If the women don't find you handsome......

[dbledsoe]

they should at least find you handy. Red Green said that.

Some time back I bought two of these cheap digital calipers for $10 each. As I was trying to figure out how to drill a hole to a certain depth, it occurred to me that I could use one as a DRO if I could mount it.

Drill and tap an 8-32 hole in the quill, cut off the excess length, and epoxy the body to the tailstock. Ten dollar DRO.

And it actually works.

 

[underdog]

And the thing is, those things go on sale at HF for $10 a few times a year, but even if you buy them for the $15 or $20 price, you still haven't lost much in the grand scheme of things....

Nice hack.

I clearer picture would be nice though...

 

[dbledsoe]

Yeah - sorry about the picture. Cell phone camera in a not-too-bright shop. If anyone needs details, I will take some better ones. I just got excited about how it worked and wanted to share in case nobody had thought of it.

 

[jd99]

I Like it!!:biggrin:

 

[BSea]

Cool idea. I may have to try this.

 

[Texatdurango]

Since it's a lot more accurate, I do most of my drilling on my metal lathe and mounted an extra digital caliper on the tailstock and it works GREAT! Not as pretty as the other two DRO's sitting just above it but as you say, it works!

You forgot to mention how easy it was to saw and drill through the caliper shaft though! :biggrin:

 

[raar25]

Nice idea!

 

[dbledsoe]

Since it's a lot more accurate, I do most of my drilling on my metal lathe and mounted an extra digital caliper on the tailstock and it works GREAT! Not as pretty as the other two DRO's sitting just above it but as you say, it works!

You forgot to mention how easy it was to saw and drill through the caliper shaft though! :biggrin:

No joke - hardened stainless steel! Actually, sawing off the shaft was no problem with a metal cutting band saw, but I never did get a hole drilled in the end. Ruined 2 drill bits before I gave up and went to a grinder with a cutoff blade. It became a slot instead of a hole.

 

[Flaturner]

I bought that same Digital caliper from HF. Three days before they went on sale again, it broke. Bought another. During the next sale, that one broke. Did not buy another.