Im thinking that the features are very much similar. I use Touch DRO and have never used anything else so I probably will be of little help. The features I use regularly are 1/2, bolt circle, Here is a link to the main touch Dro page that may be of more help. http://www.yuriystoys.com/p/android-dro.html
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Touch DRO features compared to Chinese DRO
- Thread starter Headrc
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Thanks ...I have looked at Yuri's site but candidly I cannot see any features that really make it stand out. I read a link on here that Yuri had posted quite a while ago about some new features which looked interesting but it seems those have not been implemented. That is not to say it is not a good solution ...but it does seem more expensive then the Chinese solutions.
Agree. I have a Sino DRO on my lathe and just use the basic functions due the poorly translated user manual and strange interface.
I do agree that it may not be necessarily the cheapest solution unless you are using iGaging scales then only marginaly cheaper. For me the flexibility of being able to add scales as dollars allowed and the challenge of making it work was sent me down this path.
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OK, as said before, I don't have the latest version of Touch DRO so my comments my not be up to date. I also use mine on a lathe. Here is what I don't see on the mill version It doesn't have the ability to program cutting an arc. My Grizzly DRO , somilar to the DRO Pros Easson DRO and the Sino DRO, can do that by cutting stepwise, point to point. It is a tedious procedure if you want to end up with a fairly smooth curve and it is prone to operator error by stepping the wrong axis first or overshooting. The three axis DRO can also cut vertical arcs although I have never done so with mine. The Grizzly DRO can also make stepwise cuts on a diagonal; again tedious and prone to error. Considering that diagonal cuts can be made by repositioning the work or using a rotary table, not much value there.
The Grizzly DRO has 199 subdatum points which can be useful at times. In practice I don't think that I have ever used more than a half dozen though. The Grizzly DRO uses 5 micron glass scales and has .0002" resolution. The newer glass scale DRO's can use 1 micron scales. The capacitive scales that I used have 10 micron resolution. The Grizzly DRO can set the point midway two points to zero. It also has a built-in calculator and the ability to transfer calculated results to a selected position.
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Thanks RJ ...that is the kind of info I am looking for. Speaking of using the touch dro on a lathe ...besides precise location measurement. Do you find any other features that are of benefit on a manual lathe? What scales are you using on the lathe?
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I use the original iGaging scales. They are set up on x,z, and tailstock. Other than using the diameter setting for direct readout of the diameter, I don't use much else. I don't use tool offsets because I usually adjust the QCTP angle which will change the offsets so I usually touch off the tool with each tool change.
I did a thread on the DRO install.
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/another-lathe-dro-install.34106/
I used iGaging scales, most of the work I have done thousandths is accurate enough. tenthousandths readings aren't really that accurate with them though.