Newall DRO Quill Installation

ajclay · Sep 7, 2011

I just recently purchased a Newall DP900 DRO 3 axis for my Bridgeport Mill.

The X and Y assembly was fairly straight forward, but the quill assembly has me stumped.

The manual feed wheel contacts the mounting hardware and the carbon fiber rod is hanging way out in front of the quill housing.

Does anyone have one of these units installed on their Bridgeport. If so you you mind snapping a photo of the installation.

I'm just a little cross threaded on this area of the installation.

I tried to attach a couple of photos of where I'm out now, but the website won't give me the screen to attach them for some reason. .jpg photos??

Thanks for the input.

Aj

ajclay · Sep 7, 2011

Here we go on the photos....

ajclay · Sep 8, 2011

I've got it all figured out. I had to just do some digging on the net to find a couple of photos to help me understand.

Once I found out that I was on the right track, it wasn't a big deal.

The only thing that just wouldn't work from Newall was the bottom post. A 1/4 x 20 threaded hole has to be drilled and tapped in the bottom of the quill casting. The area on my mill was extra narrow, only a 1/4in wide. So I had to make a new bottom post with a 5mm stud. 5mm was just small enough to fit into the quill mounting area and not break out when tapped.

The issue with the round feed handle: either make a spacer to push the original wheel out about 7/16 or use a smaller hand wheel. It seems the aftermarket plastic wheels are a good bit smaller on the O.D. and fit without problems.

I'm going to make a spacer out of aluminum at a later date so I can use the larger Bridgeport handle. It feels a lot better than the plastic guy...

All in all the complete installation took me a couple of days. If I had to do it again I could do it in about half the time now that I have a clue on how things work.

The DP900 Newall works like a champ. The touch screen works great.

Thanks, Aj

ajclay · Sep 8, 2011

Finished photo below.

aerodark · Sep 8, 2011

Nice DRO! What did it set you back and where did you get it?

ajclay · Sep 8, 2011

aerodark said:
Nice DRO! What did it set you back and where did you get it?

I purchased it from Can-Do Machinery in California. Mike seems to be the real deal willing to help in any way needed.

Paid $1700 and some change... Wish I would of purchased it sooner.

If you buy one, be ready to do a little work on install it. The unit just doesn't "pop" on the mill. It was a job to say the least.

Thanks, Aj

aerodark · Sep 13, 2011

ajclay said:
Paid $1700 and some change... Wish I would of purchased it sooner.
Thanks, Aj

The installation doesn't scare me at all. The 17 C notes does though! OUCH! :skep:

Ciszewski · Sep 13, 2011

aerodark said:
The installation doesn't scare me at all. The 17 C notes does though! OUCH!

Hello Aerodark
You get what you pay for. Quality costs money.

Cole2534 · Sep 13, 2011

Why do you need a handwheel if you have a DRO on the quill?

Ciszewski · Sep 13, 2011

Hello Ajclay
Looks good.
Yeah, I hear you. I just finished installing a 2 axis on my lathe. It took me 2 days. Now that I know what I'm doing I could do it in 2 hrs. I was very leery about drilling holes in the lathe in the wrong place & screwing up. I spent a lot of time looking at that thing & head scratching trying to figure it out. The old saying "measure twice, cut once (in this case drill & tap)" sure applies. More than once I thought I had it figured out where to mount it, holding it in place & moving the carriage or the cross trough its full travel, only to find another obstruction. More head scratching. :confused:

abarnsley · Sep 13, 2011

Grabbing quill feed lever, and moving a quill up and down a tenth is a pain, much easier with fine feed wheel...

Boring is one reason.. The quill lever is too coarse for much control. Lever works great for drilling, but not handy for boring at all.

Auto downfeed is not needed much on a 1/4 in hole, the fine feed wheel works fine for most short holes.

ajclay · Sep 13, 2011

abarnsley said:
Grabbing quill feed lever, and moving a quill up and down a tenth is a pain, much easier with fine feed wheel...

