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iGAGING DigiMAG Digital Readouts

Tags: iGAGING DigiMAG DRO

January 19, 2012
12:50 PM

Jerry

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Having seen these emerge recently, I've taken a plunge:

I have a pretty full understanding of the value of a quality DRO, but there's no way around quality costing what it does, so not wanting to spend more than the cost of the mill for a pro kit I've tried the modded Digital Caliper route with limited success. One of the main things the Caliper concept lacks is sensibly visible displays, and whilst there's a few hacks out there for connecting them to remote readouts I don't have the knowledge of that level of electric stringy stuff to be able to venture into such things. So when these came in to view I was intrigued, reviews seem to err mostly towards the side of satisfaction, with some cautionary notes about time-outs on the display, and the need to protect them from moisture and swarf.

Accuracy is also an issue for some, but unlike many outlets it seems the advert for mine clearly specified where it was. 0.002"/6" end to end measurement, and 0.001" repeatability. As such I know what I'm getting, and as it's always best to measure work with separate measuring instruments, and so long as I account for the deviation so that I'm at least always over, then it's no biggy. Frankly over 12" if I can get an end to end dim with a variation of +/- 004" out of the DRO's direct, then it's not a bad place to be, and let's face it, the DRO's probably better than the repeatability of the machine!

So the trial issue then really is about longevity mostly for me, with operation being only possibly challenged by the timing out issue, and how sensitive they prove to be to environment. Battery life comes along behind, if they justify it I'll rig an external supply.

QED.

I'll keep you posted.

January 19, 2012
3:19 PM

Alexander m

Montreal

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I see how that reading error in the scales would be a problem, however it may be better then the screw thread. For example the error of the screws on my lathe is 0.0002'' per tern, the reason that I suspect for this is they may have manufactured the screw as a 3.170mm instead of a 3.175 pitch and passed it off as a .125'' thread.

The best laid schemes on mill and lathe, Go often askew, -Bobby Burns, If he was a machinist.

January 19, 2012
5:47 PM

rdfoster

SW IA

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Jerry, I have those units setup on my G0619. They seem to work OK. Keep us informed how they do for you.

Bob

January 19, 2012
8:40 PM

Mtw fdu

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I had one of those on my lathe I use to own. It made my machining much easier and more accurate as well as quicker machining time. It went when I traded it in on my new lathe. I have posted before about this type of readout on a different thread previously. Here is the same pic I used:

Mtw fdu.

January 21, 2012
3:26 AM

Jerry

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Two interesting photo's there gents, clearly you've found no need for protection of the displays. What about the scales? Any issues with those?

January 21, 2012
4:00 PM

rdfoster

SW IA

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Jerry, I did cover the x and y scales to help protect them from oil and swarf. I covered the x scale with light weight aluminum and the y scale with 1/8" wood. I'm sure both could be better protected especially the y scale. I've used them for about 1 year and haven't had any problems yet. I need to get a longer scale for the z axis since I just used one I took off my wood planer and it is only 6" long. It is attached with magnets which can be slid to the necessary position.

Bob

January 21, 2012
5:19 PM

Mtw fdu

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Here is a pic of my scales which I mounted on my old lathe.

The little "black" box at the bottom left side of the pic is the scale. It is not covered with anything apart from the mounting plate to the apron. I had no trouble with this setup. You can clearly see where the "display" was mounted.

Mtw fdu.

January 22, 2012
1:17 AM

Jerry

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I think that's quite encouraging, to know it was fine when exposed like that. No doubt protection is needed, but at least they are not hypersensitive.

So far I've fudged together a mount for the displays, and fitted the X and Y axis scales. First thing to create some furrowed brows was the instructions.

Surely it would not be too much of a challenge for them to have included some instructions that had more value than the feeble effort provided. These things have to be mounted accurately to ensure life and readout accuracy, no mention of that, and some basic dimensions of the bracketry and the unit itself would have helped. When setting up things like this there's a lot of weird offsets and angles to get your head around, as such there was a fair bit of too-ing and fro-ing to check dims, partial fitting needed to be able to suss a measurement out then take it all part again to fit etc.

The brackets provided give a foundation for mounting but some creativity is needed to overcome oddities. However, it was wise to spend some time with the brackets I've used so far to straighten them up, most 90° angles were not true, others not flat where they needed to be. Whilst it's clear that these devices were originally intended for woodworking machines, the instruction page shows a Chinese mill fitted with one, albeit via a bracket that was not included in the kit Confused .

Hopefully I'll get the Z axis on today, then after a cable tidy up it'll be done and I'll put some pics up.

January 22, 2012
4:26 PM

Jerry

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Here's some pics of the install so far. Some tweaking to do. I'll now use it for a few days before letting you know how I get on with them.

January 24, 2012
8:15 AM

Jerry

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I've had a little hiccup with the Y axis, it's not possible move it reliably in 0.01mm increments. This may be down to the leadscrew etc, but to be sure I re-fitted the scale, and whilst I was at it improved the cable conduit fixing with a new bracket. The problem is still there, too soon to know if it's an issue or not, probably not really.

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