Fantastic advice and help! I'm ready now to fit my DRO to my Champion 20V. Thanks Ade, you are not far away me so it's great to have a local guy's help and advice.
If you are going to try cutting one again, I have a much easier way. You mentioned the bits of plastic or silicone. After you remove the pickup, you can pry the bits out with a small 90 pick. (careful not to scratch the glass scale) After you get the bits out, the scale will just come out. (Make sure you mark it how it was installed) ( I don't think they would glue in place, to easy to get glue on the scale.) Cut the housing with a cutoff saw, debur and clean. Mark the glass and score with a glass cutter, support it and snap it. Put the glass back in and using a small putty knife, press the little plastic rods in place. I had no idea on if I could find a 2.2 mm tap, but the screws made their own thread in the soft aluminum.
Stuck one of mine in a dewalt chop saw with a carbide blade. Right through it with out a bit of trouble. Worried about it for days, took 15seconds to do the job.
Very nice job. Looking forward to seeing the completed set up. With the DRO scale on the rear of the table there is a risk that you may crush the scale between the Y carriage and the column. When I did mine on a Chester Lux mill, I screwed a stop (25mm dia aluminium bar) to the column and machined the length of the stop to give a few thou clearance between the column and the scale. better than having to buy a replacement scale!! Keep safe and carry on milling.
Hi John , after many years on bridgeports with 3 axis DRO it was a must have, the few months without one took me back to the K&T that i ran during my apprenticeship, Cheers Ade.
Nice to see you back, though I can understand your not wanting to sit in front of a screen editing. Nice idea to use a sub plate. I did the same on my Harrison lathe. Looking forward to part 2. Thank you.
I used the 500 mm scale on the back of mine, it’s just fine, clears the coolant outlet and I’ve still got full travel, Bolted it straight to the back of the table, haven’t had any problem with crap collecting between table and scale, easily sucked out with a vacuum anyway. Used a 200mm on the cross slide, that also fitted without any modification.
I'd like a DRO at some point but just can't justify it at the moment. You did a nice clean job of cutting your scale though, if I have to cut one at some point I think I'll do something similar.
Ohhhh Ades, you have bigger nuts then me, I quite sure I’d make a mess if I had to do that, hence why I haven’t put a dro on my mill yet, I think I can get the correct length scales, I really should just do it, great video mate, thanks for sharing, take care Matty
I'm fitting the same scales to my Shoptask. You may notice there are slots for two sets of seals. So I found a seller on aliexpress that sells the rubber strip by the metre. $10 for extra peace of mind. These glass scales are dirt delicate.
Ade your a star just had to do the same thing for my mill I was lucky I did not have to drill for the end caps as the new scales have extruded holes already fitted
I have the same mill and looking for a dro kit at present Ade. Watching you do yours will make it easier to do mine, you've already done the head work for me. Where did you get your kit from Ade?
startig to wonderif one of those cheap tilesawswould would , would need tohold the whole thingat an angle so the cooling water doesnt run into the dro slide
I guess it was due to seeing so many kits to convert to belt drive and having seen people who did a conversion raving about how it was so much improved on smoothness and noise i guessed lets save myself a job , Cheers Ade.
Hi are I cut mine with the handsaw, as it came in a 1 metre length , I've got 10 length s linear scale with readers sent to me last year I only ordered one pair I tried to explain they had made a mistake but they didn't understand and I still have them
Nice job so far Ade, you're a braver man than me, looking forward to seeing the finished result. Do you compromise any of your Y axis travel by putting this on the back? My mill should be arriving next week, already getting excited! Keep up the good work mate. Jon
I have a similar mill and, yes you will loose travel. So I didn't used the guard cover and put the scale directly on the back. I filled the gap with liquid gasket (some car stuff). You have to remove the sattle, so it's a lot of work for this axis. You can't drill the required holes for the sensor elsewhere. The little gap between the working table and the sattle Ade mentioned is perfect for the sensor, so you don't have to chim something, just bold it flush on the back.
Fantastic advice and help! I'm ready now to fit my DRO to my Champion 20V. Thanks Ade, you are not far away me so it's great to have a local guy's help and advice.
If you are going to try cutting one again, I have a much easier way. You mentioned the bits of plastic or silicone. After you remove the pickup, you can pry the bits out with a small 90 pick. (careful not to scratch the glass scale) After you get the bits out, the scale will just come out. (Make sure you mark it how it was installed) ( I don't think they would glue in place, to easy to get glue on the scale.) Cut the housing with a cutoff saw, debur and clean. Mark the glass and score with a glass cutter, support it and snap it. Put the glass back in and using a small putty knife, press the little plastic rods in place. I had no idea on if I could find a 2.2 mm tap, but the screws made their own thread in the soft aluminum.
Stuck one of mine in a dewalt chop saw with a carbide blade. Right through it with out a bit of trouble. Worried about it for days, took 15seconds to do the job.
Great video Ade, many thanks. I followed it and cut my scales to fit my machine without a hitch. Cheers!
