Has anyone mounted a dial I on a mill head?

[captainlee]

I would like to mount a dial indicator on the head of my HF mill head to read the depth of cut. Has any one done this if so Can I see the mod??

Thanks in Advance Cap.

[CNCRim]

Sure can... but there is a draw back with dial indicator. 2" range you need 4" clearance, I don't know what your application but if you are part travel more than 3" I say you need something else.

[Andre' B]

I put a 2" travel indicator on the quill of an RF-30, and find it very useful.
First thing I did was remove most of that big clunky depth stop crap they had on it, also the plastic front cover. Just made a little al. bracket to hold the indicator. I think I had to file a flat spot on the casting to mount the bracket so it was parallel with the travel.

I will get a pic but will not be able to post it until Monday.

[captainlee]

Hi Andre'B,
Thanks for responding I will be waiting for your picture this is just what I need.
T H A N K S. Cap.

[mrcodewiz]

I made a simple mount but it mounts to the column instead of the head. I will upload a pic tonight.

[cam1]

You could also opt to mount a 6 inch Quill DRO. Nice to have a floating Zero, and inch/metric display.

regards

[mrcodewiz]

Pictures aren't the best but here is what I use. Took about 5 minutes to make on the lathe... the clamp was stolen from one of those caliper sets that come with the magnetic base.

[captainlee]

MRCODEWIZ, Hello
Thank You for those great pics you really did a great job. I like the fact you made a bracket that is removable and won't create any holes on your mill.
Well thanks for the food for thought I'm going to wait and see other ideas and I'll start on this in a few days. I will post the result somewhere for anyone to see whois interested tks Cap.

[captainlee]

Cam1 Hello,
Yea I bought two large dial indicators from HF and some on ebay, So I want to use them
so 1 will go on the mill head as soon as I get the right configeration and plan to fit my
machine. T H A N K S for your input. Cap.

[blackbeard52]

You could also opt to mount a 6 inch Quill DRO. Nice to have a floating Zero, and inch/metric display

I saw a mod made from a $14 dial caliper very simular to this.

[mrcodewiz]

I have been using my dial indicator for years and it has worked fine. I installed X and Y digital scales and a DRO about a year ago because setting up the indicator on X,Y tends to be a bigger pain because the travel is usually much further. I am just now installing the digital scale on the Z axis because grizzly had a 12" vertical scale for $50 (couldnt find them for less than 100 back when I did the X,Y).

This scale is the deal of the century in my opinion.

http://grizzly.com/products/12-Digital-Scale/H8134

[Andre' B]

Here are some pics of my little setup.