Choosing a DRO for a lathe

Hi Glenn,

I've got the clamp on about 0.20" of the end of the quill and leave it there. They MT3's release just before the clamp bottoms out on the tail stock casting.

Bruce
 
Have you looked at the DRO's shipping direct from China, quite a few listed on eBay. Without the reseller over here the prices are a lot lower.

Greg
 
I have Yuriy's Touch DRO installed on my lathe. I used 3 axes with one of them being the tailstock. I used the iGaging scales and my old Android smart phone for the readout. The Bluetooth connection has been solid. I had problems with EMI from the lathe motor. When I turned the motor off, I would have the scale readings jump. Running the adapter on a 12 volt battery eliminated the problem but was inconvenient. I finally solved the problem by running the the power supply for the adapter from a different circuit.

Yuriy's Touch DRO worked out well for me on my 10 x 22 lathe. I couldn't figure a way to make even the slim glass scales work for the cross feed with out sacrificing some of the lathe's capability. The magnetic scales would have worked for me but I couldn't rationalize installing a readout that exceeded the cost of the lathe for a machine that I don't use on a daily basis.

If there was one shortcoming, it would be the lack of scale resolution. The capacitive scales are 10 micron scales whereas glass and magnetic scales are either 5 micron or 1 micron. For the z axis and the tailstock, this isn't a problem but for the x axis with the readout set to read diameter directly, the best I can resolve with the capacitive scale is 20 microns on the diameter or .0008" with the readout set to display four decimal places. If it is set to three decimal places, , the third decimal place can be erratic. (you can be .ooo2" oversized and suddenly jump a whole thousandth on the readout with a .0001" tweak of the cross feed. For this reason I use the four digit display and deal with the .ooo8" increments.
 
Thanks all for some great responses. In answer to some questions:

Greg - yes, I've started looking at China direct on Alibaba. Indeed much cheaper prices for the same devices. Cost around $275 for the whole package, on average. Many of these utilize glass scales. I think I would like to install magnetic. So have sent a couple of emails and awaiting responses.

Bruce - thanks, I checked my tailstock last night, and have about the same clearance yoummnetioned- maybe 1/2" or so to mount a fitting on the quill. So put it on the work list.

And, Rich and R.J., yep, also read through Yuri's web site. Happy to hear you are satisfied with his equipment and software. Iam leaning this direction, but haven't decided if I want to build out the unit, or buy one. Still around $250-275 with mag scales and needing to buy an android tablet - we have a couple of i pads, but nothing that plays with Java.

Couple of people have also memtioned Newell. They make what looks like a very nice, proprietary, fully sealed linear scale. Bullet proof apparently. Price is around $1100, so at the top of the leaderboard regarding cost.

Lot of choices out there. I think it will boil down to reliability and price point.

Thanks again for all your assistance!

Glenn
 
Buy the unit, unless you are very comfortable soldering small ic units. People with the problems are the ones that either build from scratch or buy the unassembled kit. Not worth the hassles on something like this to me...

Ymmv
Rich
 
Let us know what you find on the magnetic scales Glen. I haven't seen any sets listed. I'd like to put a DRO on the shaper and the size of the magnetic scale would be a plus on the down feed.

Greg
 
BGHansen said:
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
Click to expand...
I was interested in getting a dro from Tpac. How were they to deal with?
 
Glenn I am glad you started this thread, I am also looking at putting DRO on my lathe, So I have been sitting back and watching your thread. I have also been looking round at he pricing etc.
Check Craigslist and Ebay for used Android tablets and you may be able to get an old one cheaper. I have an old one sitting at the house I may be able to use. So I am also looking that way.
I am also looking at the tail stock setup as well. But found that someone had messed with it prior to me getting it and now I am in the process of replacing bearings.
I was also looking at the stainless scales but did not really see any advantage to them. I will continue to watch and will let you know if I find or decide on something.
 
Sdmf5150 said:
I was interested in getting a dro from Tpac. How were they to deal with?
Click to expand...
No issues with them (Tom) at all. Quick response to emails and questions, quick shipping. I have a 4-axis DRO from them on my mill and a 2-axis on a lathe. Tom includes a 5-year warranty which I haven't had to use, so no idea on the service if I have an issue.

Bruce
 
Bruce. Does TPAC offer different quality display units? Can you comment on how happy you are with the screen colors/clarity/sharpness of your display?

Reason I ask, I've noticed Newell offers two or three choices of displays. Good, better and best sort of thing. But the high end stuff is to expensive for my budget - although probably necessary in a production shop. But I am wondering what is the best heads up display at moderate cost, available for hobby use?

Thanks
Glenn
 
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