-
Welcome back Guest! Did you know you can mentor other members here at H-M? If not, please check out our Relaunch of Hobby Machinist Mentoring Program!
Yet another DRO thread
- Thread starter westerner
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2014
- Messages
- 4,808
Magnet scales are more compact and have an overall shorter length because the reader is smaller. They are easier to install then glass scales, they can take quite a bit of misalignment and still maintain accuracy. They are less prone to contamination and errors, but I have encounter at least two separate cases where an iron filing caught behind the reader head caused some misreadings. Most of the failures with contamination of glass scales is often associated with flood cooling and also poor lip seals on some of the Chinese scales. My first lathe and mill I installed glass scales (Easson and Acu-Rite which did not offer magnetic scales), never had a problem with them and they were accurate. My current knee mill uses an EL700 with 4 magnetic scales, but they have gotten very pricey over the years. My lathe has the ES-12B with glass scales for the X and Z, and later on added a magnetic scale for the tailstock. At the time, DRO Pros (or any other vendor) did not have magnetic scales for the Easson DRO's, and they did not recommend using their magnetic scales.
M-DRO in the UK sells complete 3 axis DRO's with either the Easson 12B (vertical) or 12C (horizontal) display, a complete mill kit with magnetic scales runs around $800 with air shipping (arrives in about 7 days). You can also specify the scale resolution and length, they have 1 micron heads for something like a lathe cross slide. At least 4 other HM member's have purchased complete kits from them and have not had any issues. They seem to be very responsive to email or phone calls. The graphical displays are very nice for complex milling, drilling arrays, bolt circles and such. The EL700 has a few more features at twice the price of the Easson 12B, the downside in my use of the EL700 is that it uses a touch screen which is not so ideal in a greasy environment with lots of metal chips. I cut a computer screen protector to fit over the display so it wouldn't get damaged. Bill has the 3 axis on his PM-935, and I also installed one on an 1640 lathe with a friend. The were all happy with the DRO, and they seem very reliable. Surprisingly none of these DRO's have a USB for software updating, my Acu-Rite that I installed 12+ years ago and added new features with the updates.
www.machine-dro.co.uk
Most people go with a 3 axis DRO, and put a battery operated DRO on the Quill. Fitting a 4th axis magnetic scale is a bit more challenging and will get quite expensive as their few 4 axis DRO's with magnetic scales. Adding a glass scale 4th axis, is not worth the trouble in my book. Some prior threads that discussed it.
www.hobby-machinist.com
www.hobby-machinist.com
If you need to save some money, you can find 3 glass scale basic DRO package in the $250-$450 range that would be very similar to what you have. I prefer the graphical interfaces DRO's, just find them easier to see and scroll through the functions (soft keys). In addition the EL-700 with sum the knee and the quill and combine them into a single Z axis instead of 4 axis display, which is a nice feature.
M-DRO in the UK sells complete 3 axis DRO's with either the Easson 12B (vertical) or 12C (horizontal) display, a complete mill kit with magnetic scales runs around $800 with air shipping (arrives in about 7 days). You can also specify the scale resolution and length, they have 1 micron heads for something like a lathe cross slide. At least 4 other HM member's have purchased complete kits from them and have not had any issues. They seem to be very responsive to email or phone calls. The graphical displays are very nice for complex milling, drilling arrays, bolt circles and such. The EL700 has a few more features at twice the price of the Easson 12B, the downside in my use of the EL700 is that it uses a touch screen which is not so ideal in a greasy environment with lots of metal chips. I cut a computer screen protector to fit over the display so it wouldn't get damaged. Bill has the 3 axis on his PM-935, and I also installed one on an 1640 lathe with a friend. The were all happy with the DRO, and they seem very reliable. Surprisingly none of these DRO's have a USB for software updating, my Acu-Rite that I installed 12+ years ago and added new features with the updates.
Universal Mill Digital Readouts DRO Kits - Easy Fitting - Machine DRO UK
Wide Range of Mill Digital Readouts DRO Packages with Magnetic Encoders
www.machine-dro.co.uk
Most people go with a 3 axis DRO, and put a battery operated DRO on the Quill. Fitting a 4th axis magnetic scale is a bit more challenging and will get quite expensive as their few 4 axis DRO's with magnetic scales. Adding a glass scale 4th axis, is not worth the trouble in my book. Some prior threads that discussed it.
3 or 4 axis DRO for 9x42 mill
I have an ailing 2 axis Mitutoyo on my home hobby '81 Bridgeport 2J and the eBay quill digital gauge has died too. Seems a good time upgrade. Ideally I'd like to spend no more than $1k. I use the mill for all kinds of odds and ends projects on our endurance road racing cars (ChampCar...
www.hobby-machinist.com
PM Mill Accessories
Thinking about buying a PM knee mill. The accessories I'm considering are the PM 3 AXIS MILL DRO, the X-power feed and the R8 collet set. Good idea or can I find a better deal on these elsewhere? I would install these myself.
www.hobby-machinist.com
If you need to save some money, you can find 3 glass scale basic DRO package in the $250-$450 range that would be very similar to what you have. I prefer the graphical interfaces DRO's, just find them easier to see and scroll through the functions (soft keys). In addition the EL-700 with sum the knee and the quill and combine them into a single Z axis instead of 4 axis display, which is a nice feature.
3 Axis Milling Machine DRO
www.tpactools.com
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2014
- Messages
- 6,665
I bought my Easson 3 axis DRO from this seller on AliExpress, I saved a lot of money and have been very pleased with the product.
www.aliexpress.com
Shenzhen Siton Technology Co., Ltd. - Amazing prodcuts with exclusive discounts on AliExpress
Discover the wide range of from AliExpress Top Seller Shenzhen Siton Technology Co., Ltd..Enjoy ✓Free Shipping Worldwide! ✓Limited Time Sale ✓Easy Return.
www.aliexpress.com