Do you have a DRO on your lathe?

[markba633csi]

Don't have one yet but have been looking, both for the lathe and the mill. I discovered there are different physical sizes of glass scales as well as resolution.
The common large-ish scales are called KA300, those are the cheapest and often found in the bundled kits. There is a slimmer scale called KA500 which only costs a little more. Then there is a really slim scale called KA200 which is about twice more for the 5u version (add 30$ each to that for the 1u version, and a month leadtime)
Choices galore, then you gotta decide on a readout...
-M
Oh btw, how would you know if a glass scale was damaged/cracked in transit? Would the reading jump at the crack? I'm thinking the slimmer they are the more fragile they are, more chance of damage during shipping

 

[jwmay]

Yes on the mill, no on the lathes. Igaging.
They haven't made me any better.
I'll give them away if I ever get a chance at an all in one package with a big display like I see on the ones at work.
Did I say I'm not a better machinist? Yep...no skills improvement was experienced during installation or any time thereafter. But it is easier to do some things, or pick up where i left off with the dro to do the remembering. No more counting handwheel rotations and scratching numbers on paper, then losing the paper, then crawling around on the ground for the paper, then finding the paper oil soaked and illegible, then staring at my unfinished work while sitting on a bucket wondering how I'm going to figure out the number i lost. I don't miss that. But maybe that didn't happen to everybody...i don't know.

 

[DavidR8]

Yes on the mill, no on the lathes. Igaging.
They haven't made me any better.
I'll give them away if I ever get a chance at an all in one package with a big display like I see on the ones at work.
Did I say I'm not a better machinist? Yep...no skills improvement was experienced during installation or any time thereafter. But it is easier to do some things, or pick up where i left off with the dro to do the remembering. No more counting handwheel rotations and scratching numbers on paper, then losing the paper, then crawling around on the ground for the paper, then finding the paper oil soaked and illegible, then staring at my unfinished work while sitting on a bucket wondering how I'm going to figure out the number i lost. I don't miss that. But maybe that didn't happen to everybody...i don't know.

You just described my shop life!

 

[projectnut]

No DRO on either lathe and no intension to install one in the foreseeable future. I do have a DRO Pros EL-400 on the mill, but only because I was getting so many interrupting phone calls it was hard to remember where I was in the scheme of things. I probably wouldn't have installed it on the mill had it not been for all the political calls during the 2012 election time.

In 2012 I had several big jobs that needed to get out the door. The phone was ringing off the hook (between 50 and 75 calls per day) with a combination of political and customer calls. In most cases I would have just ignored the phone, but I was waiting for some information from several customers and suppliers.

Each time the phone rang I would try to write down where I was and continue once the call was over. Too often I forgot to write down the coordinates and had to retrace my steps. I finally gave up and ordered a DRO. When I talked to the people at DRO Pros I explained the situation and they were extremely helpful. Not only that they guaranteed me that installing the system would prevent further political calls for 4 years.

I installed the system and have been happy with the results. Did it make me a better machinist? NO, but it did limit the number of political calls for the next 4 years as advertised. Had I known then what the political climate would turn into I would have purchased a lifetime warranty. Did I mention I hate political calls?

As for the lathes, I don't feel a DRO is necessary. It might be convenient, but at this stage of the game I don't see a need. Should I get into a situation similar to 2012 I would consider it, but for now all seems well.

 

[Braeden P]

I wish I could get a dro but any with a 6 inch travel looks bad and I trust the dials my lathe has very little wear so the dials are good for me

 

[macardoso]

I recently added an AliExpress DRO (LCD display) with 5um scale on Z and 1um on X. Have an extra slot on the read head for another scale or tachometer input if I later want to add a tailstock DRO or spindle speed monitor.

$200 or so. Nice quality and fast shipping. Like all DROs, install was a pain.

 

[mmcmdl]

Old school here . Still use and love my trav-a-dial .

 

[jbobb1]

Old school here . Still use and love my trav-a-dial .

Used those for many years.

 

[rabler]

My first Grizzly lathe had a very simple 2 axis DRO. Took me a while to realize that something was messing up the cross-slide DRO measurement. Switched to using a micrometer and the dials and suddenly it was much easier to hit a diameter. While it was a new setup, it was well out of warranty by the time I figured out what was going on. Also, that DRO read radius, not diameter. The constant conversion was frustrating.

Mill acquired at the same time had a much nicer DRO and has been a life saver. Otherwise I would get the X and Y positions confused if I had to count turns. I think it would have soured me on machining. Does that mean it makes me a "better" machinist?

I have a DRO pro Electronica 400 on my Monarch CK lathe. Certainly not a cheap solution, nor is it the high end. But I am quite happy with it. I still find myself using it like the original lathe, DRO for Z axis, caliper or micrometer and dials for diameter. The Monarch's dials are all calibrated as diameter rather than radius.

I have two more lathes and another mill that I'm working on. I'm planning on putting the same Electronica 400 on all three of those. Eventually. Talk about major cash outlay! The mill (K&T 3K vertical) is going to be a challenge to come up with a Y axis mount.

 

[Suzuki4evr]

Ditron with magnetic scales on my lathe and are really happy with it. I would not say I am a better machinist, but I am a faster and more acurite one.