So far your way is the best way to cut these scales. I will do the same. Thanks.
Very nice job. Looking forward to seeing the completed set up.
With the DRO scale on the rear of the table there is a risk that you may crush the scale between the Y carriage and the column. When I did mine on a Chester Lux mill, I screwed a stop (25mm dia aluminium bar) to the column and machined the length of the stop to give a few thou clearance between the column and the scale. better than having to buy a replacement scale!!
Keep safe and carry on milling.
Well done Ade. Glad went with magnetic scales, a lot smaller as well.
Its a lot easier if you use magnetic encoders. The magnetic tape can be cut with scissors! The encoders are sealed and impervious to dirt etc.
Thanks for the video Ade. Keep safe and stay well.
You’ll love having the DRO, after installing a DRO on my mill, I wonder how I ever worked without it!
Hi John , after many years on bridgeports with 3 axis DRO it was a must have, the few months without one took me back to the K&T that i ran during my apprenticeship, Cheers Ade.
Love the Tetleys ash tray full of tab ends. Proper workshop that mate 👍
great work Ade very informative can't wait to see how it ends
Nice to see you back, though I can understand your not wanting to sit in front of a screen editing. Nice idea to use a sub plate. I did the same on my Harrison lathe. Looking forward to part 2. Thank you.
Always a pleasure watching you work wish you were on this side of the pond I would like to take you out for a pint or two cheers
Yes indeed. Cheers Paul,
Good progress Ade. I like the dual vice set up on the mill, first time I've seen it done on a RUclips video. Tony
I used the 500 mm scale on the back of mine, it’s just fine, clears the coolant outlet and I’ve still got full travel, Bolted it straight to the back of the table, haven’t had any problem with crap collecting between table and scale, easily sucked out with a vacuum anyway. Used a 200mm on the cross slide, that also fitted without any modification.
I did the same. I filled the gap with liquid gasket.
And yes 500mm is enough. The length specified is always the travel (!) length.
I'd like a DRO at some point but just can't justify it at the moment. You did a nice clean job of cutting your scale though, if I have to cut one at some point I think I'll do something similar.
Ohhhh Ades, you have bigger nuts then me, I quite sure I’d make a mess if I had to do that, hence why I haven’t put a dro on my mill yet, I think I can get the correct length scales, I really should just do it, great video mate, thanks for sharing, take care Matty
Thanks for the video, maybe faster with a Dremel diamant disc.
WoW Nice Ade thanks for the video 👍🏻😎
I'm fitting the same scales to my Shoptask. You may notice there are slots for two sets of seals. So I found a seller on aliexpress that sells the rubber strip by the metre. $10 for extra peace of mind. These glass scales are dirt delicate.
Ade your a star just had to do the same thing for my mill I was lucky I did not have to drill for the end caps as the new scales have extruded holes already fitted
A while back now but it seems to be holding up well . Cheers Ade.
Your way is much better than how I did it. 👍🏼
No good. Can the glass scale be removed out and shortened with a blade or something for a clean finish, instead of rough cutting it?
It could be, but it is glued in about every 100mm. Cheers Ade.
Enjoying your post on the
I have the same mill and looking for a dro kit at present Ade. Watching you do yours will make it easier to do mine, you've already done the head work for me. Where did you get your kit from Ade?
startig to wonderif one of those cheap tilesawswould would , would need tohold the whole thingat an angle so the cooling water doesnt run into the dro slide
See ya in part!
God bless
Stay safe
Hi Ade. Nice job. I sent you an email the other week, asking if you mind sharing where you got the DRO setup from...
hi, quick question...why did you get the WM16B instead of the WM16? Just wondering your reasons for getting this. Cheers, Dave
I guess it was due to seeing so many kits to convert to belt drive and having seen people who did a conversion raving about how it was so much improved on smoothness and noise i guessed lets save myself a job , Cheers Ade.
@@ade63dug thanks, I'll look into to that -- and the higher spindle speed cant be knocked.
Good day Adrian
I just used a bandsaw and a fine blade run slow.
Hi are
I cut mine with the handsaw, as it came in a 1 metre length , I've got 10 length s linear scale with readers sent to me last year I only ordered one pair I tried to explain they had made a mistake but they didn't understand and I still have them
I used a hacksaw and a dremmel to cut my scale down, but it was a worry.
Interesting, where did you get your DRO?
Nice job so far Ade, you're a braver man than me, looking forward to seeing the finished result. Do you compromise any of your Y axis travel by putting this on the back? My mill should be arriving next week, already getting excited! Keep up the good work mate. Jon
I have a similar mill and, yes you will loose travel.
So I didn't used the guard cover and put the scale directly on the back. I filled the gap with liquid gasket (some car stuff).
You have to remove the sattle, so it's a lot of work for this axis. You can't drill the required holes for the sensor elsewhere. The little gap between the working table and the sattle Ade mentioned is perfect for the sensor, so you don't have to chim something, just bold it flush on the back.