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$40 dro

kelly.s

Plastic
Joined
Mar 5, 2018
I’m seeing adds for $40 3 axis dro’s with shipping. Is this for real? Anybody order this yet? I have a Bridgeport to put it on. My wife spends more than $40 a week on coffee. Thanks for any feedback.
 
I use cheap DRO's. I want them for repeatability, accurate to 0.001", and they are. They also get eaten alive with cutting fluid and lubricants. I have taken them apart and cleaned and they are still in service after 3 years.

However there is no denying that a $400 set will last longer and go to 5 or 6 places.

I think it depends on what you want
 
An electronic scale that reads/repeats to +/- .002"? Sure $40 will probably get you one.

But a good DRO is much more than a positional readout. It will calculate bolt circles and angular arrays, read in absolute/incremental positioning, have quick zero functions, layout patterns and much more.

To me, those functions are where the real value lies.
 
I guess the price has dropped, last time I bought a 2 axis DRO for a mill I spend a little over $1000, but that was 15 years ago.
 
Break your wife's coffee addiction and save that money for a good unit.
Tell your wife that a ice cold shower in the morning will wake her up a lot better than a Starbucks coffee.
 
I’m seeing adds for $40 3 axis dro’s with shipping. Is this for real? Anybody order this yet? I have a Bridgeport to put it on. My wife spends more than $40 a week on coffee. Thanks for any feedback.

Can you post a link to these ads? I'm curious to see what this actually is. I can't see how this is possible if there's any hardware included.
C
 
A DRO (digital readout) box is just a pulse counter.
So it may be possible to build a simple one for $40.
You'd need scales to put out those pulses for you to count but the DRO itself is fairly simple.
You also won't get much in the way of display or keypad at this price but just a 3 axis quad counter connected to a PC or laptop is surely doable in this price range.
Bob
 








 
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