Lathe owners with DRO’s

Not all, but many women want a man who is just smart enough to fix things around the house, but not smart enough to win an argument.
A really sharp Engineer does have trouble finding women attracted to him sometimes. The pool of women who really dig brainy men is not especially large. Think of all the billionaire tech giants, whose first wife was exceptionally plain. Their brains and potential did not get them runway models.
 
kb58 said:
To the OP, don't confuse resolution with accuracy. Resolution is the smallest quantity that can be resolved, but just adding digits doesn't mean the part being cut reflects that. Accuracy means how close to truth the display is. As others have pointed out, adding digits can give a false sense of accuracy where it doesn't exist. Past maybe 0.2 mil, there are other inaccuracies that render the extra resolution as pointless.
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I have a DRO with 5 micron (0.0002") resolution scales. The last two digits seldom come out as even multiples of 0.0002", because the scales are basically metric, not inch. Just to avoid confusion, I taped a piece of clear red-colored film over the last two digits. I can still see the numbers, but the red film reminds me to take them with a grain of salt. Haven't yet done anything to test accuracy ... but there's no way it can exceed the resolution, is there?
kk_HPIM0288.jpg
 
Merry Christmas All.
Just got a shipping number delivery 12/30/20, for a DRO Pros EL 400 1um cross slide kit for the PM12x36T ultra lathe. It is the magnetic kit, nice Christmas gift from Mom Santa. I want thank everyones input on this thread. I hate leaving a thread hanging so here it is.
Happy New Year an a prosperous and better 21.
CH
 
Once you use DROs you will never look at your dials again. I wear trifocals and have blind spots. I can read the DROs fine, dials not so much.
 
hman said:
I have a DRO with 5 micron (0.0002") resolution scales. The last two digits seldom come out as even multiples of 0.0002", because the scales are basically metric, not inch. Just to avoid confusion, I taped a piece of clear red-colored film over the last two digits. I can still see the numbers, but the red film reminds me to take them with a grain of salt. Haven't yet done anything to test accuracy ... but there's no way it can exceed the resolution, is there?
View attachment 341727
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Good idea on the red film. A few times I have read the numbers wrong due to too many digits and the last 2 digits are a fantasy.
 
KevinM said:
Once you use DROs you will never look at your dials again. I wear trifocals and have blind spots. I can read the DROs fine, dials not so much.
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I have age related Macular Degeneration starting to interfere with my vision. Strait lines tend to look curved, so it is really a pain to get them lined up. I have had 2 surgery’s on my right eye and it is still not much better. I need readers to see up close and reading. It‘s really hard to see those little marks on the dials. I can see the mic numbers with magnifier but it is hard to get down close to the lathe dials on the lathe with the magnifier. I figure it will help sell the lathe when I have to let it go. I have a DRO Pro’s 3 axis on the ofmill, they make it easy to use. I’m hoping this will extend my shop time by some number of years.
thanks for the input and Merry Christmas and a Happy better NewYear.
CH
 
mksj said:
Definitely want to go 1 micron on the cross slide, otherwise in diameter mode the scale jumps in 0.0004" increments and you can get more calculation errors because of rounding. I prefer the graphical color displays if you have vision problems, I need readers all the time. You can get the Easson 12B/C from the UK with 3 magnetic scales for around $800 shipped with 3 magnetic scales. You need to contact them to specify the length of the scales and also the resolution of each scale. Since the ES-12B/C has 3 inputs, many individuals use the 3rd axis on the tailstock. Yet to see anybody put a scale on the compound. Some of the higher end DRO's will calculate the X and Z travel based on the compound angle.

Universal Lathe Digital Readouts DRO Kits - Easy Fitting - Machine DRO UK

Wide Range of lathe Digital Readouts DRO Packages with Magnetic Encoders
www.machine-dro.co.uk www.machine-dro.co.uk
View attachment 340979

My Easson 12B, mine was shipped from QMT with the incorrect glass cross slide scale (5um instead of 1um) and the Xo diameter mode had quite a bit of accuracy issues, when switched to 1 um scale the calculation errors went away. Diameter mode the Xo terns yellow, but there are different color options. Z1 axis is the tailstock. I added the magnetic scale to the tailstock when I found they were available for the ES12B/C.
View attachment 340980
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Is that a Machtach below your DRO readout? If it is I can't recall seeing one with a led for RPM, SFM, INPUT & EXP, what are the INPUT and EXP for? Thanks
 
Installed a MachTach on my fist lathe, on my second one they were no longer available so purchased a Tachulator. Installed it in my own housing and changed it to a magnetic input instead of optical. Works well, but the MachTach was more compact and versatile, it did have a SFM LED. Input is for a second input, EXP is an error indicator when the RPM is too low to be accurate.

tachoptions

www.mkctools.com www.mkctools.com
 
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