Milling Depth Indicator
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Hi gang,
Inspired by the discussion on here a little while back I finally got around to having another go at mounting an indicator on my milling column. My column is home made so I had no qualms about drilling and tapping the end M5 (on a bigger lathe). On top of this I attach a piece of 5/16 bar also drilled and tapped with a length of M5 studding in between. The block is from 1/2 in square steel with M4 Allen screws for clamping. Finally the horizontal bar is from 3/8 steel with the ends turned down and one end threaded M6 to attach through the bracket on the back of the indicator body? I took it for a test drive cleaning up a sawn aluminium offcut for further use. After a few niggles with loose bits it worked really well... better than I had expected. I ended up with a 10mm cutter taking 3 thou cuts. Unusually for a milling job I actually enjoyed it. Photos attached... I hope? Regards, Andy |
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Nice!? If one didn't want to damage their original column, they could just as easily make a steel or aluminum base for the indicator that clamps on the top of the column.? I may have to do that. -Dave
On Sunday, May 12, 2024 at 02:09:11 PM PDT, Andy Carlson via groups.io <andycarlson@...> wrote:
Hi gang, Inspired by the discussion on here a little while back I finally got around to having another go at mounting an indicator on my milling column. My column is home made so I had no qualms about drilling and tapping the end M5 (on a bigger lathe). On top of this I attach a piece of 5/16 bar also drilled and tapped with a length of M5 studding in between. The block is from 1/2 in square steel with M4 Allen screws for clamping. Finally the horizontal bar is from 3/8 steel with the ends turned down and one end threaded M6 to attach through the bracket on the back of the indicator body? I took it for a test drive cleaning up a sawn aluminium offcut for further use. After a few niggles with loose bits it worked really well... better than I had expected. I ended up with a 10mm cutter taking 3 thou cuts. Unusually for a milling job I actually enjoyed it. Photos attached... I hope? Regards, Andy |
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýHi Gang: I don't see adding a tapped hole in anything as "Damage". I tapped holes in my table saw top to mount my Unimat to something stable to use it. I also tapped holes in my Unimat cross slide to mount a digital read out. Tapped holes in my Smithy lathe/mill to add a three axis DRO, etc. And don't get me started in all the holes I've cut in our pop-up camper to make it nicer: sized from 1/8" to a 24"x50" skylight hole. So it is far from untouched original! So tap away and improve your machines! Good Luck,
Carl. On 5/13/2024 3:16 AM, Dave Seiter
wrote:
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Carl