Another Couple of TouchDRO Systems Up and Running - First Impressions

[Capo.]

I have a couple of installations in work-in progress-stages and I thought I'd share just to give others thinking about the system a taste of early experiences.

My first system is on a Myford Super 7 lathe and it's essentially finished other than getting used to it and expanding my knowledge of the app. My other installation is on my First (BP clone) mill and it's running on X and Y axes so far with Z & quill to come. I'm using one tablet and switching it between the mill & lathe, I have scale adapters on each machine.

First impressions are very positive! On the lathe I can put most of my dial indicators away in a safe place and rely on the DRO to improve my precision and repeatability. Also it's much easier to do a measurement/positioning setup vs having to deal with the limitations of an indicator with a 1" travel.

On the mill the first thing I did was a layout of a bunch of DB9 connectors etc. on multiple boxes and that was a so much easier and confident experience using pre-set datums. No counting turns and accommodating backlash etc. Great to be able to see the pattern on the DRO and take advantage of the "magnetic" datum activation. A night & day better experience. For the multiple boxes it was nice to be able to define 0, 0 reference points and repeat the milling on multiple boxes using the same datum data.

I'm looking forward to getting the installations complete and getting to know the system better.

Thanks @ycroosh well done, nice system!

D

 

[ycroosh]

I have a couple of installations in work-in progress-stages and I thought I'd share just to give others thinking about the system a taste of early experiences.

My first system is on a Myford Super 7 lathe and it's essentially finished other than getting used to it and expanding my knowledge of the app. My other installation is on my First (BP clone) mill and it's running on X and Y axes so far with Z & quill to come. I'm using one tablet and switching it between the mill & lathe, I have scale adapters on each machine.

First impressions are very positive! On the lathe I can put most of my dial indicators away in a safe place and rely on the DRO to improve my precision and repeatability. Also it's much easier to do a measurement/positioning setup vs having to deal with the limitations of an indicator with a 1" travel.

On the mill the first thing I did was a layout of a bunch of DB9 connectors etc. on multiple boxes and that was a so much easier and confident experience using pre-set datums. No counting turns and accommodating backlash etc. Great to be able to see the pattern on the DRO and take advantage of the "magnetic" datum activation. A night & day better experience. For the multiple boxes it was nice to be able to define 0, 0 reference points and repeat the milling on multiple boxes using the same datum data.

I'm looking forward to getting the installations complete and getting to know the system better.

Thanks @ycroosh well done, nice system!

D

Thank you for the feedback.

 

[vtcnc]

I have a couple of installations in work-in progress-stages and I thought I'd share just to give others thinking about the system a taste of early experiences.

My first system is on a Myford Super 7 lathe and it's essentially finished other than getting used to it and expanding my knowledge of the app. My other installation is on my First (BP clone) mill and it's running on X and Y axes so far with Z & quill to come. I'm using one tablet and switching it between the mill & lathe, I have scale adapters on each machine.

First impressions are very positive! On the lathe I can put most of my dial indicators away in a safe place and rely on the DRO to improve my precision and repeatability. Also it's much easier to do a measurement/positioning setup vs having to deal with the limitations of an indicator with a 1" travel.

On the mill the first thing I did was a layout of a bunch of DB9 connectors etc. on multiple boxes and that was a so much easier and confident experience using pre-set datums. No counting turns and accommodating backlash etc. Great to be able to see the pattern on the DRO and take advantage of the "magnetic" datum activation. A night & day better experience. For the multiple boxes it was nice to be able to define 0, 0 reference points and repeat the milling on multiple boxes using the same datum data.

I'm looking forward to getting the installations complete and getting to know the system better.

Thanks @ycroosh well done, nice system!

D

Any chance you can share what kind of scales you used? I'm looking to add the Touch DRO to my lathe and mill and wondering what the most cost effective and reliable options are out there?

 

[Capo.]

Any chance you can share what kind of scales you used? I'm looking to add the Touch DRO to my lathe and mill and wondering what the most cost effective and reliable options are out there?

I got my scales from Ditron via AliExpress.

The scales themselves are a variety of configurations. On the Myford I used a slim glass for the Z (carriage) axis and magnetic tape embedded in the cross slide for the X axis. The embedded tape was to avoid having a big clunky scale getting in the way on the carriage. It's similar to what M-DRO offer for the Myford except modified to clear the taper turn attachment. I highly recommends looking at that approach for any lathe. On the First mill I used standard size glass except for the quill which I chose in magnetic. I haven't mounted the quill yet and I may do a tape scale there as well since I have plenty of tape left over from the Myford and the head is identical. The intent there is to minimize the size of the scale on the quill.

If you go with Ditron don't just pick a bunch of scales from the AliEx pages and order them without talking to Ditron, engage them via the text window. Tell them what you have in mind and they will tailor the travel of the scales to meet your requirements and at some point offer free upgrades to 1 micron precision. They will also offer different, lower pricing compared to the AliEx pages but with paid shipping. Experience has shown that the combined price plus shipping (FedEx air) and free upgrades will be a lower cost than the AliEx free shipping price. It's just how they do it. The free 1u upgrade is all part of the haggling experience.

Tell them the end stop to end stop travel your machines have and they will tailor the end stop to end stop travel of the scales to suit. To suit means they will accommodate the machine travel and add a small over travel to protect the scale. The over travel is different depending on the scale type. Ask them for that figure. In my case I added a small safety margin in the machine travel to accommodate any adjustment required for mounting and that worked out well.

Length of scale has a very small impact on cost, slim vs STD size has a small impact on cost for the glass scales. Magnetic is more expensive than glass.

The glass scales will come with extruded debris guards which will cover most of the way around the scales, the magnetics do not come with guards. You will also receive bags of brackets and fasteners and instructions for installation including pinouts.

I looked at Aikron as well in fact I was leaning toward them initially. Aikron looked like they would have better pricing based on their web site but once Ditron provided pricing via the text window Aikron was not competitive. I even had an E-mail conversation with their rep. but they would not compete with Ditron. I do give Aikron points for good documentation on their web site, Ditron's documentation could be better.

Interfacing the TouchDRO scale adapter was straightforward, I did not have to make any pinout adjustments to accommodate the scales but still, do your own due diligence before powering up things!

I did the U-solder kit for the scale adapters and found the assembly straightforward for someone comfortable with soldering through hole PC boards. The step by step assembly and test instructions provided are good.

Well, that's about it for now, good luck & good shopping!

D

 

[mchasal]

If you go with Ditron don't just pick a bunch of scales from the AliEx pages and order them without talking to Ditron, engage them via the text window. Tell them what you have in mind and they will tailor the travel of the scales to meet your requirements and at some point offer free upgrades to 1 micron precision.

Just echoing this. When I was adding scales to my Bridgeport I wanted to size them to hit the same mounting holes from some old broken scales that were on it at some point. I talked to Ditron and gave them the measurements and they trimmed them to fit the mounts and I had no trouble installing them using the existing holes. The were also super easy to setup and have a good range of tolerance for the read head placement.