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Is anyone using Touchdro on a mill?
I have a PM-25MV and starting to look at dro's.
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I made my X and Y axis?DROs from some harbor freight?calipers. My Z axis is a 1-inch travel dial indicator that adjusts vertically. Photos are available?if you request. I also have some drawings. Regards,
Is anyone using Touchdro on a mill?
I have a PM-25MV and starting to look at dro's.
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I have been running TouchDRO for at least the past 5 years. It is really fantastic and easy to use. I have a Clausing 8520 mill.?
Ralph
I made my X and Y axis?DROs from some harbor freight?calipers. My Z axis is a 1-inch travel dial indicator that adjusts vertically. Photos are available?if you request. I also have some drawings. Regards,
Is anyone using Touchdro on a mill?
I have a PM-25MV and starting to look at dro's.
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If I may intrude¡ Yes¡ please.. any pictures or other information would be appreciated.
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On Mar 3, 2022, at 8:44 AM, John Mattis <john.mattis@...> wrote:
? I made my X and Y axis?DROs from some harbor freight?calipers. My Z axis is a 1-inch travel dial indicator that adjusts vertically. Photos are available?if you request. I also have some drawings. Regards, Is anyone using Touchdro on a mill?
I have a PM-25MV and starting to look at dro's.
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Here's how I did a DRO Pro's on my 7x mill...
May give you some ideas on how I mounted the slides...
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On 3/3/2022 10:23 AM, David Robertson wrote: If I may intrude¡ Yes¡ please.. any pictures or other information would be appreciated.
David Robertson
On Mar 3, 2022, at 8:44 AM, John Mattis <john.mattis@...> wrote:
?
I made my X and Y axis DROs from some harbor freight calipers.
My Z axis is a 1-inch travel dial indicator that adjusts vertically.
Photos are available if you request. I also have some drawings.
Regards,
John Mattis (john.mattis@...)
On Thu, Mar 3, 2022 at 5:02 AM fxkl47BF via groups.io <fxkl47BF@...> wrote:
Is anyone using Touchdro on a mill?
I have a PM-25MV and starting to look at dro's.
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I have one of those small Sieg "Micro mills" that Harbor Freight used to sell. Many years ago, I bought and installed iGaging scales on all three axes. I had separate, independent display units for each scale/axis. But, about a year ago I discovered the TouchDRO and interface module. I built up a home-brew version of the interface with Bluetooth RF module, and have TouchDRO running on an old ASUS 8-inch tablet. It's very slick!
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On Thu, 3 Mar 2022, wturchyn wrote: I have one of those small Sieg "Micro mills" that Harbor Freight used to sell. Many years ago, I bought and installed iGaging scales on all three axes. I had separate,
independent display units for each scale/axis. But, about a year ago I discovered the TouchDRO and interface module. I built up a home-brew version of the interface with
Bluetooth RF module, and have TouchDRO running on an old ASUS 8-inch tablet. It's very slick! _._,_._,_ Can y'all elaborate on the pros and cons of the glass and igaging scales?
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I can only elaborate?as far as "They Work", iGaging that is. Don't know anything about the glass scales. The iGaging DROs are as accurate?as I will probably ever?need. And the price is right.
Ralph
On Thu, 3 Mar 2022, wturchyn wrote:
> I have one of those small Sieg "Micro mills" that Harbor Freight used to sell. Many years ago, I bought and installed iGaging scales on all three axes. I had separate,
> independent display units for each scale/axis. But, about a year ago I discovered the TouchDRO and interface module. I built up a home-brew version of the interface with
> Bluetooth RF module, and have TouchDRO running on an old ASUS 8-inch tablet. It's very slick! _._,_._,_
Can y'all elaborate on the pros and cons of the glass and igaging scales?
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I can only elaborate?as far as "They Work", iGaging that is. Don't know anything about the glass scales. The iGaging DROs are as accurate?as I will probably ever?need. And the price is right.
I also have the iGaging scales.? They are easy to install.? ?You can even install them with magnets if you like. They are as accurate is by cheap Harbor freight dial indicator.
But do beware there is more then one kind of iGaging scale.? Some are better quality then others.
On Thu, 3 Mar 2022, wturchyn wrote:
> I have one of those small Sieg "Micro mills" that Harbor Freight used to sell. Many years ago, I bought and installed iGaging scales on all three axes. I had separate,
> independent display units for each scale/axis. But, about a year ago I discovered the TouchDRO and interface module. I built up a home-brew version of the interface with
--
Chris Albertson
Redondo Beach, California
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If you can at all afford it, stay away from remote-reading igaging DROs that have aluminum scales.? The scale is part of the sensor circuit and has a sliding ground contact made to it inside the sensor box.? Aluminum develops an oxide coating, making that contact resistive -- and when it does, the scale turns into a magnificent antenna for picking up electrical noise.? I think that's part of the reason that messing around with the DROs could temporarily fix the problem, but it always came back.
I have 3 igaging DROs with aluminum scales, and all 3 of them now are hardwired to the sensor's internal ground -- holes drilled in the end and a screw + spade connector attached.? For me, this was the "final solution" to my EMI problem.
As a result of my experience, when I later bought two igaging DROs to put on my lathe I chose to go with stainless steel scales.? Even for them I still had to solder an additional 1 uF capacitor across Vcc and Ground inside the sensor box.
Mark
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Mark, could you post a picture of this ground connection you made? I just got through putting three of those on a Smithy Mill/Lathe combo.
