travel, most of the work I do on models will be made using the topslide to move the tool longitudinally, with the carriage locked in position. Although the dials are marked in thousandths of an inch, and I don't really need the DRO, it is certainly nice when doing something like cutting fins on an air cooled cylinder to be able to "zero" the measuring device after each cut, instead of trying to remember all the dial settings and keep track of the math in my head. The total longitudinal travel of my topslide is only 1.650", so a 4" digital caliper works just fine for what I need and can be "zeroed" after each cut. It's a bit difficult to see exactly what I done in the photograph, but the solid model shows it a bit better. Anything shown in grey is part of the lathe. Anything shown in color is new stuff I have added.----Brian

pkastagehand · Nov 10, 2015

I suppose you may eventually want shorter "thumb screws" for locking it in place to replace those SHCS sticking up. But what a great idea.

Herbiev · Nov 10, 2015

Great idea. Thanks Brian.

kiwi2 · Nov 11, 2015

Hi Brian,
This looks like a good idea but I can't understand how it operates. It seems the left hand side of the caliper is fixed and the right hand side moves with the topslide but I can't see how the connection to the topslide is made. Can you post a photo showing this?
Regards,
Alan C.

ShopShoe · Nov 11, 2015

Brian,

Good One. I was going to to this once to my mini-lathe, but changed my mind.

I would "dehorn" the calipers, but then it seems my fingers are always asking to be poked by sharp objects. No criticism of your always-excellent engineering intended, just added for other members' contemplation.

As always, thanks for posting,

--ShopShoe

Brian Rupnow · Nov 11, 2015

Kiwi2--there are two short 1/4" bolts tapped through the far end of the green saddle that sets across the top of the topslide. They are snugged up so that the green saddle grips the topslide and moves with the topslide.---brian

Gordon · Nov 11, 2015

I recently added a linear scale with external reader to my South Bend lathe. This has a 30" travel and is mounted behind the carriage on the bed. This makes it pretty much out of the way. This worked so well I decided to add a scale to the cross feed. This has not worked nearly as well because it is in the way and gets chips landing on it. The linear scale cost less than $100 and so far has worked well. I will probably just remove the cross feed scale.