DRO On Lathe

[EdK]

(01-27-2015, 02:42 PM)stevec Wrote: ...

Am I missing something?

Steve

Not you, it's me. But not now. I fixed the cross slide counting issue and now it makes more sense. I posed the question to DRO PROS when I first got it installed thinking that the count was not going in the right direction. They couldn't give me a clear answer so I've lived with it even though it always seemed confusing to me. Evidently they've learned a thing or two about their DROs since then because they now have a PDF file that explains how to change the count direction. They must have gotten enough questions about it to finally dig into it. It's strange that a lathe DRO would come programmed for the incorrect count direction as the default program. Anyway, all is well now and I can continue on with the project using the DRO.

Ed

[EdK]

Wow! What a difference it makes when it's set up correctly. I did some trial cuts on the bore and measured with the inside micrometer and the DRO matched the micrometer dead on. This is going to save so much time being able to trust the DRO now.  

Ed

[PixMan]

I wish mine were "settable" to a specific value like yours. I get one choice....ZERO.

[DriftStar]

I have 2 lathes with 2 Differant DRO'S and both of them i input as negative numbers. I dont even notice the little - before the number any more

[EdK]

(01-27-2015, 05:10 PM)DriftStar Wrote: I have 2 lathes with 2 Differant DRO'S and both of them i input as negative numbers. I dont even notice the little - before the number any more

to the forum DriftStar.

Ed

[f350ca]

It must have been close to useless Ed if you weren't entering the dia as a negative.
I have the carriage travel on mine set to read larger as I move toward the spindle. Face a part, zero the scale then I can cut to give a shoulder at any distance or bore depth in positive numbers.
BUT if your facing a part to a desired thickness, say .500, take a pass and measure the thickness as say .555, you need to enter it as a negative so that the numbers get smaller toward .5 as you remove material.

Setting up the Fagor on the Summit is less forgiving. I have a scale on the carriage and the compound. The readout will display either one or the sum of them. The carriage is too heavy to get to a thou easily so I keep the compound parallel to the bed, get close to a shoulder with the carriage then fine tune with the compound. But you have to be sure they're both reading in the same direction or one will subtract from the other when moved in the same direction.

[EdK]

(01-27-2015, 06:09 PM)f350ca Wrote: It must have been close to useless Ed if you weren't entering the dia as a negative.
I have the carriage travel on mine set to read larger as I move toward the spindle. Face a part, zero the scale then I can cut to give a shoulder at any distance or bore depth in positive numbers.

It was very confusing to use for sure.
That's actually a good idea. I'll have to change mine so it counts up when going towards the head stock. Thanks for the tip.  

Ed