New DRO

Yup game changer on a mill :)
 
I see many two axis installations, omitting a scale on the headstock quill or the tailstock quill. The first digital readout that I added was on the headstock of my RF30 clone and when I got my G0602 lathe, one of my first additions was a DRO on the tailstock quill. The tailstock quill has a graduated ring but it is .06" inches/rev. Actually .0591"/rev. When boring to a precise depth, it was necessary to do the math. Even worse was the RF30 clone. The fine feed was .085"/rev. and if needed to drill, mill, or bore to depth, it required counting revolutions and multiplying by .085 and calculating the partial rev. required. Additionally, if I wanted to do a rapid return, of the quill, I would lose my position.

For the relatively small increase in cost from a two axis DRO to a 3 axis, I would never hesitate to go with three.
 
They tried to teach me during my apprenticeship (early 90s) to use the dials bs the DRO and I wasn’t having it.

When asked what I was going to do if I went to a shop that didn’t have DROs I said I would tell them to move up into the 80s and get them.

Figured if I was ever in that situation where my boss was dumb enough to have not figured this out on his own I’d get fast tracked.

Today I can and do use dials, none of our lathes at work, nor none or the three I own have DROs on them, but for milling it’s a must.
 
Yeah.....my problem is I have no clue how to use most of the functions. Hard to learn an old dog new tricks I guess......
 
Yeah.....my problem is I have no clue how to use most of the functions. Hard to learn an old dog new tricks I guess......
Old dog here.

It’s easy to learn as most stuff can be found on line.

What’s hard is remembering it all…
 
Yeah....I had trouble remembering where this post was from a day ago! lol
 
I went so far as to put x, y, knee z, and quill z on my mill

I started at least a decade ago with x and y from a clearance tool sale...

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