DRO for Atlas Craftsman 12" Lathe

[kcoffield]

I always make an effort to search a topic before posting Qs, but the search engine will not allow either DRO or Digital Read Out because it says they are too common of term and excludes them. Any way around that?

Anyway, I started paging down posts by the page and found these two threads.

Craftsman 101 going Digital, Part 1

I just added a Grizzly SS 24" Digital remote read out to my new, Craftsman 101.2140 lathe. PHOTO 1 - I made a small bracket and mounted the the back of the data reader with the screws that came with the reader. PHOTO 2 - I used a 3" C-Channel to mount and protect the data reader and track from...

www.hobby-machinist.com

show me DRO installs for an Atlas/Craftsman 101.07403 lathe

I'm considering mounting a DRO on my Atlas Craftsman 101.07403 lathe. I've seen a few threads on adding DRO's to lathes, but I'm posting here because I want to know if anyone has added a DRO set-up to this particular lathe. I have some ideas, but don't want to re-invent the wheel. I could...

www.hobby-machinist.com

Seems like iGaging (and similar) are popular. Makes sense......probably good enough for the application, and they do seem more compact and package nicely on small lathes, especially on the Cross slide, as shown in the threads. Looks like you can buy a set of three, 36" 12", 6" for around $130 with displays and I could use two on the lathe and perhaps the third on the quill of my knee mill. There are a mind numbing number of Asian imports with glass scales and common display for under $200, but they are a little bulkier. I also notice there are several versions of the iGaging scales. Are there any other threads worth taking in, and/or comments on pros/cons?

Best,
Kelly

 

[pontiac428]

I have no complaints about iGaging's construction, size, or accuracy. The only issue that I have is forgetting to turn them off and killing those CR2032 batteries (thankfully Amazon has these in their Basics line for cheap). They can be hard wired to an AC adapter without much effort. For an Atlas retrofit, smaller scales would be a huge benefit. You really don't have much room for glass scales. So if .001 is enough accuracy for you, they are a good option.

 

[ARC-170]

You linked to my post. Post #14 has some decent pictures of what I did. Let me know if you want more. I used the iGaging ones and they seem to work just fine. I mounted the readouts on the wall on the swing arms that come with them. I have also forgotten to turn off the displays, but the batteries last a long time. I'd consider getting the AC adapter, but you'll have more wires to deal with. I didn't have enough outlets nearby so I went with the battery power. I used some spiral wire wrap to organize the wires.