Quill DRO for Bridgeport clone mill

[John Conroy]

I really miss the quill DRO that came on my PM932 mill so I wanted to add one to the Ferro knee mill I have now. I bought two 6” digital Accu-Remote scales from KMS tools on sale at $30 each and use one on my lathe and the other for this project. I started by making up a prototype bracket from a couple of pieces of aluminum angle and pop rivets.

I made the permanent versions from a length of 2.5” square 6061 aluminum tubing with 3/16” wall. I marked out the pattern on the tube with a scribe and highlighted it with a sharpie then carved it out on the mill with a ¼” end mill. I painted the final product with engine enamel and baked it at 250 degrees for 2 hours to harden the paint.

I had to reduce the OD of the fine feed wheel to clear the thicker bracket so I put a knurl on it as well.

I also had to make up a plug to fit into the hole in the quill stop. It has a nose machined on it that fits into the hole and on the other end is a 5mm threaded hole to fasten the bracket of the digital scale. I attached it the quill stop with JB Weld epoxy.

It turned out well.

 

[Louis Dusablon]

Nice job, looks good man