Standard Modern 11" Utilathe Dro?

[lucsimoneau]

I have the CX701 by Busybee.
I currently have two out of four (five? Bear with me...) axes done: my carriage (Z) and cross-slide (X).
I have an encoder on the spindle that drives my electronic gearing. I want to pull that signal back to the DRO as well so I can use it to set the spindle position. I might get to that this morning - I have a couple of hours to spend in the shop.
The fourth axis I'm considering is on the tailstock, which will be easy enough, I just haven't gotten there. I guess I don't do enough blind drilling.
The fifth axis would be the rotation of the compound. I keep noodling at ways to get a precise measure there and short of essentially mounting a rotary table to hold the compound I'm not finding great ways to proceed at the precision levels that would make it useful.

Have the same lathe, do you mind sharing pictures of the 2 already installed DRO's and a bit of info on the model chosen , thanks!

 

[PaulL]

Have the same lathe, do you mind sharing pictures of the 2 already installed DRO's and a bit of info on the model chosen , thanks!

The X axis is here: https://canadianhobbymetalworkers.com/threads/whats-paul-up-to.6143/post-173636
The Z axis is here: https://canadianhobbymetalworkers.com/threads/whats-paul-up-to.6143/post-118320, though I didn't write much about it you can make out the little bracket dropping to reach under the ways. You can also see my older X axis setup, now replaced because it was awful (the stainless cover peeled away, probably from oil and swarf penetration).
With a picture of the tape:

And I discuss my ELS around https://canadianhobbymetalworkers.com/threads/whats-paul-up-to.6143/post-95279

I like my cx701. I was completely new to machining, and it is a completely usable first lathe. I've since replaced the change gears with electronic gearing (link above), added the DRO, made myself a 5C collet adapter and draw tube, and generally made it a better machine.
The only piece that's kind of meh is the plate attaching the compound. It wasn't sturdy enough and a small bridging bit broke. I've been making custom cross-slide carriages since to both run a toolpost without a compound, as well a other bits of tooling. Having self-made cross-slide sleds makes me much less anxious about drilling in and making specialized mounting. I'd likely do something like this on any lathe I'd be doing crazier setups with. More written about this at https://canadianhobbymetalworkers.com/threads/whats-paul-up-to.6143/post-136447

 

[Susquatch]

Not recalibrate, just re-zero. Zero is a PITA however. Though I'm imagining a jig to check against the ways somehow.

Ya, I'd still call that calibrating but toe-may-toe tah-mah-toe.

I thought about a stop too. But if it moves even a tiny smidge, it's no good.

 

[architect]

@architect - to measure travel properly, you need to set a reference on the moving piece (say a given corner of the saddle - doesn't really matter where as long as the same point is used for all measurements), then move the
Saddle to one extreme - (say against the head), make a reference mark on the bed adjacent to your chosen saddle point, then move the saddle to the far end as far as it will ever go. I chose to remove my tailstock and moved the carriage as far as the carriage rack will allow it to go. Make another mark on the bed and then measure between marks. This is your travel.

However, you also need to add some length for the scale end caps and for the read head. Usually, the seller will tell you what those three numbers are and in fact, they will usually add them to your travel measurements for you. The only concern here is communication errors between you and the seller. This one is worth beating to death with them to make sure you are both on the same page.

Measured out travel at 7" and 22". The rails are 36" but the saddle is 14" so even without the tail and headstock I only get 22" travel before the saddle moved off the rail. Maybe I'll just get a 36" slide size to cover the whole rail instead of covering the 22" travel as per Brent's comment. Does this make sense?

 

[Brent H]

Or 30” - just make sure you can cover the full travel lenght

 

[RobinHood]

If the scale is too long, you can always trim some off.

 

[Susquatch]

Measured out travel at 7" and 22". The rails are 36" but the saddle is 14" so even without the tail and headstock I only get 22" travel before the saddle moved off the rail. Maybe I'll just get a 36" slide size to cover the whole rail instead of covering the 22" travel as per Brent's comment. Does this make sense?

I see others have chimed in with good advice. If your saddle is at all like the vast majority, it can only travel as far as the exposed leadscrew will let it.

I kinda like the idea of a full length leadscrew whether it's needed or not.

For some reason, the sellers don't charge per unit length. So it won't cost you any more for the extra length.