My Next Project - Meister 2 Axis DRO for my Lathe

[DaveH]

Ok Henry, I'm ready

Dave

[henryarnold]

Sorry guys. I meant carriage and cross slide not compound. The carriage moves 22" and the cross slide has about 6.5" of travel. I don't think I could fit a glass type scale on the compound. This lathe is small.

[Dave J]

Hi Ed,
Most of the cheaper DRO's like the Meister, Sino etc have the option of summing or not at the push of a button. The carriage hand wheel is not much good for fine feeding so this is where the compound scale shines.
I always lock up the carriage and dial in the last bit with the compound for facing etc.

Saying that you don't need the compound one for setting tapers with the DRO as thats done with just the carriage and cross slide scales.

For people without a mill and using the lathe compound as a milling attachment, the compound scale would make milling easier as well.

Dave

[EdK]

(06-27-2012, 07:26 AM)Dave J Wrote: Hi Ed,
Most of the cheaper DRO's like the Meister, Sino etc have the option of summing or not at the push of a button. The carriage hand wheel is not much good for fine feeding so this is where the compound scale shines.
I always lock up the carriage and dial in the last bit with the compound for facing etc.

Saying that you don't need the compound one for setting tapers with the DRO as thats done with just the carriage and cross slide scales.

For people without a mill and using the lathe compound as a milling attachment, the compound scale would make milling easier as well.

Dave

Dave,

Thanks for the explanation. I'll have to check my DRO manual and see if it has the summing function. Sounds like it could be useful.

Ed

[Dave J]

The Sino has it but only when you select lathe mode.
My Meister is a lathe and mill readout (XPOS3) and has a button for it on the front panel.

Dave

[EdK]

I checked the manual and my DRO Pros has it. There's even a button dedicated to the summing function. At least now I know what that button is for.

Ed

[EdK]

Henry,

Any new progress on the lathe DRO installation?

Thanks,
Ed

[henryarnold]

(10-12-2012, 09:18 AM)EdK Wrote: Henry,

Any new progress on the lathe DRO installation?

Thanks,
Ed

Ed,

I finished here.
http://www.metalworkingfun.com/showthread.php?tid=568
I've been using my lathe a lot and the DRO is great. I never solved the problem of locking the cross slide but I have devised a way to add a lock which I will eventually add. I'm still glad I didn't put the scale on left side of the carriage. I decided not to gather my posts into a PDF since there were enough doubts about how I installed the cross slide scale. I don't want to steer anyone down the wrong path.

Henry Arnold

[EdK]

(10-14-2012, 11:10 PM)henryarnold Wrote:

(10-12-2012, 09:18 AM)EdK Wrote: Henry,

Any new progress on the lathe DRO installation?

Thanks,
Ed

Ed,

I finished here.
http://www.metalworkingfun.com/showthread.php?tid=568
I've been using my lathe a lot and the DRO is great. I never solved the problem of locking the cross slide but I have devised a way to add a lock which I will eventually add. I'm still glad I didn't put the scale on left side of the carriage. I decided not to gather my posts into a PDF since there were enough doubts about how I installed the cross slide scale. I don't want to steer anyone down the wrong path.

Henry Arnold

Hi Henry,

Sorry about that. I realized after the fact that you had finished it in another thread.

Ed

[henryarnold]

See
http://www.metalworkingfun.com/showthread.php?tid=568

for the installation of a DRO on a small lathe