Dros without breaking the bank?

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

I originally had a set of the cheaper DRO's installed on the X & Y axis on my SX3 mill but they started to give false readings (just after the 12 month waranty expired) and I replaced them with another set. (They had a protective cover to keep coolant from getting into the readouts). The second set also failed.

The cheap DRO's became an expensive waste of money. They have been replaced with Easson units and have not given any problem for the past 4 years.

The better DRO's have lots of functions built into the controller which makes calculating tool position much easier. eg. Find the centre of a hole or between 2 edges, PCD for drilling holes, inclined holes/edge, Switch between absolute and incremental co-ordinates without losing workpiece datum, plus many more.

Paul

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Hafta agree with Paul that cheap systems are false economy.

A DRO system is something you want to work properly all the the time every time for years. Although the cheap, digital calliper style, ones work well when they are working reliability and battery issues make them always a bit suspect. Not so bad up on the quill, e.g. Quiilstar et al, where they re out of the muck and generally less vulnerable.

The major issue with simple dials is miscounting turns. I found the adjustable "ruler in a clamp" scales fitted to my BCA mini jig borer mill to be an effective antidote to that problem. Especially when coupled with good use of the workshop notepad, blackboard, whiteboard or whatever. Cheapest solution and inherently very robust. The replacement Chester Lux style got DROs from the get go as did the Bridgeport I now use.

Clive.

[JonParticipant @jon]

Its certainly better than nothing covering the whole length of the scales and reader.

On last mill had Y axis in a channel low down, X axis just a strip of 45×45 angle, both found ingress in no time often seizing up. Usually get away with one or two dry outs but 3rd time its scrap – used to buy the cheap Lidl calipers £5 for the reader.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Andrew, I've used two units from Arc on my Cobra mill, which I'm well pleased with. They are far better and much more accurate than the dials and have had no issues with them, apart from battery replacement a couple of times. I've also found that I don't need to use them for every machining operation. I did a wright up about fitting them **LINK**

Regards Nick.

[ZebethyalParticipant @zebethyal]

I can also reccommend the Yuriy's toys approach.

I bought some Igaging scales for my X2 mill for £82.00 after speaking to an ebay supplier in the USA for a dedicated listing. The remote displays were not the best and are actually upset/reset by the motor in the mill itself.

I replaced the 'USB' cables with shielded ones to my electronics board at the exhorbitant cost of $0.99 each – an ebay purchase from China

The electronics side cost me £5.00 and runs the scales via phone charger, or similar free PSU, and provides bluetooth connectivity to a cheap Android tablet that cost me £43.00 that runs Yuriy's app.

I used Yuriy's basic Arduino code and adjusted it to work with an atTiny45 microcontroller – why use a 32 pin chip when 8 is more than enough – it actually only needs 7!

Edited By Zebethyal on 04/12/2017 10:01:09

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

I also have used the Yuriystoys solution. Although I had not done any electronics for 40 odd years I managed to build up the circuit as per his instructions. I used a chunk of Veroboard and plastic box from Maplins along with a few components and the remainder of bits I had in my IT box (9 pin 'D' connectors etc.). The display is a spare Android tablet I had lying around.

Scales wise I used the Machine-DRO magnetic scales and read heads. I appreciate they are a little more expensive than the Igaging type of scales, but they are IP rated and so not affected by cutting fluids etc. To my mind the advantage of the magnetic scales and head is their small size and I have fitted them to both Myford S7 and aslo to Cowell lathe and mill where their small size was a boon.

Colin

[JonParticipant @jon]

Got a link to those magnetic Colin, cheapest and smallest i can find start at £139 each and not very accurate.

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

As perhaps to be expected, a lot of information, some of it conflicting. Looks as though the cheap ARC and Chronos systems, do have ingress problems as well as battery problems. I could fix the battery problems with a dedicated PSU and some extra wiring. Not so sure about the dirt and moisture problems. I will be using flood cooling on the mill at least when doing horizontal milling. So I expect the worst.

It seems that the glass systems are perhaps better(?) but more expensive in both display and scales. I can't afford £350 for a system or at least I have better things to spend that amount on!

A problem that requires a bit more thought and research!

Andrew.

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

Jon,

I used the M-DRO-EH01 for the cross-slide and M-DRO-EH-05 for the saddle.

Colin

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Andrew Tinsley on 04/12/2017 20:06:24:

As perhaps to be expected, a lot of information, some of it conflicting. Looks as though the cheap ARC and Chronos systems, do have ingress problems as well as battery problems. I could fix the battery problems with a dedicated PSU and some extra wiring. Not so sure about the dirt and moisture problems. I will be using flood cooling on the mill at least when doing horizontal milling. So I expect the worst.

It seems that the glass systems are perhaps better(?) but more expensive in both display and scales. I can't afford £350 for a system or at least I have better things to spend that amount on!

A problem that requires a bit more thought and research!

Andrew.

'A problem that requires a bit more thought and research!' It is indeed. I can't think of an obvious way of getting a top-end DRO, or anything else, with insufficient funds. The options are fairly clear though:

• Do without,
• Borrow one.
• Steal one.
• Wait for prices to drop. (Life may be too short!)
• Father Christmas.
• Go the Yuriy's Tools route. (Although the hardware is within budget the cost of your time will be off-putting if there's a learning curve. Time will be a major issue if you're not already interested in electronics and computing.)
• Wait for a suitable second-hand DRO to appear on sale. (Hen's Teeth, but not impossible.)
• Reduce the requirement to match what you can afford. (Sacrifice convenience.)
• Increase the budget as necessary to fulfil the requirement. (Sacrifice money.)
• Rental doesn't seem to be an option in this case.

Please let us know how you get on. Ways and means are always interesting especially so when money is short. Plenty of examples on the forum of rabbits being pulled out of hats by smart chaps seizing opportunities and making the best of things. I often read their posts and think "I wish I'd thought of that". My own view is that it's better to make compromises than waste time looking for the best possible solution. But my needs and interests make 'quality tooling' nice to have rather than essential. Your needs and interests may be the exact opposite – a great deal depends on what is required of the tool in practice.

Dave

[MetalhackerParticipant @metalhacker]

I have Machine DRO on my mill and Newall were on my lathe when I bought it. The Machine dro nes are, I think, basically Sino ones, but Machine DRO have an ace in the hole, their manual, which is quite frankly the best technical doc I have ever read. So very highly recommended, and no battery issues. As they say, the pleasure of quality remains long after the sting of the price is gone!

Andries

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

Having got up to speed on DROs, it would seem that the cheap alternatives are not going to fulfil my needs. Some of the Chinese 3 axis packages are available for around £250 and look to be an interesting alternative. Has anyone tried them, they appear to be the same units available from some of our suppliers such as Chronos. There is no way I want to embark on the Yuri solution. I don't have time to do the build and I don't want to get involved in programming again. As I said before. I have had my fill of such things over my life, becoming adept at a particular programming language takes time and isn't worth it for using DROs

I think I shall keep twiddling hand wheels for a little longer, until the other workshop cash demands have been fulfilled! Thank you all for your inputs it has been a very good learning exercise for me.

Best Regards,

Andrew.

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