dro's for a bridgeport

HI, hope this is the correct place for this question.....

have a manual J head Bridgeport.....thinking about fitting a 2 axis DRO.....

never really wanted too but have to move with the times I guess.....

not sure even about going the whole hog to upgrade to cnc.....

electronics is a TABOO subject.....

so there is a optical and a linear system, any preferences out there for either...

and what about the CNC route which will take care of everything...?

I just don't know......help with idea's would b nice....

thanks Frank in France....

Don't convert to CNC.

You have a Bridgeport with a resale value of say £1000, you throw nearly £2000 of CNC gear at it and finish up with a machine worth £500.

Modern optical and linear are one and the same thing, often referred to as glass scales and available from a few of the advertisers on this site.

Thanks, moderator,

precis to the point and just perfect....many thanks....all ready in touch with one of the advertisers from this site.....

a great site and glad to be a member....

Frank in France

Here's some pics of what I did. And a bit about the 2nd Z-axis I fitted on the quill.

Fitting a DRO was probably the best enhancement I made to the machine. I'd recommend going 3-axis not 2 though.

Murray

I fitted linear scales to my Marlow mill and it has proved to be a very worth while job and reasonable a simple job to fit.

I fitted a 3 axis system and think this is the best option for a milling machine, the system I purchased was from **LINK** and cost around £400.00 including delivery etc. The trick is to get the lengths correct for the scales and a description of how to do it is here **LINK**.

Bob

I have a DRO unit complete that I no longer require

Roy M

Roy M,

Details please.

Geoff - Just about recovered from the %^*>~% head cold.

Bob,

I have a Marlow 3A and would appreciate details of how and where you fitted the scales please.

Geoff - Back into the Workshop today