Dti Suggestions For Newbie

Maybe middle of the road? - Mitutoyo DTI I've been looking at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1JAG31NA25MT368GAXT4

I have the $30 DTI from Little Machine Shop as mentioned by ogberi and it does work well.

I have the Mitutoyo 2776S Dial Indicator and really like it:
http://www.amazon.com/Mitutoyo-2776...qid=1437191997&sr=8-1&keywords=mitutoyo+2776s

I also have a couple of China cheapies DI's and a Noga magnetic base. Got the Noga when on sale at Enco and a 20% off coupon code.I use the cheapies when there is a possibility of damage from operator error.
 
I bought a Starrett years ago. It has had it accidental falls over the years but has been very good to me.

When I started there weren't many brands out there or known to me. Starrett and Brown & Sharpe were the most popular brands in the late 1960's.
 
Wreck™Wreck said:
Don't turn the spindle on with an indicator still in it, this never ends well.
Click to expand...
+1 Wreck™Wreck.
I use a digital tenths reading dial indicator in the Tormach for setting my tool comp. I always leave the spindle lock on and the spindle interlock activated when the indicator is in the collet. A real problem happened when I accidentally hit the down arrow while in Mach 3. The dial indicator crashed into the table and stalled the Z axis drive. Fortunately, I was able to take the indicator apart and straighten the bent coupling band and restore the indicator to service. Unfortunately, I don't know how to lock out the down arrow keys to prevent that from happening again.

Bob
 
I have a soft spot for Mitutoyo. I suggest getting a Mitutoyo indicator and mic.
I keep a premium Shars (the black face model) kinda perma mounted on my lathe in a Noga holder. I use it instead of the dials when advancing the cross slide. I have found it to be remarkably accurate and I cut to the line with confidence using it. It does occasionally stick a bit, you want to always tap lightly on the face to make sure it is settled, and lightly pull the plunger out a bit and let it drop.
I also suggest the Browne and Sharp shock proof dial caliper as a daily beater. Don't buy a cheap digital unless it has a low battery indicator (most cheap ones don't). They will start to give bad readings before the face starts to dim. Either get a good (and expensive) unit or use a dial caliper (this goes for mics as well).
A small dovetail mounted dial test indicator is almost irreplaceable on the mill for centering over holes.
 
I have a mixture of acuracies and range,

The 0.0001 inch ones can be a pain unless you have got it close witgg a 0.001 indicator first. A lot of the 1/10000 ones have about 1/8" of travle.

As somone said a pointer analogue type clock is handy due to batteries and seeing it get towards its mark. If i'm using tthe clock as a soft stop for threading or turning i find the pointer much easier to use vs the digital.

If you do get a digital i have found the mititoyo ones are very good and the batteries last well (opps i left it on for 5 days i shold switch it off, as aposed to looking for new batteries :)

Stuart
 
RJSakowski said:
+1 Wreck™Wreck.
I use a digital tenths reading dial indicator in the Tormach for setting my tool comp. I always leave the spindle lock on and the spindle interlock activated when the indicator is in the collet. A real problem happened when I accidentally hit the down arrow while in Mach 3. The dial indicator crashed into the table and stalled the Z axis drive. Fortunately, I was able to take the indicator apart and straighten the bent coupling band and restore the indicator to service. Unfortunately, I don't know how to lock out the down arrow keys to prevent that from happening again.

Bob
Click to expand...
Ouch, if I did that on the 40 X 20 Fadal we have here the indicator would be in many pieces before the Z axis servo would stall (-:
 
Wreck™Wreck said:
Ouch, if I did that on the 40 X 20 Fadal we have here the indicator would be in many pieces before the Z axis servo would stall (-:
Click to expand...
That is one advantage to having an anemic machine! I think my heart crashed harder than the machine. I was sure it was toast but the 3/8" shaft took it. It did shove the pointer up further than it was ever intended to go, bending the bronze strip that coupled it to the digital scale. I had to pull it apart to fix. Don't want to ever go through that again!

Bob
 
RJSakowski said:
That is one advantage to having an anemic machine! I think my heart crashed harder than the machine. I was sure it was toast but the 3/8" shaft took it. It did shove the pointer up further than it was ever intended to go, bending the bronze strip that coupled it to the digital scale. I had to pull it apart to fix. Don't want to ever go through that again!

Bob
Click to expand...
We ran 11,000 aluminum parts through that mill in Feb. of this year, 1 1/2" 6061 aluminum rounds 1 1/2" l0ng, one end had a 1/4" wide X 7/8" deep slot across the center 1/4-20 X 1/2" deep tapped hole in the other end. Six parts in V fixtures in 3 vices. Face mill to square the ends, . ran 020 X .020 chamfer around each part. The end mill Manufacturer recomended that we run the slotting OP at 17.000 rpm, 165 IPM feed rate. This mill has a max 10,000 RPM spindle, it worked yet was slow and made a lot of noise
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top