Making a Tailstock Digital Readout DRO for my Lathe

I machined a Tailstock Digital Read Out for my Colchester lathe to allow precise depth holes to be drilled. The scale filled with oil and swarf and died, so I am replacing the original scale and cleaning and refitting the collar, magnetic parts and mounting wedge.

The mysterious connections between Off-By-One errors, strange Lincoln Darts boards kept in tubs of murky water in pub yards, oil ingress and my desperate failures with arithmetic subtraction in my head.

A low cost Vernier Caliper gets chopped up and shoe-horned into acting as an interim replacement for the recently-deceased linear scale. Spoiler alert - It All Ends Happily.

No actual machining this time, just a lot of Dial Indicator action, plus of course, Aimee sticks her oar in to make sure I know when I'm doing things incorrectly.

I don't have the original CAD files for the wedge, but it will be pretty much a bespoke item for every model of lathe, as will the collar.


Attributions:
Richard Croft / The Treaty of Commerce / CC BY-SA 2.0



Loozrboy from Toronto, Canada Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0

Everything else is either by me or is in the public domain as far as I can tell.

Chapters:
00:00 Subtraction is my Nemesis
01:07 The Quest for a Tailstock DRO
05:15 One of our Scales is Missing
07:21 Scale Precision

[Kombivar]

I admire how much effort and freshness is put into these videos you make, great sense of humor, stunning narration and even tangent to the Pink Floyd's 10th studio album!!! You made my day - again!

[jackjackson]

I love your style and the narration (including the wonderful stories of mysterious critters in the shop)

[jduncan]

Oh man, the Youtubes recommended your video today, out of the blue. I must say you've hit the ground running! Even my wife watched. High production value right out of the gate. As a hobby machinist, I love to watch other's processes. You do not disappoint.

[apexmcboob]

I had the spindle collar figured out but attaching the end of vernier to the hardened tailstock of my lathe had been eluding me. Thanks for the idea of using magnets! I'm glad I discovered your channel; combining microwaves and machining with your wit suits me perfectly. And I'm embarrassed to admit I'm developing a crush on Aime....

[MichaelKJohnson]

I designed a tailstock DRO holder for calipers and then discovered that it interfered with the toolpost in use, so started looking for alternative designs. I really wanted one that doesn't permanently occupy the top of the tailstock (that's where the oilcan goes during tapping and parting...) and the idea of a tab and magnets is great. Starting over now on my design! ☺

[jimsvideos]

The tab and the magnet to allow the tailstock to rotate is genius.

[FullSendPrecision]

The magnet attach is a neat feature. I haven't made a tailstock DRO yet because I haven't felt like I've needed one, but when I do I'll incorporate that for sure.

[kentuckytrapper]

I put the same one on my sebastian lathe, I never drill another hole without one, great video, keep'um coming..

[HexenzirkelZuluhed]

Well, there's already a pair of calipers sitting on my tailstock. Not attached. But waiting for the same treatment.
Well done.

[evzone]

😆 I'm so glad I started watching you. Not only are you clever and full of great ideas, but you keep me laughing the whole time. Keep it up and I'll keep trying to mimic your projects.

[hobbified]

Funny, at 2:00 I was thinking "wow, that looks like exactly the same digital unit they use on those cheap calipers."

[TheDistur]

Precision in machining. What a concept!

[pyrobeav]

For those more apathetic, extend the quill a bit and stick your mag-base indicator stand to it. Then put your dial indicator against the face of the tail stock or another magnetic block on top if you don't have the space. But it's prone to getting bumped and gets in the way, so one should really get around to making one of these someday.😉

[kevingarrett]

I've got 3 vernier calipers. A moore and wright. A fractional moore and wright and a mitutoyo. Not only don't they read the same, the difference is not linear. At different diameters the caliper reading the highest could change with no logical pattern to it.

[RustyInventions-wzir]

Nice work. Planning to install a DRO on my lathe as well soon.

[chrislee]

I'm going to have a go at this, thanks. My Hardinge tailstock is rather curvy though and needs to be fully retracted to eject stuff. So my plan is to cast a carbon fibre cover and bond the scale to that. Then use the handwheel end to mount the other end of the scale. We will see....

[graemebrumfitt]

Cool Dude, both you and the project! TFS, GB :)

[trollforge]

I don't know about the wisdom of making you delirious, before the job is done... ;)

[theradiorover]

Great humour! I love your work (and patience). I still haven't fathomed out how you use the lantern chuck, despite having watched the video on its construction. 🙄

[luvmechanix]

Dude you're a riot! Like an English AvE