I have been reading a lot of posts about installing digital readouts on mills and lathes. My question is; When is it appropriate to retrofit a lathe with a DRO package, and more to the point, when is it NOT appropriate?
I have an old Logan lathe (circa 1946) and was wondering if it would just be a waste of money to invest in a DRO for it. Currently, I have been using dial indicators in various configurations to measure my carriage and crossfeed travel as needed for my projects.
I looked at a DRO featured in another message and it had a price of $599. I could manage that price. I'm just not sure whether it would be a waste of money to retrofit an old lathe. I am a newbie hobby machinist, so would like to solicit the opinion of some real machinists.
I have an old Logan lathe (circa 1946) and was wondering if it would just be a waste of money to invest in a DRO for it. Currently, I have been using dial indicators in various configurations to measure my carriage and crossfeed travel as needed for my projects.
I looked at a DRO featured in another message and it had a price of $599. I could manage that price. I'm just not sure whether it would be a waste of money to retrofit an old lathe. I am a newbie hobby machinist, so would like to solicit the opinion of some real machinists.