DRO Digital Read Out with 3D printed Mounting Hardware for RONG FU RF-30 Bench type Milling Machine

thingiverse

I have a early version of the low cost RONG FU Model: RF-30 Bench type Mill / Drill Machine. I got is used and at the time it was all I could afford. I’ve used it a fair amount over the years but the big drawback is the scale collars on the little mill, they cannot be Zeroed. So it makes using the machine quite difficult, frustrating and generally not very fun. Over the years I tried several DRO, Digital Read Out adaptation efforts that never really paned out. In the last few years I’ve noticed quite a few low cost DRO kits being available. Being I’d like to do more machining projects and have more fun with the machine I finally thought I’d buy a kit and see how it would go. The initial thought was the kit would supply some useful mounting brackets that could be adapted to a variety of machines. The kit I got supplied some bracket parts, but they turned out to have rather limited adaptability and not useful to my machine. The thought had been from the start that if the kit didn’t have an easy to go mounting parts then I planned on designing and 3D printing my own mounting parts. The results came out very nicely and I thought I’d share my project with folks that may find the project interesting and useful. The DRO kit I purchased was through Amazon from the supplier called TOAUTO. The kit I bought has part # B07NRSGGQ3. It consisted of linear slides of 5.9" 11.8" 24" or basically 150mm+300mm+600mm for all 3 Axis, Z, Y & X Linear Scales & naturally the Digital Readout DRO Display. This was the best fit I could find for my small Mill Drill machine. The rather lengthy web address is, assuming the link doesn't go away with a product change. https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Readout-Display-Milling-Accessories/dp/B07NRSGGQ3/ref=sr_1_144_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=milling+machine+dro&qid=1633910802&sr=8-144-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzTlZaMkJaTFdFNktUJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDM4ODMxMUxKTUxDUllZRDRHUiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDIxOTc1M0k5UUZMUURFVktGMSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2J0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU The price when I bought it was a bit over $200, looks the price has gone up a bit but still I think the results in general are well worth it. I don’t necessarily endorse just the brand or model. I just happened to guess it was the best match to my machine without really knowing what I was getting. So far its worked out for me. My YouTube video goes into detail on the design and installation. https://youtu.be/aljRuVnD_t4 The CAD and STL 3D print files are at my Thingiverse site: https://www.thingiverse.com/the_id_of_ed/designs The CAD program I use is a very good free open source program called FreeCAD. The CAD assembly model should help in seeing the design intent and how the parts are used. The CAD model doesn't have any of the fasteners I used modeled. I use typically 6-32 10-32 and ¼-20 screws so when installing find the closest equivalent in metric if that's the standards your using. The only real thing of note is on the mounts that go to the machine base plate that mount the scales for the Y axis I used a slot at the bottom of the vertical column and its fitted for a nut to press in that location. You may have to change the model a bit to accommodate the size nut you may need to use.