Ditron DRO Sale on Ali

[TorontoBuilder]

Its called a DIY kit. But I thought soldering was required. Need to research this.

How to Build a Do-it-Yourself DRO

OHHH, touch DRO specific. I thought I could order unassembled D80

 

[architect]

I just noticed that Ditron has a big sale on right now. 32% off. Now is the time to get one if this is what you want.

1um SINO LCD DRO DITRON 3Axis Digital Readout RPM with 0.001mm Linear Glass Scale 3pcs for Milling Machine Lathe Machine - AliExpress 1420

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

a.aliexpress.com

It sort of vindicates what I have said elsewhere. They are still making money at 32% off. That means there is lots of room to negotiate if you are so inclined

Is this other store fake?

Ditron Factory Store(Trader)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005573945864.html

 

[gerritv]

• The pre-assembled DRO for a milling machine and the Lathe DRO use industrial-grade drivers and optimized firmware in order to achieve ultimate performance and reliability. They can take advantage of scales with reference track, support touch probe and RPM inputs, have the ability to recover position after power loss, and come with TouchDRO Plus version of the app.

At that price point and features you are equal or underwater with an industrial unit. The Do-it-yourself kit has some key features missing, esp. the Reference Point, which is a must if you want to use tool numbers and related offsets. Also not sure that magnetic scales have these Reference marks every 50mm like all the glass scales do.
I used TouchDRO for 4 years, only to see the App totally ignored with fixes and updates during that time. I don't trust one-man-shows. Great he is doing a lot of work now but IMHO the price point is too close to something commercial than to go with a Bluetooth connection. YMMV of course.

All of my lathe tool holder are numbered, and recorded in my DRO. Swap tool, set SDM, tip of tool is ready to cut at shown diameter.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

At that price point and features you are equal or underwater with an industrial unit. The Do-it-yourself kit has some key features missing, esp. the Reference Point, which is a must if you want to use tool numbers and related offsets. Also not sure that magnetic scales have these Reference marks every 50mm like all the glass scales do.
I used TouchDRO for 4 years, only to see the App totally ignored with fixes and updates during that time. I don't trust one-man-shows. Great he is doing a lot of work now but IMHO the price point is too close to something commercial than to go with a Bluetooth connection. YMMV of course.

All of my lathe tool holder are numbered, and recorded in my DRO. Swap tool, set SDM, tip of tool is ready to cut at shown diameter.

ah Gerrit very good points and something to consider.

I have been debating buying another D80 instead of touchDRO. I have two already and it is nice if you dont need to learn another ecosystem too

 

[gerritv]

@trlvn can you confirm that the base casting of a 706 has a good flat section to which a magnetic tape can be affixed without a housing as normally used?

If not a milled strip of aluminum can be made to mount a tape in.

I've been on the hunt for a great deal on a 706 so I can convert it to rocketronics els so I want to have a firm idea exactly how to mount magnetic tape for dro
'd use magnetic, and embed a magnetic tape on the underside of the cross slide, with the head mounted at the back of the cross slide.

No, you will need a mount for the Z axis. It's close but not close enough IMO. Lots of room for glass scales back there as well.
And no, IMO no place under the cross slide to mount tape and then mount the read on the back. I linnked before to the model of the G0602 lathe, you can use that to verify fitting and mounting. The X axis motor mount would likely also interfere with read head.

 

[gerritv]

Underside of G0602/KC1022 cross slide and slim scale mounted on headstock side of cross slide. the read head mounts underneath the bracket shown with allen driver through it.

 

[Susquatch]

OHHH, touch DRO specific. I thought I could order unassembled D80

No. But I'd be all over that if it was available.

 

[Susquatch]

FYI, Ditro on Ali won't budge beyond $550USD for a complete 4axis package...

No they won't. That's not how you do it. You get a 2 or 3 axis and negotiate 3 or 4 axis with RPM and better scales. When you get a chance to call me, I'll explain.