Just ordered some DROs

[Mayhem]

I've been doing some after hours work over the past couple of months and been squirreling away the money to pay for various things.

One major thing was the parts from Kondia, so that I can get my mill up and running. These were ordered last week and shipped yesterday. The tracking info indicates I'll have them on Tuesday

Another thing I have been thinking about getting is a DRO for both my lathe (as the dials are useless) and one for my mill. I've been keeping an eye on some of the sellers on eBay and the shipping has always seemed a little expensive ($125). I even enquired previously about combined shipping and was told they could take $20 off. Well the seller that I had been watching no longer has the 2 axis DRO that I wanted. So, I looked at a few other sellers and read as many forum posts as I could.

In the end, I settled on the DRO store in Singapore and noticed that they currently have a promotion on that includes free shipping with FedEx. These too should arrive next week! They sent me the links to their "visual guide manual" and I was surprised to see that the mill they show the installation on (x and y axis only) is a Kondia FV-1

[stevec]

(02-14-2014, 07:26 AM)Mayhem Wrote: They sent me the links to their "visual guide manual" and I was surprised to see that the mill they show the installation on (x and y axis only) is a Kondia FV-1

Wow! Talk about luck, that sounds like you may have a chance of understanding the Singaporean text of the manual.
But it makes me wonder what kind of a "guide manual" would be other than "visual".... Braille maybe?

[EdK]

(02-14-2014, 07:26 AM)Mayhem Wrote: I've been doing some after hours work over the past couple of months and been squirreling away the money to pay for various things.

One major thing was the parts from Kondia, so that I can get my mill up and running. These were ordered last week and shipped yesterday. The tracking info indicates I'll have them on Tuesday

Another thing I have been thinking about getting is a DRO for both my lathe (as the dials are useless) and one for my mill. I've been keeping an eye on some of the sellers on eBay and the shipping has always seemed a little expensive ($125). I even enquired previously about combined shipping and was told they could take $20 off. Well the seller that I had been watching no longer has the 2 axis DRO that I wanted. So, I looked at a few other sellers and read as many forum posts as I could.

In the end, I settled on the DRO store in Singapore and noticed that they currently have a promotion on that includes free shipping with FedEx. These too should arrive next week! They sent me the links to their "visual guide manual" and I was surprised to see that the mill they show the installation on (x and y axis only) is a Kondia FV-1

Darren,

Would you be willing to share the link to the "visual guide manual"? I need to get a DRO on my mill. I went with a DROPROS for my lathe and if I had to do it over I would go with a 3 axis DRO for the lathe. DROPROS doesn't offer a 3 axis for the lathe though. At least not a lathe specific DRO like the 2 axis I got.

Ed

[Mayhem]

Ed - I'm not sure that it is something that they make freely available, so I don't feel it is appropriate for me to post it on here. You could always contact them.

[f350ca]

Thats odd Ed, they sold them before, its where I got the one I'm using on the Colchester. Give them a call, the Fagor allows you to switch between compound or carriage or sum, theirs is summed all the time but you can unplug the compound if necessary.

[Mayhem]

The DRO store does one like that. It has only two displays (X and Z) but you have a Z/Z1 that allows you to toggle between the two scales connected to the Z axis (carriage and compound). You have to specify 2L2 rather than the standard 2L (2 axis Lathe specific).

[EdK]

(02-14-2014, 09:53 PM)f350ca Wrote: Thats odd Ed, they sold them before, its where I got the one I'm using on the Colchester. Give them a call, the Fagor allows you to switch between compound or carriage or sum, theirs is summed all the time but you can unplug the compound if necessary.

Greg,

I should have been more specific. I bought their Electronica series which uses magnetic scales. They may have a 3 axis lathe DRO in their glass scale versions. I see the same lathe DRO that I bought has gone up in price $265 since I bought mine.

Ed

[caveBob]

Has anyone here looked at the TouchDRO app that runs on a tablet over at http://www.yuriystoys.com/ ?

I built the Arduino version a while back and works great on the cheaper capacitive scales. Planned on installing it on the lathe but one thing led to another and ended up getting some magnetic scales from DROPROS. Yuriy, the guy who made the TouchDRO app, said he'll have a fix for magnetic scales very soon. It works very well with glass or capacitive (think digital calipers) scales right now.

You need an inexpensive tablet to run it on, found a really decent 7" tablet over at Walmart but my current druthers would be using a 9" Nook HD from Barnes and Nobles, it's $149 or $179 depending on version. Reason I know about it is that's what I got for my better half for her reading (and she said peachy on trying the app on it). The tablet has an outstandingly clear/crisp screen and would be the one I would get if I had to do it over.

Anyway, reading off of the tablet is kinda cool because what other DRO reader screen lets you surf the net, run machinist apps, calculator, + run a DRO? :)

Just 2cents worth but might be worth checking out if you haven't...

[Mayhem]

I had considered going down that path Bob, but when I factored in the price of the scales and a tablet or similar plus shipping on these items, the cost soon adds up. Plus there is the warranty issue.

However, for some, it may be an ideal option - especially if you are able to get items locally at a reasonable cost.

[Old Iron]

Mayhem once you get them set up you'll wonder how you ever got along with out them.

I have Sinpos on my Lathes and I'd like to put the on my mills but those old K&T mills were not made for DROs. But I'm still trying to figure out how to go about it.

I think that if I do I'm going to use the DRO Store next time.

Paul