To DRO or not to DRO, that is the question.....

[TroyO]

Well, in a sense I will be adding a DRO either way. I have a set of Igaging scales (2x 12", 1x 6") which I will be installing soonish to my mini mill. They have remote display heads, so they will be stacked on each other and fairly convenient to read.

Now I am debating the Shumatech DRO 550 kit, since they happen to be available at the moment.

But, I question how much I will need it. Most of the time, I will be simply milling fron position A to position B. On the rare occasion I need bolt circles or interpolated radius or most of the advanced calculations I can look the formulas up online or find an online calculator, right? (Thanks in advance, Marv!)

I can see the more common things like center finding being handy, or auto zero with an edge finder but even those I wouldn't really think of as must haves.

I dunno.... I'm just having trouble selling myself on ~$250 for it. Mostly it seems to have features that would be nice, but nothing absolutely critical. The $110 for the scales was a pretty easy sell, as they add on a basic functionality.... the DRO head unit just seems to be bells and whistles.

Am I missing some "Killer app" for what it does?

 

[don-tucker]

I have installed the digital caliper type on mine and it has transformed my mini mill,all I can say is it is well worth it.
Don

 

[Jasonb]

Of all the functions the "1/2" is what I use most when centering a piece of work followed by PCD which is a lot easier than using a calculator and dialing in the co-ordinates particularly if you need to spot drill, drill, tap etc.

The equallly spaced holes along a line is also handy but all the other functions I have not really needed in the 6months since I went over to glass scales and a Sino DRO.

J

 

[milotrain]

I did exactly what you are describing. I put iGaging scales on my mill and it made everything better. I am now going to buy a 550 because the iGaging screens are crap and the interface very limited. The 550 seems to go on sale in it's batches once a year so if you want it now get it.

I will say that the .001" resolution is a bit of a pain but I plan to install dial indicators on the x,y,z axis for resolution beyond .001"

Other than the fact that the 550 is fully customizable, it also allows for the outboard LCD screen which can take care of SFPM calculations, RPM calculations, arc step calculations, etc...
It's like anything, you can do it long hand on paper if you want but $250 is absolutely worth it in my opinion.

 

[TroyO]

Ahhaa.... I do like the big fancy display that it has. It's hard to sell myself on that alone. I don't have mine mounted yet to figure out how hard the stock displays will be to read though.

The (un)availability of that DRO-550 is part of it as well.... if I miss them now I may not even have the choice later. The availability has been quite the drama as I understand.

I did actually get a DRO-350 a while back for my lathe.. but as of yet it hasn't been given the DRO treatment. It's still on the "round-tuit" list, LOL. I see the live 1/2 reading mode on that as a big improvement for turning work. (And it was cheaper too... I want to say I paid like $100 for it.) It only reads the old style scales, though.

Dang hard decisions! They make me brain hurt!

 

[TroyO]

After all the folks posting how they wouldn't do without it I'm guessing it's more handy than I thought.

So.... I just had lunch with SWMBO :bow:, and she shrugged and said "If you want it, get it.". It may help that I started out with saying I wanted to "Buy something for the mill" and she thought I had said I "wanted to buy a mill"... LOL, after that shock anything seemed OK. ;-P

So.... what the heck, I guess I will order it after all, LOL.

 

[milotrain]

You won't be disappointed. The stock screens are total crap.

 

[TroyO]

Fait accompli... got the board and an overlay on the way. I'll get the USB headers when I order the rest of the through hole stuff from Mouser.