Taig Lathe DRO question

[n_maher]

I've searched around a bit and can't find what I'm looking for so I figured I'd post the question here and see if I could get better results. I received my Taig lathe last week and have started the process of getting to know it and how it will fit into my shop. First impressions are very good. The only thing that I've really found myself want so far is a better way to track the tool position. I've seen some DRO adaptations using small digital scales and I think that's what I'm after but I'm curious if anyone offers any mounting kits for these? If not, are there any guides for positioning and mounting X and Y scales?

While I'm sharing I figure a picture and some details of my lathe setup can't hurt. Taig was (is?) currently out of the stock motor so I sourced one through drillspot.com which meant that I had to do the wiring and switch myself. I decided if I was going to do it it was worth doing well so I went down to my local HW store and picked up a length of 14/3 wire, male plug, outdoor outlet box, blank cover and heavy duty toggle switch. To that I added an emergency off switch sourced off of Ebay and got busy drilling. I also went by Woodcraft and picked up an adapter for my Nova chuck so that I could more easily adapt that chuck and its very handy soft jaws to the Taig. It works great. Without further delay, here's what I came up with:

Overall


Switchbox


Thanks in advance for any help and advice you can offer. I don't have any plans to CNC the lathe at this point but I'm hoping to contribute around here just the same.

Nate

[segal.arye]

WGH

Looks wonderful! Have fun with it.

I'm wondering, though, why did you choose to place the motor that way? I mean, it seems that if you'll try to turn something with a diameter large enough, you'd hit the engine and won't be able to turn it. Shouldn't you flip it 180 degrees and place it so its tail is positioned to the left, not to the right? (Left from the first picture POV, that's. )

Please note that I'm very new to this field and am currently looking to buy my first milling machine and a lathe, so forgive me if my question sounds dumb. Have you got to push the lathe to the limit yet? Will you recommend it?

Thanks a ton in advance,

Arye Segal.

[n_maher]

Ayre,

Thanks for the kind words. I'd run out of swing over the bed long before I'd hit the motor. This picture doesn't show it much better, but I think the max diameter you can mount is just a bit over 6" with the risers that I have installed and the motor is far enough away that you don't have to worry about that.



It's a very compact installation and I used the stock mounting board from Taig so it sort of is what it is. But that said it may not spend its whole life like this.

And I haven't pushed it very hard yet. I'm waiting to get some aluminum stock cut to really get busy but it's handled the wood that I've thrown at it well. Choosing the Taig, at least for me, was partly motivated by the fact that I don't need a ton of length but if you can accommodate a larger lathe it's certainly worth looking at other options.

Nate

[segal.arye]

Such as..?

[n_maher]

Such as..?

That's probably a subject better served by its own thread.

[segal.arye]

That's probably a subject better served by its own thread.

You're totally right, forgive me for taking it a bit off topic.

OP, thanks a lot for all the info.

Arye Segal.