Reliable, affordable DRO setup for G4003G

D

drs23

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I hope this is the correct forum to pose this question. I bought my lathe specifically to make parts, mostly obsolete, for my motorcycle shop. In doing so I've since found my dials to be extremely unrepeatable and inaccurate. Granted my indicators are import VS high end measuring tools and I'm really, really green at this. I've worked with them enough now to know "which side of the line" to work with and all but that really takes a toll as far as time and the dreaded 'dead part'. Most of my material is free because my good Buddy works at a production shop and brings me drop and their 'dead stuff' by the box full so the wasted material is not really the problem. It's the time! Nonetheless, I'm tired of having to attempt a project/part 3 or 4 times in order to get it to work without binding, getting stuck in a bore or whatever the case may be.

All of this intro leads to my title question. What's my best bet for an affordable, dependable and repeatable DRO system for my lathe.

Thanks for looking and looking forward to the sage advise afforded here.
 
drs23 said:
All of this intro leads to my title question. What's my best bet for an affordable, dependable and repeatable DRO system for my lathe.
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Well, dependable and repeatable are one thing, affordable we won't know about until you tell us your budget allowance for a DRO. The guys at http://www.dropros.com/ are respected and will actually talk to you about the units and problems on the phone. A lot of companies won't do this. Glass scales are cheaper than magnetics but they are susceptible to debris and coolant contamination effecting the accuracy and ability of the reader to work properly. There is lots of good information at the DRO Pros' website that would be worthwhile to read. Some guys use the I-gauging scales from Grizzly. I have them on my mill. They get me in the ballpark when using my mill and that's usually good enough for me now. Honestly though, I wouldn't buy them again for the lathe because I don't feel they are accurate enough for the home shop. Another site that has a decent rep from what I've read is thedrostore.com and then there's guys selling the same kits on Ebay. Right now I don't have the $ for a lathe DRO, but down the road I plan on looking at the DROPros or Drostore and hopefully prices will come down by then. Yeah, sure. ;) Good luck whatever you go with.
 
Splat said:
Well, dependable and repeatable are one thing, affordable we won't know about until you tell us your budget allowance for a DRO. The guys at http://www.dropros.com/ are respected and will actually talk to you about the units and problems on the phone. A lot of companies won't do this. Glass scales are cheaper than magnetics but they are susceptible to debris and coolant contamination effecting the accuracy and ability of the reader to work properly. There is lots of good information at the DRO Pros' website that would be worthwhile to read. Some guys use the I-gauging scales from Grizzly. I have them on my mill. They get me in the ballpark when using my mill and that's usually good enough for me now. Honestly though, I wouldn't buy them again for the lathe because I don't feel they are accurate enough for the home shop. Another site that has a decent rep from what I've read is thedrostore.com and then there's guys selling the same kits on Ebay. Right now I don't have the $ for a lathe DRO, but down the road I plan on looking at the DROPros or Drostore and hopefully prices will come down by then. Yeah, sure. ;) Good luck whatever you go with.
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Thank you for pointing out their website. I enjoyed watching their videos http://www.dropros.com/DRO_PROS_Digital_Readout_Videos.htm. This old hand learn something new today.

- - - Updated - - -

Splat said:
Well, dependable and repeatable are one thing, affordable we won't know about until you tell us your budget allowance for a DRO. The guys at http://www.dropros.com/ are respected and will actually talk to you about the units and problems on the phone. A lot of companies won't do this. Glass scales are cheaper than magnetics but they are susceptible to debris and coolant contamination effecting the accuracy and ability of the reader to work properly. There is lots of good information at the DRO Pros' website that would be worthwhile to read. Some guys use the I-gauging scales from Grizzly. I have them on my mill. They get me in the ballpark when using my mill and that's usually good enough for me now. Honestly though, I wouldn't buy them again for the lathe because I don't feel they are accurate enough for the home shop. Another site that has a decent rep from what I've read is thedrostore.com and then there's guys selling the same kits on Ebay. Right now I don't have the $ for a lathe DRO, but down the road I plan on looking at the DROPros or Drostore and hopefully prices will come down by then. Yeah, sure. ;) Good luck whatever you go with.
Click to expand...

Thank you for pointing out their website. I enjoyed watching their videos http://www.dropros.com/DRO_PROS_Digital_Readout_Videos.htm. This old hand learn something new today.
 
PurpLev said:
I like the DROPROs magnetic scales units and their customization (lengthwise) - especially for lathe, but unfortunately they are not "affordable" enough for me. For my mill I went with drostore.com which I wrote about here: http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php/15934-New-DRO-Install-on-a-G0619-SX3 I really like it to the point that I think I will use the same for my lathe at some point.
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Bill C., you're welcome. Sharon, I agree. The DROPros have nice setups but too pricey for me. The display units are pro'lly the same that these guys sell, except for the known name brands like Fagor, Uniq, Acu-Rite, Sony, etc..
 
