- Joined
- Nov 27, 2012
- Messages
- 7,852
I've never heard continental vs American dials but I'm still young. My old machine shop instructor (retired now) called them direct & indirect dials, that's what I see them being referred to online also. Direct dials indicate total off the diameter & indirect indicates off the radius. Most of the lathes there were old American iron & there were lathes that had both, just don't remember which ones.
I also prefer indirect, the cross feed dial indicating how much I am actually moving the tool. Since I got the DRO I don't really use the cross feed dial that much, just for reference. On my DRO I can switch back & forth, the modes are called diameter & radius (true lathe DRO & not the universal/mill type). I use radius for grooving, chamfering, threading, etc to reference DOC & diameter mode which is obvious. But the way I use diameter mode is I take a skim cut & measure the diameter. I then enter the measured diameter into my DRO then just cut to the targeted diameter reading the DRO & use the cross feed dial for DOC reference. Can also enter in the targeted diameter into the DRO after a skim cut, then cut till the DRO reads 0 but I never use it that way.
Oh, congrats on the lathe delivery finally! Nice setup!
I also prefer indirect, the cross feed dial indicating how much I am actually moving the tool. Since I got the DRO I don't really use the cross feed dial that much, just for reference. On my DRO I can switch back & forth, the modes are called diameter & radius (true lathe DRO & not the universal/mill type). I use radius for grooving, chamfering, threading, etc to reference DOC & diameter mode which is obvious. But the way I use diameter mode is I take a skim cut & measure the diameter. I then enter the measured diameter into my DRO then just cut to the targeted diameter reading the DRO & use the cross feed dial for DOC reference. Can also enter in the targeted diameter into the DRO after a skim cut, then cut till the DRO reads 0 but I never use it that way.
Oh, congrats on the lathe delivery finally! Nice setup!