Still in Love with Poor Man's Harbor Freight DRO's

[PatMarlin]

I like em' so much after using them on my Logan, I finally put one on my old Hardinge Chucker this week.

They are tough, read withing .0005 accuracy, and if you break one- electronic replacement is cheap and waiting at your favorite HF store.

I finally broke one on my logan- robbed the reader off of my least favorite pair of indicators and was back n business in a few minutes.

[Gee_Wizz01]

That's slick idea Pat! Never thought about it, now I am going to have to try it.

G

[HotGuns]

I've thought about putting one on my tailstock to make it easier to ream rifle chambers.

[PatMarlin]

Here's what I did for the Z axis on my Logan. Machined an aluminum block clamp for the ways so you can slide the DRO where you need it. It is more than long enough for my needs so far. Loosen the clamp it and it slides with you.

I use an Enco "Hi-rock" carbide bit to drill the holes in the hardened steel with slow speed and feed as you feel it pull through. It is hard stuff. I use a thin air cut off abrasive wheel to cut the ears off of the calipers.

[grages]

Very Slick indeed!

Shawn

[Trailblazer]

Got a flyer today. They are on sale for $9.99 til 7-18-10. I might have to get a couple for my mill/drill.

[SPRINGFIELDM141972]

That's using your noggin. I like it.

[PatMarlin]

At that price I'll pick up a couple. Some are turkeys out of the box and you'll notice right off. The don't track well and don't hold a measurement. Take those back and get another. Some are remarkably smooth and dead on.

I don't know who started this idea but it wasn't me. I've got to figure out how to put one on mY Hardinge Z axis now. May just order one of the full lenght Chicom DRO scales with the same electronics on it. I've got one for the Z on my Bridgeport but never installed it.

In fact I have a new Anilam Wizard 2 Axes DRO for my mill that I will be selling if anyone is interested. Never installed it because my mill came with those dial gages (forget the name right now) and I use those, plus I got a CNC mill so I don't need the nice DRO on my manual mill.

[theperfessor]

Pat -

I was talking to my local tool vendor yesterday about your idea and he said "why go to all that trouble" and showed me a catalog with pre-made DROs There are several mounting styles and size ranges available to cover a lot of different situations. I'm going to get one for my vertical mill quill axis and see if it would be possible to put a couple on my SB shaper table.

As I recall, the ones with 8" of travel were about $40 - $45 depending on mounting style, and they come with a one year guarantee. When I get one I'll post the source for anybody that might be interested. I know its a little more pricey than your HF calipers but if I can get something guaranteed to work with a standard mount that doesn't require a lot of fiddling, then the time saved is worth it to me.

[PatMarlin]

Few reasons Professor-

One is the cheap price and no shipping and the fact that I keep these HF calipers around and it's easy to change out the electronics if there is a problem or if I break one. Also the electronic readers are all the same.

I know there are the type you mention that have the same electronics as well, and I have one here to install for the Z axis on my mill, but the mounting for the back of the reader uses tiny 4mm screws which are a pain to mount, unless you have access to a good selection of screws that are long enough. When you drill caliper ears, you have room to use larger machine screws.

Plus-it's the Hillbilly way...

I need to mount one on the Z axis for my manual Hardinge, and I may go with a full length type like you suggest.

What ever style of electronics you go with, make sure you can replace it without having to get a whole other unit.

[theperfessor]

Pat -

You make some good points and I applaud your ingenuity. Haven't got one yet but from the pictures in catalog it looks like the same reader as HF calipers so if that is case I will probably pick up a caliper just to have a spare reader unit. One attraction of these units is the variety of lengths available, from 4" up. I'm looking at a 6" unit for mill quill and 8" units for shaper. I think they run up to 24" but not positive on that, will find out.

Now that I think about it, it might be handy to add one to tailstock of Clausing.

Pat, your ingenuity makes me think, which is one of the reasons I love this site.

Best to you.

[PatMarlin]

Thanks for the compliments. The do come in very long lengths, and I have one here that has the same chicong electronics. There is a different version out there that has a memory, but I've decided to forgo the memory to be able to swap out and have the same ones on all the tools.

Can't beat a HF replacement for a few bucks.

[Buckshot]

............You can get the regular Chi-com DRO's on E-bay from a few sources. 800Watt is one. I've gotten a couple for near nothing. In fact on one the shipping was more and it came in a Small Flat Rate USPS box! Sometimes it just seems no one is looking at what I'm looking at. But then other times it seems as if EVRYONE is

...............Buckshot

[PatMarlin]

Yaw cuz-

I got one from 800watt and it has he same LCD on it as HF.

[Trailblazer]

I went by the HF store and found out the $9.99 is a coupon price with a limit of one per coupon. So I got one! I tested it yesterday and it seems to work fine. It will go on the quill on my mill/drill.