# Confused New Guy



## Chas (Mar 17, 2013)

OK, after weeks of research and confusion, I'm days away from purchasing the Grizzly 0704.  With some tooling and a DRO "system" to start with. 
 Keeping in mind I am a novice with a limited budget the questions are.
Does anybody have complaints about glass DROs?
The price of the glass systems are much more affordable than the steel ones.  You read the advertisements for the glass systems and they say they are contamination proof, and the advertisements for the steel ones say they are not affected bycontamination.  And also the words "glass"and machines together scares me,  how fragile are these gauges?  I'm assumingthere's no difference in accuracy.

  Since the 0704 unit has a DRO on the spindle does anyone foresee the need for a DRO onthe(head hight adjustment) Z axis?  

Another point of confusion is that Grizzly offers a muchless expensive DRO System for woodworking machines, why can't these be used onmetalworking machines? 
Also on my list are:
a.) 4 inch vice,
 b.) clamping set, 
c.) collet set, 
d.) set of end mills.
These last items I will shop the various sites that havebeen recommended here.  But any advicewill be appreciated.
Lastly I hope that I have posted this in the right place. And thank you


----------



## Chas (Mar 18, 2013)

I have done some more research and I have a betterunderstanding of the DRO systems/mechanics. And in the future I will try to do all of the research before I ask, for help.


----------



## Pmedic828 (Oct 1, 2013)

I have a steel DRO (shooting star) made in Canada - i love it - very accurate - i use this on a small 3 in 1 machine but would love to have a lathe and a milling machine but don't have the necessary space.  I am also starting out and an old machinist said for me to use HSS tooling because it is more forgiving than cemented carbide - also, I have purchased a rotary table, various milling bits and a great drill bit set 115 pc.  Every day I learn new things from these guys.  They are patient, understanding, and not stuck up like some other sites (guys, keep sending checks my way for the support) - anyways, glad to have you on the forum!


----------



## SEK_22Hornet (Oct 4, 2013)

Hi Chas - I'm also a newbie and am very pleased with this site - I have learned a lot from it.  I have the Grizzly G0704.  The DRO on it is just a digital depth indicator - very basic.  It works fine, but can be hard to read.  If you are thinking about a DRO for the X and Y you might want to consider one that is capable of doing Z as well, Also, if you get the G0704, (you may already have it, since this thread isn't that recent), go ahead and order spare gears - the 37 tooth one that is $10.  Get a couple.  They can be hard to get and they are easy to strip. i have gone through 2 since January of this year.  I'm in the process of doing a belt drive conversion to get rid of that gear. I'll start posting my progress on that in the next few days. I just about have the spindle pulley machined and need to to get the motor pulley done, then the new motor mounts. I'll post pics in this part of the forum probably starting next week. Back to the DRO question, I will probably add the individual Igaging DRO's to the X and Y on mine.  Here is a link to a thread named DRO's back in stock - he has good prices that beat Grizzly on these. http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php/17863-dro-s-are-in-stock-again


----------

