The cheapest way to make a tailstock Dro

I wanted a Dro on the tailstock of the Myford so i could get an accurate way of drilling a hole in stock. I did not want to drill holes in the tailstock so if i wanted to remove it, i could without damage. This is on my Super 7 , but could be fitted to any lathe with a bit of thought. The cost was under £10 for the whole project.

Steve.

Tailstock Dro

hi steve, nice video, is that you or the monkey that fills the ashtray.

Is this an installation of a digi-caliper using neodymium magnets?

Great work. I put one of those Aldi callipers on my 14x40 lathe around three years ago. I did drill and tap the tailstock for my installation. Best £8 ever spent on the lathe, only just changed the battery for the second time.

It's the monkey. I keep telling him, but will he listen.

Steve.

No , i did look at making it that way . It seemed to be too unstable. So the fixings are the 2 oil ports. So far it has been ok.

Steve.

Nice result. There are a couple of things to consider when doing a mod like this. The stainless steel can catch you out when drilling and tapping, it is prone to workhardening. I would recommend sharp drills, slow rpm and good feed rate to minimise the danger. Make any holes to be tapped on the loose side, not tight. With a self extracting quill taper, make sure there is going to be a conflict when clamping on a bracket to the end.

I had trouble drilling one of these hardened stainless readouts and had no option but to resort to a solid carbide drill to finish the hole.

Have attached some pics of my unit made up fro a 100mm long DRO skide from ARCEuro (I think) making use of the 2BA tapped holes provider for the oilers. It has given me excellent service.