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On Sunday, March 6th, 2022 at 9:10 AM, Mark Kimball <markkimball51@...> wrote:
If you can at all afford it, stay away from remote-reading igaging DROs that have aluminum scales.? The scale is part of the sensor circuit and has a sliding ground contact made to it inside the sensor box.? Aluminum develops an oxide coating, making that contact resistive -- and when it does, the scale turns into a magnificent antenna for picking up electrical noise.? I think that's part of the reason that messing around with the DROs could temporarily fix the problem, but it always came back.
I have 3 igaging DROs with aluminum scales, and all 3 of them now are hardwired to the sensor's internal ground -- holes drilled in the end and a screw + spade connector attached.? For me, this was the "final solution" to my EMI problem.
As a result of my experience, when I later bought two igaging DROs to put on my lathe I chose to go with stainless steel scales.? Even for them I still had to solder an additional 1 uF capacitor across Vcc and Ground inside the sensor box.
Mark
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On Sun, 6 Mar 2022, Mark Kimball wrote: If you can at all afford it, stay away from remote-reading igaging DROs that have aluminum scales. The scale is part of the sensor circuit and has a sliding ground
contact made to it inside the sensor box. Aluminum develops an oxide coating, making that contact resistive -- and when it does, the scale turns into a magnificent
antenna for picking up electrical noise. I think that's part of the reason that messing around with the DROs could temporarily fix the problem, but it always came back.
I have 3 igaging DROs with aluminum scales, and all 3 of them now are hardwired to the sensor's internal ground -- holes drilled in the end and a screw + spade connector
attached. For me, this was the "final solution" to my EMI problem.
As a result of my experience, when I later bought two igaging DROs to put on my lathe I chose to go with stainless steel scales. Even for them I still had to solder an
additional 1 uF capacitor across Vcc and Ground inside the sensor box.
Mark _._,_._,_ Thanks Good to know before I buy
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Hi Phil, Here you go!? The wire connects up to the DRO sensor's ground.? I made sure that there was enough slack in the wire so the joint inside the spade connector doesn't flex and break.? I also used stranded wire because it is more resistant to? bending fatigue. 
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Thanks!
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On Sunday, March 6th, 2022 at 2:45 PM, Mark Kimball <markkimball51@...> wrote:
Hi Phil,
Here you go!? The wire connects up to the DRO sensor's ground.? I made sure that there was enough slack in the wire so the joint inside the spade connector doesn't flex and break.? I also used stranded wire because it is more resistant to? bending fatigue.
Attachments:
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Mark,
From the picture it appears you are still using your original scales the same as I have. As I remember the scales can be cut to length. I am still using mine with zero issues since soldering in the resistor and I still have a spare on hand but have not needed to use it.
Dick
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Hi Dick,
Yep, same scales!? I cut one down to fit the Y axis on my mill.? I've read that the stainless-steel rules are a different kettle of fish -- some have resorted to using an abrasive cut-off wheel to cut them down to size.
My main issue with the 3 on my mill is their battery life.? I found that particular DRO version draws more current than more-recent designs, at least when the display is on.? I've got a solution for that but haven't completed it yet.
It's good to hear that your DROs are still working OK.
-Mark
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I have iGaging DROs on my LMS mini-mill, and they have been working OK, but not without problems.? I bought my mill used with the DROs included (aluminum scales), so I'm guessing they were a year or so old when I bought the mill. They worked fine for a couple of years after I bought the mill, and then the vertical scale started acting flaky. I tried all the suggested remedies, and finally just ended up replacing it last year. No problems with the new scale/DRO so far. Also, the latest iGaging readout is larger and easier to read than the older one. It lacks an auto-off feature, but does have a socket for a USB power supply. One of my older readouts started getting very hard to switch on, so I replaced it with the another readout I happened to have on hand. To sum up, I would say that my iGaging DROs worked a good five years before I began to experience problems. As another poster noted, they are plenty accurate for the work I am doing. You can pay a lot more for glass scales and get another digit of accuracy, but is your mill really going to be able to deliver that precision? Below is a pic of my mill with the 3 iGaging readouts (newer one on the bottom, with a tachometer below that). You can see how much bigger the display is on the "E-Z View DRO". 
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That's the style I just installed on my Smithy 3 in 1. Glad I waited!
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I use mag scales from DRO Pro's - nice since they are easy to cut to size. I too tried the Igaging and it didn't seem to like the LMS BLDC mill a whole lot. They'd just jump and change measurement.
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On 3/9/2022 10:24 PM, kaje7777 wrote: I have iGaging DROs on my LMS mini-mill, and they have been working OK, but not without problems. I bought my mill used with the DROs included (aluminum scales), so I'm guessing they were a year or so old when I bought the mill. They worked fine for a couple of years after I bought the mill, and then the vertical scale started acting flaky. I tried all the suggested remedies, and finally just ended up replacing it last year. No problems with the new scale/DRO so far.
Also, the latest iGaging readout is larger and easier to read than the older one. It lacks an auto-off feature, but does have a socket for a USB power supply.
One of my older readouts started getting very hard to switch on, so I replaced it with the another readout I happened to have on hand.
To sum up, I would say that my iGaging DROs worked a good five years before I began to experience problems. As another poster noted, they are plenty accurate for the work I am doing. You can pay a lot more for glass scales and get another digit of accuracy, but is your mill really going to be able to deliver that precision?
Below is a pic of my mill with the 3 iGaging readouts (newer one on the bottom, with a tachometer below that). You can see how much bigger the display is on the "E-Z View DRO".
Attachments:
PXL_20220310_032043040.jpg: /g/7x12MiniLathe/attachment/115735/
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John Mattis
OldToolmaker