DRO or not?

DRO on a lathe? My vote: No. Lots of good comments above. I have a DRO on one of the mills - it is awesome. For the second mill, I glued a 0.1" calibrated scale on - saves counting turns. I would put a DRO on the second mill before I'd put one on either lathe. I don't doubt a DRO on a lathe would be a nice to have. If I had $$ to burn, I'd add a DRO to every machine I have. Since I don't have that sort of cash - I have to be selective about where I spend it. I suggest you put the money you are thinking of spending on the DRO into something that will be a game changer (such as a larger lathe - a 12" is still not a monster machine at all, but it can tackle a much broader range of tasks than the 10" swing machine).

Be warned, it is a slipper slope 0- "for a few more $$, you can get . . . "!
 
The $500 is much better spent on tooling. You won't need 3 separate dials. One of the mag back mounted 1" range dials is all I have ever used - and not had trouble positioning (I've been at it nearly 40 years - one day I'll spring for a longer travel dial, it just isn't high enough on the priority list).
 
As far as machine size goes, right now I don't need to make huge parts. For now I'll probably be making, or trying to make, screws and other parts for my knives/sheaths and small parts for my race bikes. Plus, it will be going in my basement. I can't just wheel it in there. It would need to go down a narrow set of stairs. So weight and size are an issue.
 
I have a PM-1030V with factory installed DRO. I use the DRO constantly & I have had zero issues with it. Strongly recommend.

I was anxious to get working on the lathe, so I sprung for factory installation. I would rather spend my time cutting metal than installing a DRO kit.
 
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How long have you had the PM1030V? Any issues with it? Here I was just thinking of going with a dial indicator but now you have me wanting the DRO again. I'm so confused, hahahaha.
 
I really hope that you choose a PM-1030V with factory installed DRO.

I have had so many tools and machines in my life, but nothing comes close to my lathe (with DRO) for being the “favorite piece of equipment ever”.

I know it’s financially painful to pay for that PM order, but I’m tellin’ ya it was more than worth it for me.

I use handwheels on the lathes at school, and handwheels are fine. The DRO is just faster & easier in my novice opinion.
 
i4Marc said:
How many places on a lathe can you place a DRO sensor?
Click to expand...

Personally, I have installed a 4 axis DRO on a big lathe about 3 years ago. X, Z, tailstock, and toolpost.

Who knows if anything more than the X ever truly got used, but thats what I have seen.

Jon
 
I'm just going to leave this here. Came at the recommendation of another user on this forum. The read head just came in the mail and the scales should arrive today. Seller was easy to buy from and items arrived 2.5 weeks after payment. It is a 2 Axis DRO for $185. I opted to get a 3 axis read head (have a spare) and a 1 micron slim profile scale for the cross slide and that brought it up to $217.

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I've been very impressed with the read head. The display is large and bright. It updates very quickly and has a ton of configuration. Also quite a few nice functions like options to rough in a taper or a radius using the X & Z handwheels. Rather than having a million buttons like a lot of DROs I have seen, it has a graphical interface with function keys that are applicable to the current page.

If you don't mind doing the mounting yourself, this was an excellent price. DRO PROs and PM are buying all their readouts from overseas too, so I didn't feel bad shopping there.

EDIT: My only complaints are:
  1. I cannot set the DRO to only show X and Z. This is my fault for buying a 3 axis DRO and turning off the 3rd axis. Not sure if the 2 Axis version shows X and Z.
  2. There is no software option to show or hide the extra decimal places. Tape would do fine if needed.
 
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Here is the DRO in question. Mounted to the back of the headstock of my 12x36 Enco.

Lathe DRO.jpg
 
Ok, thanks guys. A lot to consider. Since I'm brand new to lathes can you help me understand which axis is which? At this point I am assuming that X axis is the carriage left and right and the Z axis is the cross slide in and out? What is the Y axis?
 
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