Remote DRO's for Optimum mill.

[wla421]

Hi all,

Got my mill level, and trammed the X and Y axis. As I want to start this hobby off on the right foot, just taking my time, reading and researching.

I read that I should get a DRO with a remote readout for the machine.

Any suggestions?

What type, style, where to buy?

I done a quick google search this morning and came up with some items that look like real cheap items.

I know.....buy cheap, and ya get what you pay for.

Quality costs.... I know.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

George

 

[T70MkIII]

Hi George

I'm not sure that you "should" get a DRO when starting off - it's certainly not necessary at this stage of the game.

That said, there are quite a few DRO posts in the Machine Modifications section of the forum, ranging from cheap to not so cheap, remote to not so remote. One recent thread that may be of interest is:
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=9163.0

I'm thinking schumatech http://www.shumatech.com/

If you have an old PC or laptop yadro might be a cheap solution: http://www.yadro.de/

Of course, you'll also need the scales themselves, which range from cheap to not so cheap... etc

Pros and cons with all.

 

[pete]

While I'd agree with T70 There are a few things to consider before buying a dro. I really hope no one who has added the cheaper Chinese scales takes offence to this as that's not how it's meant. There are 3 terms you need to understand before deciding on what dro you want to purchase.

Resolution- In simplified terms this pretty well means how many zeros there are after the decimal point, For example 1.0001" on the display shows 1 inch plus 1 ten thousands of an inch. That appears to be great except for the following.

Accuracy- This is a result of just how accurate the factory builds and will guarantee their dro scales to. Mitutoyo for example are a known world class manufacturer of precision measuring equipment and make add on scales that look but are far more expensive than your resonable cost, generic add on scales. Yet they will only guarantee these scales to an accuracy of + or - .002. Mitutoyo also make high end dros that probably can repete and are accurate to .0001 So the add on scales you see that show a resolution to .0001 cannot give you the accuracy you think your getting. What your seeing is the resolution and not the accuracy.

Repeteability- Again this is a direct result of the built in quality at the factory. When making multiple parts with the same dimension or even making parts over a day to day basis you obviously want your dro readings to agree with what the part sizes actully are.

With the above said, Even with the worlds best dro you would still measure crital parts before and after the final machining pass to end up with an accurate part. The add on cheaper scales are a good addition as they tend to cancle out or remove the normal inaccuracys comman in the lead screws for this equipment. One huge bonus is they are a lot better at keeping track of your movements than counting turns on a handwheel will ever be. Most if not all will allow instant conversion between metric or imperial measurements at the push of a button. There well worth buying, But don't expect to turn out parts to .0001 or even .001 accuracy just because the scale says that's what your part is after the final pass.

Pete