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Dro Install (was "its Here!")

Discussion in 'The Tool Shed' started by Howard Eisenhauer, Jun 18, 2020.

  1. Sep 28, 2020
    Howard Eisenhauer

    Howard Eisenhauer Administrator Staff Member

    Tantallon, Nova...
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    Where is it? On the back of the table?
     
  2. Sep 28, 2020
    47v6

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    Yes, back of table. 2 machined surfaces there and no need to make some sort of contraption on the front. Doesn't matter anyway as the ways are really worn out and cranking it all the way back is very difficult. I lose 2 inches of space I can never use. The middle of the aluminums housing is about 15 thousandths bowed. Doesn't seem to affect the numbers. I mounted the Y Axis, but haven't hooked it up yet. The brackets it came with were what was needed to attach the apron to the reader and i had to fabricate nothing.
     
  3. Sep 28, 2020
    Howard Eisenhauer

    Howard Eisenhauer Administrator Staff Member

    Tantallon, Nova...
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    awww :(

    [​IMG]
     
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  4. Sep 28, 2020
    47v6

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    HAhahAhaha. I don't want to make the junk FOR the junk to make more better preciser junk! But seriously, this might make less scrap parts in my life!
     
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  5. Sep 30, 2020
    47v6

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    FD598220-90B9-4E6C-8B65-4FA4D43DFF0D.jpeg This is basically how it’s mounted on the back. I have added the included cover.
     
  6. Sep 30, 2020
    Howard Eisenhauer

    Howard Eisenhauer Administrator Staff Member

    Tantallon, Nova...
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    Ahhhh- that scratched the itch. ;)
     
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  7. Sep 30, 2020
    47v6

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    Installed Z axis. Needs a cover and this is not ideal, but will work. F2EB4524-21A2-4F7E-92F7-874180C8DFDB.jpeg
     
  8. Sep 30, 2020
    47v6

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    X Y Z
    82A95EFD-8CFC-41D6-8B91-427FF3419751.jpeg
    Not to be confused with YYZ
     
  9. Sep 30, 2020
    Mcruff

    Mcruff Earlycj5 Machinist

    Albertville, AL
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    If your going to mount DRO scales on the back of the table you should put a round post on the saddle to act as a stop to keep from bashing the scale in when you move the Y axis.
    Did you indicate the scale in to get it straight? You should do this to aid in cosine error. Whatever is left you should be able to compensate for in the DRO tables for your display. Use like a 4" gage block to check your error with, then you can compensate down to the .0001 for the error.
     
  10. Oct 1, 2020
    47v6

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    Yes, I indicated the x axis in. What I found was the scale is not straight and has about .012 of a bow from end to end. This scale I cut and snapped off the glass inside. I ordered the length wrong or it was sent wrong. Either way, its worlds better than the .018-.020 back lash I have both x and Y.

    I am totally not concerned about smashing the scale as the ways are worn enough that it difficult to actually crank it all the way back with gibs adjusted right for the middle of the usable area. There is also a tapped hole in the base behind the saddle for this.

    I'm not really happy about the Z axis scale mounting, but I most likely won't be using it that much...

    Remember, this is a 250 buck 3 axis LCD straight from china on aliexpress. I cannot expect it to be perfect, but its going to perfectly upgrade my abilities in my super worn out old bridgeport clone I pulled out of a barn for 750 bucks and a pile of tooling almost 10 years ago. Its paid for itself at least 10 times over.

    Going to finish a shield for that Z axis, clean up the wiring and make less scrap!
     
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  11. Oct 5, 2020
    teletech

    teletech Member

    Santa Cruz, CA
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    I too bought a cheap Chinese DRO setup. I feel a bit guilty installing it on my Well-Index Mdl.40 (surplus WWII battleship mill usually) but it was really hard to cost-justify anything else. I'm still scrounging parts to put a vintage DRO on my Van-Norman 22LU though since a Cheap modern DRO just wouldn't look right at all. Gotta find something with nixies. :)
     
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  12. Oct 9, 2020
    47v6

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    0256884B-D968-4FDB-AECF-E74CDCA3A1F7.jpeg
    this is a 117 buck power feed off eBay. The reviews are that it’s great for what I need, just like the DRO.
     
