Source of DRO for my mill?

[JeffF]

Hello again all...

I am thinking about getting a digital readout for my Micro Lux R8 miniature milling machine. It has a 16 inch wide table with 8" of travel in the X direction.

Can someone recommend a good, but reasonably priced DRO for this machine? I see them range from really cheap to really expensive and I'm not sure what would work best for my machine. They also list them in several sizes. Do you buy them based on the table size, the travel size, or some other criteria?

Also, if you have a picture of how to mount them, that would be VERY helpful too!

Thanks in advance for your input (as always)!

Jeff

 

[lennardhme]

Hi Jeff,
I got mine from the Digital Readout Store. Sinpo, Chinese, but I have found them to be great. U Tube has some videos of how to use them. They come with a comprehensive download for fitting them & have all the hardware for fixing. Decent prices, & yes you need to know the table dimensions & travel as the glass readers need to fit.
There are others around, but I have had a good experience with these & its my recommendation. You will find a DRO on your mill will improve accuracy & speed.
cheers,
Leonard

 

[Davyboy]

Hi Jeff. I got mine from grizzly.com Their model T23012 is on sale now. The good is the price. They work pretty good. The auto shut off is good, they hold zero when off. I get good battery life. My mill-drill has 6"x 9" travel. I got 2 of the 12" scales, I cut 4" off of one. A little extra length was nice to help with mounting options.
The bad is the cheap magnet mounted displays. The magnets on mine needed more glue. You'll need one display for each axis.You'll need to get a good place to mount them (I haven't- they're just stuck on my headstock, I keep knocking them off.).
Be carefull of the thin fragile wires, I cut one in half by accident. I then bought some wire protector tubing from auto parts store (?) to cover the wires. I used 4 conductor thermostat wire (what I had on hand), easily soldered in an extension piece. Side note- I wonder if a coiled telephone cord could have been used to extend the length?

Over all, the value is there for a hobby type setup. Just my opinions, hope it helps.
Sorry no pictures, I don't know where my camera is.... You can probably search this forum for DRO info it's been discussed often.

Davyboy

 

[chucketn]

Jeff, have you checked out the http://www.shumatech.com/ site? I bought in on the group build of the DRO-550 a while back and really like it.
My X2 was purchased from a fellow that had used one with it. He kept the DRO but left the scales on the X2 when I bought it.
I am an inactive member of the Shumatech Yahoo group, and a satisfied non-compensated customer.

Chuck

 

[JeffF]

Leonard,

I have been unable to find the Digital Readout Store. Do they have a website?

Jeff

Hi Jeff,
I got mine from the Digital Readout Store. Sinpo, Chinese, but I have found them to be great. U Tube has some videos of how to use them. They come with a comprehensive download for fitting them & have all the hardware for fixing. Decent prices, & yes you need to know the table dimensions & travel as the glass readers need to fit.
There are others around, but I have had a good experience with these & its my recommendation. You will find a DRO on your mill will improve accuracy & speed.
cheers,
Leonard

 

[lennardhme]

Jeff,
I think they only sell through Ebay, but a bit of research should find them if they sell direct. Not the sort of business I look up every day. They also have demos. on U Tube, so you may find them through there.
Here is an Ebay address.
http://myworld.ebay.com.au/thedrostore/?_trksid=p4340.l2559
Good luck,
Leonard

 

[Mosey]

I put Grizzly DRO's on 2 mills and like them too. They are cheap, easy to read, and mostly liquid-proof.
I posted pictures a few months ago that you can see.

 

[ninefinger]

Leonard,

I have been unable to find the Digital Readout Store. Do they have a website?

Jeff

http://www.TheDROStore.com

I bought from them just a few weeks ago and mounted a DRO2L to my lathe. I'm happy with my purchase - works great, much better than my Shumatech 350 ever did plus resolution to 2 tenths (effectively a half thou on diameter). I hear the Shumatech 550 is better (than the 350) but its still a DIY kit and the total cost at the end is not a large enough saving in my mind over a "proper" glass scale and DRO.

I may one day get around to posting up pictures of it installed on my lathe...

BTW the thing that put me over the edge to buy was the free shipping - usually a killer for me as a Canadian...was $400 on my credit card plus tax when it arrived (another ~$60)

I must admit though that at $460 for a 2 axis DRO is a bit overkill for a mini mill. The Grizzly scales seem nice enough for that mill - much more reasonable price plus I would't expect the mill to hold 2 tenths of a thou anyway so no real point being able to measure it...

Mike