When is a DRO setup appropriate??

L

Loganguy

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I have been reading a lot of posts about installing digital readouts on mills and lathes. My question is; When is it appropriate to retrofit a lathe with a DRO package, and more to the point, when is it NOT appropriate?

I have an old Logan lathe (circa 1946) and was wondering if it would just be a waste of money to invest in a DRO for it. Currently, I have been using dial indicators in various configurations to measure my carriage and crossfeed travel as needed for my projects.

I looked at a DRO featured in another message and it had a price of $599. I could manage that price. I'm just not sure whether it would be a waste of money to retrofit an old lathe. I am a newbie hobby machinist, so would like to solicit the opinion of some real machinists.
 
I live and die by DRO on my mills, surface grinder and cutter/grinder but, never had a need for one on a lathe. After years of not having one, I purchased an iGaging type from davidh on this list. I didn't really need it but wanted to see if it helped and I also wanted to support a fellow member. The X-axis (crossfeed) was never installed -just don't see a reason for it. I use the Z axis all the time to determine basic landmarks along a workpiece (e.g. knowing where to cut the recess for a thread stop etc). It speeds-up Z-axis landmarking and is a little faster than using Dykem ink and calipers.


Your question has come-up before -and no particular response has "rocked my world". Oddly enough, my next lathe (whenever I get around to that) will have a DRO.

FWIW, if you have a variable speed lathe, there are some DROs that can be wired into the speed control to accomplish constant surface speed. I do it manually with the VFD knob.

Ray
 
I guess I would not put a DRO on a lathe just before it went to the scrap yard, other than that I would say just about any time is good. One day I will put one on my lathe. Do I need it, no. But I don't have one on it so therefore it needs one.

If you have the budget and you want it, then go for it. You have a hobby shop, you don't have to justify the cost of improvements. Sometimes the added cool factor makes it worthwhile.
 
Unless you are planing not to use that Logan any more, I'd go for it. You will find that a lot of that slop in the old lathe will disappear with the DRO 8^)
DRO's are the greatest invention to happen to machine tools. It makes life soooo much easier.

Randy
 
I also have the igaging on my bridgeport. They were cheap enough to be worth a try. They seem pretty dang on point best I can tell. At school we have some high dollar ones. I would love one but I have alot to buy ahead of that. And for just over 100 shipped I had 3 axis.

Is it worth it, that just depends on who you are. Plenty of guys count ticks and have no wanting not to.

I dont think there is any denying that a dro is faster. You need to move .323 you just crank to .310 and slow up. No .010,.020,.030 on a dial
 
Dick Mason just posted his very well documented iGaging installation on his Logan lathe a week or so ago. You may want to check that thread out. For the money you can't beat them.

Steve
 
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Mine came from Davidh as well. Good price and fast shipping even with a bunch of snow on the ground where he's at
 
Loganguy said:
My question is; When is it appropriate to retrofit a lathe with a DRO package, and more to the point, when is it NOT appropriate?
Click to expand...
The approprite time to install a DRO is NOW! :thumbsup: If you feel that you don't want to spend the $$ on a DRO, the Igaging DROs work fine for all but the fussiest of work IMO.

Marcel
 
Loganguy, I think you are seeing the pattern here. DROs are worth having. I have the iGaging ones on two lathes and two mills. (The other mill is CNC.) Even these simple DROs are a big help. If you can swing a more sophisticated one, go for it.
 
stevecmo said:
Dick Mason just posted his very well documented iGaging installation on his Logan lathe a week or so ago. You may want to check that thread out. For the money you can't beat them.

Steve
Click to expand...

Steve,

Thank you for the kind words, the DRO's are working great, and are a wonderful, low cost, upgrade.

I don't think anyone can find the thread searching for "Dick Mason", as my screen name is mhguy.

The article you reference is under the SHELDON, LOGAN & ROCKWELL MACHINES forum, under the thread:

Upgrades to my Logan 957

Dick
 
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