/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>1552126
As I said I'm very new to this so I need to set some things straight.
>power feed
Most machines I look at have power fed x and z but not the y axis.
Before buying I'd then need to look at options for mounting an external power feed.
They also seem to have mechanically actuated power feed systems. This would mean I'd need to convert it if I wanted to turn it to a CNC
>>1552253
>DRO
I guess what makes a DRO work is really important if you want to turn a mill into a CNC.
The display doesn't really matter in the end as you only need the linear encoders.
At work we make cable assemblies for a company that makes encoders so I could probably get my hands on three engineering samples if the machine doesn't come with it (a man can dream)
>connection
If I understand the name correctly a DRO is just an output, "a display" and has no connection to the power feed and spindle speed mechanism.
This means that there's still a load of equipment to be installed before you can connect it to a computer.

I'll research this further to really make an educated purchase but I already know one of the two will happen. I'll find a perfect machine that no one is selling or it pops up on the market and it's outside of my budget. In the meantime I'll just keep bumping the thread with questions that have been answered thousandfold (if you don't mind).