Splat said:
Well, dependable and repeatable are one thing, affordable we won't know about until you tell us your budget allowance for a DRO. The guys at http://www.dropros.com/ are respected and will actually talk to you about the units and problems on the phone. A lot of companies won't do this. Glass scales are cheaper than magnetics but they are susceptible to debris and coolant contamination effecting the accuracy and ability of the reader to work properly. There is lots of good information at the DRO Pros' website that would be worthwhile to read. Some guys use the I-gauging scales from Grizzly. I have them on my mill. They get me in the ballpark when using my mill and that's usually good enough for me now. Honestly though, I wouldn't buy them again for the lathe because I don't feel they are accurate enough for the home shop. Another site that has a decent rep from what I've read is thedrostore.com and then there's guys selling the same kits on Ebay. Right now I don't have the $ for a lathe DRO, but down the road I plan on looking at the DROPros or Drostore and hopefully prices will come down by then. Yeah, sure. ;) Good luck whatever you go with.
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Splat,
Thanks for pointing this out. I don't have a coolant system but it certainly will sling some "debris". :shocked: How big of an issue would that be "real world" as naturally there's a significant difference in prices between the two?

While I'd love to support our US Vets I find myself on a $500ish budget and the folks at DRO PRO just don't offer. If I keep saving my duckets I could probably go another hundred and a half or so. So far in my limited searching it seems as though this price point puts me in the "etched glass" class.

What's a mother to do?

Thanks for all the input. It's been very beneficial.

Dale
 
For what it's worth, while glass scales are "susceptible" to debris and all that. they are protected by a rubber strips - some by 2 layers of those. on top of that, you can also install protectors (AL/other) C/L channels above to add another layer of protection (I did). as long as you don't blow air to clean them you should be OK in the home shop with those.
 
Senna said:
If you want a brand new setup these folks have the best prices I've found on pretty much the same Chinese DRO that everybody sells.

http://www.drokits.com/

Personally however I much prefer a good US, Japanese, or German DRO to any of the Chinese/Taiwanese DRO's.

Brands such as Acu-Rite, Mitutoyo, Anilam, and Heidenhain have been around for a long time and they all have US based CS who's techs know their equipment very well and who's service department specializes in and stocks parts for these unit now and will still be servicing them years into the future.

Some very good prices can be found on eBay. Oftentimes for even less than the Chinese units.
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Senna,

Thanks much for your reply. I did search for the "good US, Japanese, or German DRO" units and found many. The downside is most were attached to $30k+ lathes!:yikes:

I did find several displays ranging from $350 to 700+/- with no scales. Add the scales and they're $1500 & up. Out of my league for sure. On the bright side I found if all I need is a manual I found several for $13 - $14.:))

I certainly would not ask anyone to invest any time searching for these name brand guys on my behalf but if you're ever just perusing the innerwebs and run across some of these please PM me.

Thanks for the reply,

Dale
 
Don't forget to compare features in addition to pricing and make sure the unit you are getting does what you plan on using it for.

For example, I use the 1/2 feature extensively and some older DROs don't have such functionality (find center of part on X/Y/Z axis). so while you may save $100 and get a "quality" DRO from a reputable mfg. you might be left with less than you wanted when all is said and done. Just do your homework.

here is what I compared when I did the same research:

1. price (within budget)
2. scale/dro resolution (for me - this had to be BETTER than 0.001 - so no iGaging scales)
3. features (your miles may vary)
4. included hardware/ease of installation/responsive supplier/etc
 
Senna said:
Here's one with scales and likely to go for less than $5-600.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Acu-Rite-II...=BI_Heavy_Equipment_Parts&hash=item4613c89643

Here's a nice modern one for $145 OBO and free shipping. Offer $100, add two glass scales for between $100-$300 each and you're set.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/acu-rite-10...204?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item46127d63fc

A Fagor for $150

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FAGOR-NV20-...137?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f2a181999

A complete Mitutoyo likely to go cheap.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mitutoyo-DR...086?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2330567a1e

Another complete Mitutoyo. Mike Kandu isn't my favorite seller but offer him $5-600 for the unit and see what happens.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mitutoyo-Di...=BI_Heavy_Equipment_Parts&hash=item4d00e12f17

A guy just has to look around and not be afraid to email these sellers with a lower offer. I've found that even if they don't offer the Best Offer option they'll often take much less than asking price.
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Senna,

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. Apparently I'm not a very astute searcher. (I know that's to be a fact, I can barely find my boots when I'm wearing 'em. :lmao:)

I'll start clicking and see if one of the sellers and I can make a deal.

Thank you very much.

Dale
 
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