Sherline 5400 Mill DRO or Upgrade?

devils4ever

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As the title suggests, I have a Sherline 5400 mill which I'm mostly happy with except for size limitations and the lack of a DRO.

I can add the factory DRO for about $400. Or, I could attach an iGaging DRO for a lot less $$$ along with a lot of customizing. The iGaging DRO looks a little challenging to attach on such a small mill. Has this been done?

Then there's the third option of selling the Sherline 5400 and buying a bigger mill with built-in DRO, such as the LMS 5550, PM-25MV, or a Grizzly. The thing keeping me back from going bigger is the lack of space and the idea of moving a much larger machine weighing 250+ lbs!

Thought? Comments? Advice?
 
If you are mostly happy with the Sherline I would keep it and add a budget DRO. You can get a system through Aliexpress for around 200$, or you could go with the I'mGagging (lol) units, either one would take a bit of bracket-making and fitting- you can use epoxy to mount if you don't want to drill holes in your machine
Mark
 
I would prefer the glass or magnetic scales along with a nice large and bright readout compared to the capacitive scales and small and difficult to read LCD readouts. The quality of the wiring is also much better with the "real" DROs. The price is affordable as well if you get them direct shipped from China.
 
I believe the Sherline readouts use rotary encoders rather than more accurate linear scales.
 
Yes, I believe you are correct. They have to account for backlash in their system.
 
I have a Sherline 5400 and have used it for about 30 years without a DRO and have no issues with that. The mill is accurate enough that I don't feel the need. However, I can see why you might want one as a DRO will greatly increase your efficiency. I think @DHarris put a DRO on his. You might PM him to see how he did his. IIRC, he used iGauging scales.
 
The IGag scales are capacitive, and they are the least expensive- I believe they cannot resolve beyond 5 micron, whereas the glass and mag ones can go to 1 micron or less. For hobby use 5 micron is plenty good enough
Mark
 
Bob: What's the difference between glass and magnetic scales? What does iGaging use?
Read https://www.yuriystoys.com/2013/12/selecting-scales-for-a-hobby-dro.html
Beyond the scales, you should also look at Yuriy's extensive site about the the Android based DRO controller that Yuriy sells, as plans, kits, and perhaps completed units (I have not looked at Yuriy's site for some time.)
There is also this commercial pre-assembled model (and there may be others...)
There may be others as well. Again, I have not looked at all this for a couple years, and it has no doubt changed.
-Bob Korves
Edit: in my world, I would rather look at large lighted numbers on a DRO than small LCD numbers like on an electronic caliper, difficult to read at a distance, an angle, or in dim light. I also want scales that I can trust to be repeatable and accurate. If not, I will use dials by hand.
 
I want the DRO for error (idiot) proofing reasons, not accuracy. I sometimes seem to not be able to count turns of the dial. Also, it gets a little trickier when I have to read the dial "backwards". The DRO will eliminate these issues.

I would prefer not using the Sherline DRO since it's based on the dials and has backlash issues. But, the size of the mill makes adding scales problematic. I will check with DHarris.

Also, I see some of the displays allow finding the midpoint between two readings and for making circular cuts manually. That's a big plus!

I'm happy with 0.001" accuracy, 5 microns is insane!

I'll have to look at Yuriy's Toys and blu-dro.com in some detail.

Thanks!
 
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