# DRO for a mill.



## wm460 (May 28, 2016)

I am looking for a Dro for my mill, and more I look the more confused I get. I have a Sinpo 2 axis Dro 2L on my lathe and thought about getting a Sinpo 3 axis Dro 3M for my mill.

Sinpo 3 Axis Digital Readout for Mill Milling Machine Complete DRO Kit | eBay

Which is $ 661.10 plus postage also looked at the

HXX 3 axis mill DRO system 3 axis digital readout and 3 piece 0 1000mm linear glass scale for lathe milling grinder EDM machine-in Other Machinery from Industry & Business on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group 

This is $394.26 plus free postage.

What is the difference between the Sinpo and Sino DRO's?

Is there any other type I could be looking at?


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## grapegro (May 29, 2016)

Mark, I have a small Optimum mill, and I got a Delos 3 axis DRO from the manufacturer in China. They supply a mini glass scale which is less cumbersome on small mills and lathes. It is a top quality DRO, delivery was 3 days and from Memory about the $ 400 Australian, so US dollars would be less.
Norm


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## wm460 (May 29, 2016)

Thanks Norm, I will check them out, What size is your mill?


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## grapegro (May 29, 2016)

Mark, my machine is a BF 16v model. Norm


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## canadianhorsepower (May 29, 2016)

wm460 said:


> What is the difference between the Sinpo and Sino DRO's?
> ?



Sino and Sinpo are the same product with a bad reputation
I got mine direct from China and no problem at all adresse supplied with email


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## Dr Jo (May 29, 2016)

I have 4 Sinpo DROs and they have been excellent over the 5 years I have owned them. I also have a Newall and two Machine DRO units.

Luc: why do you believe that the Sinpo have a bad reputation? They have been excellent in my experience and I would willingly buy another.

Jo


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## canadianhorsepower (May 29, 2016)

Dr Jo said:


> Luc: why do you believe that the Sinpo have a bad reputation? They have been excellent in my experience and I would willingly buy another.
> 
> Jo


 Hi Jo
when I started shopping for DRO`s for both my  2 mills and 3 lathes I did a lot of research. Quality, price and option was my mane issue.

Many supplier advise me NOT to go with Sinpo or Sino because of their very poor quality of product. I myself never had any of these product, so it`s more a mouth to mouth then any thing else.

After talking to many supplier and asking them WHY NOT Sino , specially they are ALL Made In CHINA. and there answer was `SINO are made to CHINESE specification, and are known to be poor.

Diltron is also made in China but to the US standards, wider PCB board track thicker board also, as far as quality of the transistors and resistors IT`S all BS unless you are going to Army standard.

Diltron makes DRO`s for 30 reseller across the world  and one of them is SHARS 

then again if you pamper your stuff like I do Sino could have work for me 
Cheers


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## rodw (May 30, 2016)

I'll  vote for Ditron too. I bought it after I saw a slimline scale of theirs in Hare and Forbes who are about the only supplier of machine tools down here in OZ. I needed the slim scale on the crossslide. The other so called slimlime scales are not if you check their dimensions. Ditron is much nicer than the DRO on my mill. Ive forgotten what I paid but I  know it was very affordable. Also sourced off alibaba


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## Swifty (May 30, 2016)

Hi Rod, there are plenty of machine tool suppliers, but Hare and Forbes are the major one for the home workshop as well as to general industry.

Paul.


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## Nick Hulme (May 30, 2016)

I have Machine DRO sourced SINO DROs on my lathe and mill, the mill DRO has been running constantly for around 10 years, an electrolytic capacitor failed in the Mill unit a few months ago, 70 pence and a visit to Maplin later and it's running perfectly again. 
Maybe quality varies for units sourced directly form China? 

 - Nick


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## Blogwitch (May 30, 2016)

I am in the same position as Nick above, but have never had a single glitch with any of my Sino units (3 displays, 7 read heads).
Have yet to try out my Sinpo units, still in the process of fitting them.

