$10 Calipers To Dro

[ogberi]

The older HF digital calipers are definitely better. I used two on my Taig lathe for digital readouts, and plan to use three on my Atlas horizontal mill in the same fashion. I'd like to rig them to a Raspberry PI, so I can have hole patterns, center finding, etc, etc. I used a dremel with cutoff wheels to remove un-necessary parts as well, but drilled holes using a solid carbide drill bit. I bought several sets from an electronics surplus place. They're generally tiny, 1/8" shank, used for drilling fiberglass circuit boards. Razor sharp but delicate.

Excellent work on on yours, and I'm sure you'll like the accuracy.

 

[mksj]

The newer Igaging Absolutes DRO are not much more ($45) and also work well. They allow a little more flexibility and the display is a bit bigger, which is a plus for my old eyes. The older Igaging DRO units had issues with errors and accuracy. The Absolute I installed on my tail stock, tracks perfectly out to 4" of travel, and does not loose track of the origin or last reference point. The only issue with these units is the readout display lags by about 1 second with rapid movement.