# Micro Mark new DRO scales.



## lazylathe (Mar 1, 2011)

Just received an email from them with new products and thought i would share!

Cheaper DRO scales that look pretty easy to install.
I think i have seen some people mention similar items from Grizzly.
Check them out:
http://www.micromark.com/Remote-Dig...arketing&Utm_medium=Email&Utm_campaign=11008A

andrew


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## Troutsqueezer (Mar 1, 2011)

Yep, they are sold by Grizzly and a few other places too. Same company makes them. Grizzly sells them for less, I'm pretty sure.


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## Paulsv (Mar 1, 2011)

You might also want to do a search on www.amazon.com for Igaging scales. Eagle America and Quint Graphics sell them through Amazon at pretty good prices. I think I paid $24 for a 12" and $40 for a 24 inch. But you have to watch the listings, because they sometimes list them for more, and even list the same item at two different prices, or with different shipping charges.


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## mklotz (Mar 1, 2011)

You may want to read this...

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/showthread.php?t=44171&highlight=igaging

before buying.


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## Foozer (Mar 1, 2011)

mklotz  said:
			
		

> You may want to read this...
> 
> http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/showthread.php?t=44171&highlight=igaging
> 
> before buying.



Thanks for the info, help in making bad parts I do not need, quite proficient on my own.

Robert


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## Troutsqueezer (Mar 1, 2011)

That post on Home Shop Machinist is worth noting but I would add this: that's one guy, one gauge, so take it with a grain of salt. He doesn't show how he mounted the unit. Sine errors are possible with non-parallel mounting. 

But then we're only talking 25 bucks here, for that much you can do your own evaluation, find the weaknesses, find the strengths. What have you got to lose? At the very least, you can locate and drill holes that don't require .001" precision and save yourself a lot of time. You can also use them to double check your scribed lines or hole locations to make sure you haven't accidentally mis-measured by a factor of ten. The possibilities are many. Isn't that worth the cost of a lunch at Denny's?


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## Foozer (Mar 1, 2011)

Troutsqueezer  said:
			
		

> Isn't that worth the cost of a lunch at Denny's?



At least after a trip to Denny's I get to play "Pull my finger" with the grandkid

Robert


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## Troutsqueezer (Mar 1, 2011)

In my case, I finished three engines using those DRO's, all of which run fine.


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## Foozer (Mar 1, 2011)

Troutsqueezer  said:
			
		

> In my case, I finished three engines using those DRO's, all of which run fine.



Ordered one, price is reasonable enough and what the heck, its not so much the tool as getting used to using it. Even with the one report of variance, they still be far more accurate than I am.


Boot Hill Road here I come

Robert


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## Dale (Mar 1, 2011)

I bought all 3 axis from Grizzly for my 6x26 D.T.mill , I am not really happy at all. I do not like the accuracies, the fractional readouts and especially the automatic display shutoff, for I am not the most fast hobby machinist. I realize it is to conserve the batteries but my digital calipers display stays on a lot longer comparatively. mounting it relatively easy if taking your time to make the mount system as rigid and parallel as possible. One nice feature is they can be shortened (cut) for your application. I have started to save for a real dro. My 9x20 lathe has the Harbor Freight 16 and the 6 inch digital calipers permanatly mounted easy to read and is reasonally accurate. Dale


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## Troutsqueezer (Mar 3, 2011)

I was out in the shed tonight just cleaning up the swarf and putting things back on the shelves. When I was done, I thought about this thread so decided to do a quickie check on my Grizzly DRO's vs. a dial indicator. The dial indicator only measures an inch and since I rarely move the DRO's more than that, I thought it would be fine for my purposes. 

I have X, Y and Z DRO's mounted on my mini mill. I measured just the X and the Z axis. The Z axis DRO is around 24" long and if there was any problem caused by non-parallel mounting or flexing I should say, that's the setup most likely to have it. 

I carefully set up the dial indicators making sure they both were perpendicular to the moving surfaces. I moved both the table and the head exactly 1.000" (X and Z) according to the dial indicators. I glanced at the Grizzly DRO's (one 6" and one 24"), they both read exactly 1.000". *beer* I wasn't really surprised, I've made a lot of parts using these DRO's and they seem to come out with the proper dims. 

That said, I'm wondering if human nature isn't playing a role with some of the posts with respect to the accuracy of these things. For example, if you paid $800 for a DRO and someone comes along with a $25 version that measures almost as accurately, what would _your_ reaction be?


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