I personally think it is a lot to do with one upmanship, all it takes is one person with more money to spend and then to spread rumours about bad quality in the hope they can justify spending too much on their system.
I worked in a high precision machining industry (making prototype hard drives, first ever 3.5" one), and have seen all the expensive DRO's failing rather regularly and miserably.

My systems are defintely one upmanship, but only against the scale type, which I really suffered with for many years. 
I then bought what looked like a reasonable system at a reasonable cost for use in a home workshop, despite setting it up as a high precision jobbing shop at one time (Sino & Sinpo), and haven't look back since.

As you may know, I don't mince words, I'm just telling how it really is.

John


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## rodw (May 31, 2016)

Swifty said:


> Hi Rod, there are plenty of machine tool suppliers, but Hare and Forbes are the major one for the home workshop as well as to general industry.
> 
> Paul.



Yeh, I know but I don't know of any other in Brisbane that has the range of gear on display in one site. Up here they moved their workshop across the road into a building double their old one and kept the old building for the store. If you buy something, you often have to duck across the road to pick it up. I have noted they are much more serious about the industry side of their business in the last 12 months or so. Much bigger gear and much of it is European.


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## Swifty (May 31, 2016)

rodw said:


> Yeh, I know but I don't know of any other in Brisbane that has the range of gear on display in one site. Up here they moved their workshop across the road into a building double their old one and kept the old building for the store. If you buy something, you often have to duck across the road to pick it up. I have noted they are much more serious about the industry side of their business in the last 12 months or so. Much bigger gear and much of it is European.



The way they are going, they will be supplying very serious machinery to industry soon enough. With the upcoming closure of the automotive manufacturing, I think that a lot of the machine suppliers who only sell the one brand will call it quits and let others take the agencies.

Paul.


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## wm460 (Jun 19, 2016)

What is the difference between the  Ditron  D60-3V and the  D60-3M ?


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## rodw (Jun 19, 2016)

wm460 said:


> What is the difference between the  Ditron  D60-3V and the  D60-3M ?



Not sure but I think the V has additional options for an EDM. machine.


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## tombstone (Jun 19, 2016)

Newall B60 all day long too many gimmicks you won't use on Chinese units


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## wm460 (Jun 21, 2016)

I am looking at this Dro,  any comments?

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/3-pc...84.html?spm=2114.13010208.99999999.261.aqARtH

What size scales would you for this mill.
Max. Spindle to Table: 380mm
Table Size: 700x160mm

https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&...BDBngllcUtGUdVE5w&sig2=eqyalAuAGZ-0Ku9j-fOCPw


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## rodw (Jun 22, 2016)

wm460 said:


> I am looking at this Dro,  any comments?
> 
> http://www.aliexpress.com/item/3-pc...84.html?spm=2114.13010208.99999999.261.aqARtH
> 
> ...


I have the D60-2V on my lathe. 1 micron scales were an extra $10 or so and I went with them. The slimline scale DC10F is very compact so consider the space you have and it is not a big upgrade either if it is required. You may need it on one axis. I used it on the crossslide and really would have been lost without it.

As far as scale length, you need to measure the actual travel on each axis, buy a scale with travel a bit longer and then make sure that you have the room to mount it after allowing for the ends. My crosslide travel is limited  by the scale but I positioned it so it does not matter.


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## AlbertdeWitte (Jun 22, 2016)

grapegro said:


> Mark, I have a small Optimum mill, and I got a Delos 3 axis DRO from the manufacturer in China. They supply a mini glass scale which is less cumbersome on small mills and lathes. It is a top quality DRO, delivery was 3 days and from Memory about the $ 400 Australian, so US dollars would be less.
> Norm



Mark

I can vouch also for the Delos. I have installed it recently and Im very happy with it. Just check that you get the mini scales. It requires less space for fitting.

Some pics here: http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/showthread.php?t=25284&page=6

Cheers


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## wm460 (Jun 28, 2016)

I had a reply from Ditron.
 I said that I want scales for the Z axis and also ask for prices for 1um resolution scales also prices for the slim scales.

