Tons of people have done it. I have the Shooting Star 2 axis outfit on
my old vertical mill and love it. I know what you are talking about,
worrying that you won't do any permanent damage. I suggest taking the
time to make simple jigs to assure that holes get drilled in the right
place. If you have to tap some of them, get some brand new high quality
taps. Maybe you need to spot face/file/grind some of the locations
where holes need to be drilled.

Don't work on it when you are tired, or after too many beers.
Don't "Expect" that you will make mistakes. That may be just a
self-fullfiling prophecy. Let your gut tell you to stop, think, get
more info or skill, as necessary.

Pete Stanaitis
--------------------------

Ignoramus14972 wrote:

Some time ago I bought a Uniq three axis DRO for 9x42 milling machines
like my Bridgeport. I reasoned that if I went with a DRO, the added
expense of the third axis is not that much. So I got a three axis
version.

I have started installing it, trying very hard to avoid screwing
anything up permanently. Actually, as of this moment the mill has not
been drilled or tapped.

The added hassle is that there is no installation diagram. But this
webpage was helpful.

http://www.digitalreadoutsystem.com/Uniq/Uniq_dro.htm

So far I have assembled the reading head and the Y axis. I believe
that both X and Z, are considerably simplier than Y due to the fact
that for X and Y, the surfaces that move along each other are
parallel, but for Y they are perpendicular.

This DRO seems to be nicely made, actually, with splash guards, strain
reliefs, and other niceties.

My expectation is that I will make some mistakes, but I hope not to
break anything permanently.

Is there anyone else who installed their own DRO on the mill?