Boring is one reason.. The quill lever is too coarse for much control. Lever works great for drilling, but not handy for boring at all.

Auto down feed is not needed much on a 1/4 in hole, the fine feed wheel works fine for most short holes.

Yep you got it. If a guy wants to sneak the quill down slow and controlled he isn't going to use the feed lever on the right side. He's got to use the feed wheel.

Mr Bridgeport put it on there for a reason....

All kidding aside, it seems I'm always making things on the edge of my ability and so I need all the help I can get...

Thanks for all the comments.

aj

ajclay · Sep 13, 2011

Ciszewski said:
Hello Ajclay
Looks good.
Yeah, I hear you. I just finished installing a 2 axis on my lathe. It took me 2 days. Now that I know what I'm doing I could do it in 2 hrs. I was very leery about drilling holes in the lathe in the wrong place & screwing up. I spent a lot of time looking at that thing & head scratching trying to figure it out. The old saying "measure twice, cut once (in this case drill & tap)" sure applies. More than once I thought I had it figured out where to mount it, holding it in place & moving the carriage or the cross trough its full travel, only to find another obstruction. More head scratching.

When I purchased the unit, I asked the guys if they had any photos of the installation on a Bridgeport. They said no to my amazement. One or two simple photos go a long way when a guy is trying to figure something out like this.

Even though my mill is a 1965 with many battle scars, I was leery of drilling holes in it, like you were. Especially on the front center of the quill!!! Screw that up, then what do I do..... thank goodness it all worked out.

Thanks for the comments.

aj

ajclay · Sep 13, 2011

aerodark said:
The installation doesn't scare me at all. The 17 C notes does though! OUCH!

Yep, I still sore. I really got use to using the DRO on my Index mill. Servos and encoders....

I rebuilt the Bridgeport (from a basket case) and have been using it for a few months and just couldn't stand it...

The DRO is so much faster than using hand feed wheels with backlash in the screws. It doesn't matter with the DRO.

Change a tool, run it out the way then move it back no big deal. Set it up once and can do multiple parts easily...

Next month or the next $500.00 I get is going to an air draw bar.. That too just takes way to much time.

Thanks for all the comments.

aj

ajclay · Feb 6, 2016

I had someone a while back try and contact me by PM but his setting would not allow a reply... PM settings must default to off for some reason.

If I can help you some how just drop a note direct to my e-mail. [email protected].

I've done two installations on Bridgeports.

Thanks, AJ

TimH · Feb 12, 2016

thats where I bought my Hardinge kit from. Wanted Newall because of easy mounting. Best price I could find

ajclay said:
I purchased it from Can-Do Machinery in California. Mike seems to be the real deal willing to help in any way needed.

Paid $1700 and some change... Wish I would of purchased it sooner.

If you buy one, be ready to do a little work on install it. The unit just doesn't "pop" on the mill. It was a job to say the least.

Thanks, Aj

greggv · Feb 12, 2016

I can attest to the fact that a Newall DRO is several times easier to install than any of the glass scale DRO's. Newall's instructions are a little fuzzy, tho. Once you've installed one, the rest are dead easy!

ajclay · Feb 12, 2016

Fuzzy Instructions

You got that right... The fist one I installed, I called Newall and they couldn't seem to help. No photos. No further information. Installing it on the quill is where I had problems. Seems most put it on the knee for the Z axis...

I had to modify the parts and make s spacer to keep the hand feed wheel from hitting the setup.

A few different examples of products installed would go a long way. They kind of acted like they have never heard of a problem before..

Good equipment, just be ready for a little thinking on the install.

aj

greggv said:
I can attest to the fact that a Newall DRO is several times easier to install than any of the glass scale DRO's. Newall's instructions are a little fuzzy, tho. Once you've installed one, the rest are dead easy!

Paul Babin · Feb 13, 2016

Newall quill pics

It has been a few years since a quill install, but i remember i did not like the encoder sticking way out so we tucked it on the right side.
Still gave access to the quill stop nut. A little cleaner looking.
PJB

Newall DRO Quill Installation

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