Budget Friendly DRO (redux)

I have Tpactools DRO's on both my mill and lathe. I have been real happy with them. Had them over 5 years now and no issues.
www.ebay.com

9x42 BRIDGEPORT DRO 3 AXIS MILL PACKAGE LINEAR SCALES FREE SHIPPING | eBay

All 3 Linear Glass Scales on X, Y and Knee. multifunctional : 3 Axis Display Work on Both Mill and Lathe. 30x12 or 14 x 16 or 20" Travel scales on X, Y and Knee. Overall length of those 3 scales are 36 x 20 x 25".
www.ebay.com
 
I was all set to pull the trigger on a glass scale set from DRO PROS. It was a little more than I wanted to spend, but they are highly regarded and it had a 3 year warranty. Checked with them today and they have none. The only thing they can get anymore are, for the most part, are magnetic ones from India at a cost of $1,200.

The tariffs imposed on China seem to have made the supply of these to dry up considerably.

Back to the drawing board.
 
I just finished up my install of a SNS-3V DRO display which is 3 axis on my milling machine purchased direct on AliExpress about a year ago. I have the SNS-2V (2 axis) on my 14x40 lathe been using it daily for 3 years and no issues, again purchased direct from AliExpress. I'm quite happy with both. Had to make my own mounting brackets but that was not a big deal. Both ran less than $300 each delivered to my door, you pick your own scale lengths, I upgraded my X Axis to .5um on the lathe, mill is just 1um

Now that I have 3 axis on the mill I started thinking I should have added a 4th axis as I installed my Z axis on the knee, I started looking today at what it would cost me to upgrade the display and add a 4th axis but really don't need it.

So far no regrets, easy to find replacements if need be, haven't had to.

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I bought a Ditron D80 from DROpros for the Takisawa, they helped through some issues of understanding, ultimately upgraded me to 1 um on the X axis, and helped with a no questions asked warranty replacement that would have been potentially troublesome with a direct vendor. Or not, just a dice roll.

I like the display clarity a lot, seems to work fine. I would do the same again.

About 15 years ago (time flies!) I bought the miil, used and old then, and it came with a two axis Sargon DRO. No real features, just half thousandths resolution and metric/Imperial conversion. But it just always works. Must be 30 years old? I added an inexpensive quill readout.

I will keep it until it breaks.
 
I have a hard time wanting to use AliExpress.
 
I am now leaning towards a Ditron D80 with magnetic scales. It's within my budget.
 
That D80 is just a Chinese one as well. The manual is pretty bad, as are the rest of the Chinese ones. IMO, unless there is a feature on the D80 that you like, the various similar Chinese ones are about 1/4 the price.
 
ErichKeane said:
That D80 is just a Chinese one as well. The manual is pretty bad, as are the rest of the Chinese ones. IMO, unless there is a feature on the D80 that you like, the various similar Chinese ones are about 1/4 the price.
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But I can buy this one from a US based company. I'm willing to pay extra to A) put money in the pockets of some Americans and 2) have a domestic place to get support/warranty/returns.
 
MyLilMule said:
But I can buy this one from a US based company. I'm willing to pay extra to A) put money in the pockets of some Americans and 2) have a domestic place to get support/warranty/returns.
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I think most of them you can get a US shipper, but in my experience on similar sellers, you at best get a rented US warehouse, and rarely any support (and if any, some guy in China).

PM or DROPros are the only exception to that ive heard of, but you pay for either of those.
 
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