I am about to take the leap. First I would like feedback on adding the DRO. Does it give you better precision? How often have you used its special features such as bolt circle? What other special features does it offer?

Am I better off spending the money on tooling if my budget is limited?

Thanks

adding a dro will not only help with location but also set-up the real question is do you need a dro or would more tooling and maybe so software for bolt loction be worth more to you the are frewware and low cost software out there if you are not trying to hold .001 do you realy need a dro

I love my DRO-- I wouldn't want to work without it.

The important thing to remember is that DRO values are absolute. They are taken from the actual position of the bed, not the rotation of the screws. They will indicate accurate position regardless of backlash.

If you can afford it,then go for it. Using a dro will definatly save you time. As far as accuracy goes that is more about your skills, you can make parts just as accurite with out the dro, but it may take a little longer.

Thanks for the input. Calculating BC locations is within my grasp; I figured the DRO helps get you to those locations with fewer errors. But in reality, holes on a BC will occur 5% of the time. Not a major issue, certainly not $850 worth.

Holes on a BC are usually on turned parts. Is the index feature on the lathe effective for marking hole locations for subsequent milling once the part is moved to the table? I wouldn't think alignment to a scribe mark would be all that good.

How does the DRO help with set-up?

I will be doing some work on 316 to .004, occasionally .001. Again, rare, and perhaps operator skill overrides the DRO's role in the accuracy.

I made up my start-up tooling list. It's a lot less than $850 worth. So the DRO is definitely an incremental expense.

No mentions of other special features it provides so it's $ versus luxury/machining time. That's a tough one.

Try http://www.shumatech.com and build your own. My total out of pocket is calculated to be $350 plus a little time on my part. Pretty functional unit for the price.

Yea, Go with the Scott Shumate DRO kit, it is well worth the money if you are doing non-cnc stuff. It has many features, (like BC's, and others) that you can program in.

I am very pleased with mine, it took me about a week to build mine, (mostly working a few hours at night, since I am not a electronics guru). The online support was excellent.

It has MORE functions and uses, than the 800 dollar job your talking about.

Since I have upgraded several years ago to CNC, I don't use it as much other than varifying "0". but for repeat manual jobs it is indespensible for time saving.

Here is a pic of my DRO right after I had upgraded to CNC, the DRO set up has now changed since I found a more effecient dro set up, (I will repost when I get pics of the new dro mounts and set up, I really didnt like the last set up).

S.

One other low cost option is to go with a scale style dro. They look simalar to a digital caliper or a quil dro, are resonably priced and can be found on E-bay.

Ah.....well if you're trying to make more then one accurate part....then DRO or CNC is the only way to go.....

Here's a DIY DRO link http://www.lindsayengraving.com/other_interests/dro.html
Through the LPT port.
Al.