DRO...

P

plongson

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Man, I'd love to have a DRO on my Bridgeport. It sure would make some projects much easier but I've never used one...I'm an old hand crank and dial guy.
There is so much to sift through on the internet...what are some personal recommendations and experience you could pass on. I'm thinking XY, magnetic and DROPro.

AND...are they a major PITA to install? Any help appreciated!
Paul
 
Get the XYZ. You'll appreciate having the knee on the DRO.

The big plus is you don't need to worry about backlash when positioning (for other stuff, yes, but not for positioning).

They are not that hard to install. Might need to make a few brackets, but that's still no big deal. I don't think I would enjoy using my Birdeport without it. Some of the functions that a DRO gives you is worth the effort times 100, like bolt hole patterns.

Magnetic scales are more durable than glass, obviously, so you're going the right direction. DRO Pros are top notch, but keep in mind, almost everything is made in China, so even though you are buying from a good American company, don't expect it to be made in the USA.

I have a Ditron D80, LCD screen, 3 axis, magnetic scales. Bought it from some other US based outfit, but it was drop shipped from China.
 
Lots of folks get a set from China (or Ebay) for around 250$ with glass scales
They seem to be reliable and not too hard to install. You can epoxy the scale mounts
on if you like instead of drilling
 
THANKS Guys! The big reason I'm still on the fence is just the $$$ (retired and have to watch it a bit) it sure would be nice to pull the trigger.
Ya think magnetic is the the way to go? Will epoxy stand the test to time?
 
TouchDRO is popular here. There is a dedicated forum. The owner/sole proprietor is active, and loaded with valuable knowledge. He skews toward glass scales. I went glass for the bed travel on my lathe, and mag for the cross slide, because it's smaller. I'd go glass for all, if there is room. You can find good prices via a variety of sources. Or, just buy a premade kit from china. Lots of options.
 
Agree with touch DRO. I probably have a little more than $300 in my setup but the functionality is nice.
 
You won't regret adding a DRO to your mill, Its literally becomes a different, much more capable, machine. Installation is a bit of work but not what I'd call a PITA. Here is a links my installation:

www.hobby-machinist.com

Dro Install On Mill *Updated*

Hi All, I was going to wait till I have all three axises installed before posting this project. However, with all the recent inquiries about these Chinese DRO kits, I figured I would be best to post what I have done so far. I bought a Easson DRO on AliExpress the end of last year. The...
www.hobby-machinist.com www.hobby-machinist.com

www.hobby-machinist.com

[How-To] - Mounting a Z axis DRO on a Bridgeport (Clone) Quill

Hi All, A few years back I completed the DRO installation on my mill by adding the Z Axis to the head, that is my mill is a bed style where the head raises and lowers not the knee or table. However, I found it not be as useful or at least user friendly as I thought, mainly due to the fine...
www.hobby-machinist.com www.hobby-machinist.com

I have since added an axis combiner to join the Z head and Z Quill together This is available from M-DRO. It works perfectly.
 
I’ve gotten excellent customer service from fasttobuy2021 who sell ToAuto DROs on eBay. They were also a sponsor at the Bar-Z bash last year. ToAuto is a popular value priced, important brand. I'm a DIYer for everything except electronics – so plug-n-play/set-n-forget simplicity was a selling point for me.
 
I bought 1um scales from Aliexpress, they work fine. Even if they get gunked up, and you can't fix them by cleaning, you are still ahead DIY. You can buy a full kit and specify custom lengths for the scales if you want to. I figured that no matter how closely I measured I'd get it wrong, and I was right.

I just ordered a length a few cm longer than could possibly fit and trimmed to fit. Trimming glass scales really isn't hard, especially in the larger sizes. The slim scales have the glass at an angle and that makes it hard to cut clean. Even so, the small imperfections don't affect the scale, since the reader is roughly 30cm from the end.

All the scales come from China anyways, so might as well cut out most of the middle men and get a better price. As I recall you can buy direct from Ditron and beat the Aliexpress price. I've not had a bad experience with any of the glass scales that I bought.

My glass scale on my PM-25 mill got wonky on me, and it was due to chips and or debris getting into the X axis. Might of been due to inadequate cleaning, but am not sure. Symptom was the scale would not return to zero. It missed counts in one direction, but not the other. It slowly got progressively worse and caused me to make some bad parts. I tried cleaning the glass, but that didn't work. PM sent me a new read head which did fix the problem. The replacement was pretty straightforward once I realized the end caps were glued with RTV (silicone rubber).
 
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