Digital Readout

J

JerseyBill

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Guys,
Anybody know about dro's and how much a decent one is and where I should go for one. Do I need one with all the bells or is lesser dro good enough.
thanks,
JerseyBill
 
do yourself a favor and get yourself the one that does the least. mine does it all and is a big pain in the ass....has to many functions
 
Well that depends on what you are going to do with the dro. And what type of lathe you put it on what typ of tool post you run etc. You are only going to be as accurate as your least accurate component.
Sony scales are really good for anti dust/ coolant but they are not cheap.

John
 
Dro

KJ Cues said:
Hi Bill,

DROs aren't cheap. Are you really sure that you need them?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the thought KJ
I'm not sure and I've been given varied info on the subject. Mostly considering it because a friend/cuemaker seems to produce more with it.
Others don't need it. Just wondering? Probably won't get one.
 
JerseyBill said:
Thanks for the thought KJ
I'm not sure and I've been given varied info on the subject. Mostly considering it because a friend/cuemaker seems to produce more with it.
Others don't need it. Just wondering? Probably won't get one.
Click to expand...


They certainly would be a nice addition to a lathe or mill that didn't have one. Many times when doing certain ops I wish I had one to be able to just push the button, zero it out and go.
Do you need one? certainly not. A good ole analog 2 inch stroke dial indicator will get the job done just as well with only a little more work to zero it out.
One other thing to consider is the scales will sometimes hinder doing certain ops on that lathe.
 
BarenbruggeCues said:
They certainly would be a nice addition to a lathe or mill that didn't have one. Many times when doing certain ops I wish I had one to be able to just push the button, zero it out and go.
Do you need one? certainly not. A good ole analog 2 inch stroke dial indicator will get the job done just as well with only a little more work to zero it out.
One other thing to consider is the scales will sometimes hinder doing certain ops on that lathe.
Click to expand...

You can also get a cheap digital dial indicator that zero's by the push of a button.

Dick
 
> In my limited experience with them,the only time I've found them really useful over a good indicator is when traveling over 2" in Z.

Two of the machines at school had really nice Newall C80 readouts. I had to retrain myself to disregard the dials on those 2 machines because the readouts were set by default so that what you dialed in on the machine and what it showed on the readout didn't jive.

They are almost a must on a mill however. Tommy D.
 
KJ Cues said:
Hi Bill,

DROs aren't cheap. Are you really sure that you need them?
Click to expand...

Hi,

I was thinking about one. On the lathe the dial is very accurate and I concluded that I did not need one for making cues.

A milling machine is a a different proposition if you want to make complex parts.

Rick G
 
When/if you get one, be sure to verify it.

Mic a part after a clean up cut and set DRO to zero.

Dial in (amount you want to remove) and re-measure. Amount dialed in and mic'd part should jive perfectly. I suggest doing this with Delrin as opposed to a wood scrap...

I also recommend doing this once a year (and still not trusting it!);)

My two cents...
 
rhncue said:
You can also get a cheap digital dial indicator that zero's by the push of a button.

Dick
Click to expand...

Ya know....I thought of that. Guess I'm more just an analog kind of person. I have a hard time with my digital calipers. I'll measure something with it and then grab the analog ones to double check it.
 
BarenbruggeCues said:
Ya know....I thought of that. Guess I'm more just an analog kind of person. I have a hard time with my digital calipers. I'll measure something with it and then grab the analog ones to double check it.
Click to expand...

I've got about 10 different digital calipers and love them because of the ease of bouncing back and forth between SAE and Metric readings. I saw a digital dial indicator about six months ago and bought it. I hate it. It takes me forever trying to get an independent chuck set with it bouncing between plus and minus readings instead of just watching the arm swing. I just thought it might come in handy for the example that you gave though as far as ease of setting zero.

Dick
 
About DROs, how are the guys who have them dealing with the dust and debris being an issue? Sony was a fix to that problem, but now they aren't making the good scales anymore.
 
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