Lathe DRO uses X and Y, instead of Z and Y

[RandyWilson]

Have Sharpie, will travel.


I just picked up a 3 axis SNS with scales for $170 delivered.

 

[MrWhoopee]

??
I haven't found anything under $500.
A question on a lathe DRO.
I cant remember what you call it, when I move my cross slide .010" on the dial, it moves .005"
With a DRO, if you are trying to hit a dimension by removing .012", do you dial in .006"?
Is there a setting or a way to read like my lathe example with a DRO? Is that clear as mud?

Ah, yes, you would need a scale over 1000 mm length. Prices jump significantly at that point. I do find a 1300mm scale for $120, making it quite possible to come in under $300.

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You are referring to radius/diameter reading. I set mine for diameter (direct reading) so it reads the same as the dial. Crank in .010, it removes .010 from diameter. Much less likely to make a mistake.

 

[andrewgr]

It's because most DRO displays being sold are "universal" displays, for use with mills, lathes, & grinders. The "Z port" that you are refering to is empty on a 2 axis display. It's present on a 3 axis display & would be displayed as the 3rd axis.

Not very many vendors offer lathe specific DRO displays due to selling/inventory reasons but they do exist. I have a lathe specific display. A lathe specific display won't have all the mill functions which are pretty much useless on a lathe. Lathe specific display will also have a button to quickly toggle from radius & diameter mode for the X axis, although many of the universal display have this button now. And of course they're labeled correctly for the Z axis.

Nothing wrong with using a universal display unless you have really bad OCD and the Y/Z label bothers you. BTW, on a lathe it's X & Z, not Y & Z. When using a universal DRO display (or any display actually), X should be connected to the cross slide, top/1st axis on the display, Carriage (Z) should be connected to "Y", the second axis on the display. Reason being, if your DRO display has the radius/diameter mode toggle button, it only works for the 1st/top X axis.

(Actual Y axis on a lathe would be a milling attachment)

Thanks for correcting my x/y confusion!

 

[erikmannie]

??
I haven't found anything under $500.
A question on a lathe DRO.
I cant remember what you call it, when I move my cross slide .010" on the dial, it moves .005"
With a DRO, if you are trying to hit a dimension by removing .012", do you dial in .006"?
Is there a setting or a way to read like my lathe example with a DRO? Is that clear as mud?

Other than changing from metric to Imperial, I didn’t change my factory settings. If I want to reduce the diameter by .050”, I dial in .025”. You get used to this really fast.

I would prefer it like this, anyway, because the tool is moving in .025” (in the example above). It would be way more confusing to me if the DRO was reporting double the distance traveled.

 

[Cletus]

BTW IMHO, the best Machinists and Engineers are OCD or some level thereof. It's that attention and demand for detail that sets them apart!