I measured the travel on my  mill on the week end and I got the following  measurements, 

X 530 mm
Y 180 mm
Z 400 mm

What length should I go for?


: Re: DRO D60-3V Query

Dear Mark 

Ok ,I got your point .
Here is my offer for the DRO D60-3V ,functional &#65292;3 axis  &#65292;110USD EXW 

                               Linear scale DC10-500MM(Travel) 5um resolution ,TTL output signal ,5V voltage ,53USD EXW
                               Linear scale DC10-140MM(Travel) 5um resolution ,TTL output signal ,5V voltage , 49USD EXW
Packages in total :8.5 KG .
Shipping the 3 items to AU by TNT:53USD 

Kindly let me know do you prefer the terms of payment by T/T,Paypal ,Alibaba payment link ?
And your shipping address please 

Your prompt reply will be appreciated so much 
B.Rgrds


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## Dr Jo (Jun 29, 2016)

Mark the travel distance is the minimum length you should go for. You also need to think about where you are going to mount the scale, sometimes it is easier if you buy the next length scale up as it lets you mount the read head in a more convenient position.

The higher resolution scales are useful on the lathe cross slide where you are using it to measure diameters rather than radius, as it means you are getting measurement accuracies of 2um rather than 10um on the readout. Unless you are keeping your machines in a temperature controlled workshop you are unlikely to be able to keep to accuracies of 1um.

Which reminds me I have another Sinpo DRO setup to mount up on Sixis. 

Jo


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## deverett (Jun 29, 2016)

Nick Hulme said:


> I have Machine DRO sourced SINO DROs on my lathe and mill, the mill DRO has been running constantly for around 10 years, an electrolytic capacitor failed in the Mill unit a few months ago, 70 pence and a visit to Maplin later and it's running perfectly again.
> Maybe quality varies for units sourced directly form China?
> 
> - Nick


Nick
Are you an electronic guru?  How did you know which capacitor had failed?  Just curious 'cause my Sino DRO is working well - especially now I know how to use a few of the 'tricks'.

Dave
The Emerald Isle


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## Nick Hulme (Jul 1, 2016)

deverett said:


> Nick
> Are you an electronic guru?  How did you know which capacitor had failed?  Just curious 'cause my Sino DRO is working well - especially now I know how to use a few of the 'tricks'.
> 
> Dave
> The Emerald Isle



Dave, 
I don't regard myself as a Guru but I did spend some of my youth building and repairing electronic stuff. 

If the top of an electrolytic has bulged it's probably toast, if it's split it's definitely FUBAR, if there's any residue at the base it could also be NBG. 
If you have a failed circuit of any age with no blown tracks and no sign of the escape of Magic Smoke from any of the silicon then it's worth replacing the electrolytics, you'd be surprised how often that works ;-) 

 - Nick


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## ldsgeek (Jul 2, 2016)

if you don't mind doing some of the work yourself I can highly recommend going to yuristoys.com and looking at what he's come up with. Almost any type of scale can be used, the display is an Android tablet, multiple machines can be set up on one tablet. I have less than $200US into the one for my mini mill with all three axis. It can handle a fourth axis and tach as well. Bonus, you can use the tablet for internet axis right at the machine if you need it (assuming wifi in the shop), or take it from the shop for other uses.


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## Nick Hulme (Jul 3, 2016)

ldsgeek said:


> if you don't mind doing some of the work yourself I can highly recommend going to yuristoys.com and looking at what he's come up with. Almost any type of scale can be used, the display is an Android tablet, multiple machines can be set up on one tablet. I have less than $200US into the one for my mini mill with all three axis. It can handle a fourth axis and tach as well. Bonus, you can use the tablet for internet axis right at the machine if you need it (assuming wifi in the shop), or take it from the shop for other uses.



Your link is broken 'cos you've miss-spelled the domain ;-) 
it's http://www.yuriystoys.com/

 - Nick


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## ldsgeek (Jul 3, 2016)

Thanks for fixing that. I usually get it right but missed the Y this time.


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