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  13. Jan 27, 2021
    Howard Eisenhauer

    Howard Eisenhauer Administrator Staff Member

    Tantallon, Nova...
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    In the Exciting last Episode-

    "One of the scales died, had to wait 3 weeks for a replacement. :(

    The replacement scale seems to have some issues of it's own, plugged into the Y port it work fine for 3" or so of travel then it starts driving the X axis nuts, I suspect it's generating some noise on the 5v power rail; I'll probably end up getting a replacement from a different supplier
    .'


    I eventually ended end up getting a replacement Y scale from a different supplier.

    Same thing . :(

    Then the X stopped working at all. :mad:

    Had to be the DRO.

    So I contacted the seller again explaining the the situation & what I had done to isolate the issue & why I thought the DRO was bad, I also mentioned the two year warranty the advertised on their ebay listings as well as on the back of the manual. After some very creative miss-interpretations of the correspondence they just stopped responding altogether. :ninja:

    Grrrr.

    With nothing left to lose I opened up the DRO & started tracing things out-

    Mother Board_1.jpg


    The inputs hit the main board & go through a R-L-C-R-C-R-C-R-C conditioning circuit. There's 3 signal lines per port although the supplied scales only use the A & B lines, I'm guessing the 3rd is for the half rate Z signal even though the manual doesn't show it.

    The signal lines run to hex Schmitt triggers- X & Y run to U2, Z to U4. U4 would also handle port "U" for the four channel version.

    There's also a U7 that seems to be there for an unused usb port & something (W) that might be a serial interface.

    Working through with a scope I could see nice clean square signals all three inputs on X , Y (U3) & Z (U4) but the outputs of U3 were low & had a funny sawtooth component on the low side of the signal waveform which was also showing up on all six lines even with only one scale connected. Z out lines on U4 were clean. I found I could see the sawtooth on U4's pin 7 (ground connection) but not on the ground pad it was soldered to.


    ???


    I hit the pin 7 joint for a sec with the soldering iron & No More Problems


    Everything is now working perfectly. :)


    Lesson learned- you buy cheap from china & it's a crap shoot on what happens after that :(

    I've also now now found that scales from different providers are wired differently- there seems to be no standardization on pin outs for the DB-9 connector. If you mix & match be prepared to do a little re-arraigning with the soldering iron at the connector.
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2021
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  14. Jan 27, 2021
    47v6

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    I bought mine direct from china on AliExpress. I have had no issues at all. The kit was so cheap that the gamble was worth it for me.

    I have since bought a 5c collet chuck thats pure chinesium off eBay. I had to machine the cast iron LOO mount to fit the chuck and my lathe and even with cheap chinese 5 c collets its within .001...The action is a bit crunchy and the pin that locates the collets and keeps it from spinning is less than perfect, but for 180 bucks shipped.. its amazing.

    Machining cast iron is terrible. It creates an abrasive paste anywhere any oil is present. It also flies everywhere like metallic sand.
     
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  15. Jan 27, 2021
    Howard Eisenhauer

    Howard Eisenhauer Administrator Staff Member

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    Try grinding it. :whistle:

    sm_head_grinding_8.jpg
     
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  16. Jan 27, 2021
    47v6

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  17. Jan 27, 2021
    Howard Eisenhauer

    Howard Eisenhauer Administrator Staff Member

    Tantallon, Nova...
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    Needed to clean up the underneath of the head to affix a bracket.

    Mill_head_rough_1.jpg

    mill_head_grind_2.jpg

    sm_head_grinding_3.jpg

    mill_head_grind_5.jpg

    Arm_install_1.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2021
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  18. Feb 2, 2021
    teletech

    teletech Member

    Santa Cruz, CA
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    Goes to show, to each their own... I actually love machining cast iron. You can take very aggressive cuts with no coolant required and then vacuum/sweep rather than having coolant and wet chips everywhere. It's soft enough that it's pretty easy on cutters, won't work-harden, and won't stick to your tools. The chips aren't hard enough to be all that abrasive. It's also pretty great to tap since you don't have things wrapping around the tap or curling up in the bores.
     
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