Choosing a DRO for a lathe

Glenn Brooks

Glenn Brooks

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Nov 14, 2014
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Hello all,

Iam looking for a decent DRO for my South Bend Fourteen. Anybody recommend a good brand and vendor?

Also, are the magnetic scales worth buying?

Thanks
Glenn
 
I have a 2-axis TPACtools.com DRO on my Grizzly G0709 14" x 40". Mine has 5 micron glass scales which gives a resolution of about +/- 0.0002". Cost me $375 delivered. Comes with a low-profile scale for the cross feed. Here's the thread of my install:

http://hobby-machinist.com/threads/grizzly-g0709-lathe-dro-install.49902/

Jim Dawson did an awesome job on his lathe DRO install with magnetic scales. Here's the thread to Jim's install:

http://hobby-machinist.com/threads/lathe-dro.58063/

DROPros has a nice description of both technologies. Here's that link:

http://www.dropros.com/DRO_PROS_Digital_Readout_Magnetic_Scale.htm

I have glass scales on my mill and lathe. Only issue I've had was temperature related last winter when my mill DRO stopped working at a shop temp of about 10 or 20 F. My lathe DRO still worked fine. Temp operating range is supposed to be something like 32 F - 120 F. I brought the box inside to warm it up, reinstalled it and it worked fine. Now put a heating pad on it through the winter; cheaper to heat the DRO than my whole shop. My issue was with the display, not the scales so I can vouch for glass scales still working at 10 F.

Bruce
 
Thanks guys. Good info. I've started checking out the sites you provided.

One other question:

I've seen a couple of people somehow set up a DRO to measure tailstock movement, such as drill operations. How do they do that? Do they use a 3 axis DRO for the purpose, or is it a separate unit?

Edit: woops, more questions. Anybody have experience with the Yuriy's tools Touch DRO android/wireless setup? Are there any issues with electromagnetic interference if using blue tooth or other wireless connections to a DRO?

Thanks again,
Glenn
 
Last edited:
Yuri toys Bluetooth preassembled board with igaging scales here. Use it with my Samsung tablet( on my mill), works pretty good, yuri has decent software, pretty full featured. Some say the scales have some lag, based on the setup of my pm1440gs, I agree, but it is plenty fast enough for me, you can adjust for the slight lag on different machines in the shop, it might be a good option for you. He has boards that work with glass scales and igaging together... check it out. They may not be everyone, but if you like the idea of using your
Bluetooth tablet on multiple machines in your shop, it might be for you.
No significant electromagnetic issues for me using one of the reassembled boards...
Hth
Rich
 
Hi Glenn,

Here's a thread to one I put on my G0709 lathe. Mine is just a simple digital calipers and does not communicate to the X/Z DRO. Bought mine from TPACtools for $25. It's nice to be able to zero out at the start of a drilling op and know how deep you've gone. Easier for me than adding/subtracting the fractions on the quill.

http://hobby-machinist.com/threads/tail-stock-dro-on-a-g0709-lathe.50225/

Bruce
 
Bruce, thanks for posting your tailstock install. Seems like a perfect solution.

One question: do you work the tailstock without the quill clamp attached for non drilling operations? Iam guessing the quill clamp would need to be released each time one would want to drive the quill into the tailstock deep enuf to pop loose the MT arbor?

Glenn
 
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