DECENT DRO

I was after a 3 axis DRO for my miller and a 2 axis for my lathe.

After much muddling and pondering, I settled on a couple of DRO's from these guys in Kibworth in Leicestershire.

http://www.ems-i.co.uk/

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and service.

They came with a comprehensive set of brackets & nuts n bolts etc and the unit mounts and associated gubbins.

Just thought I'd give you all a heads up really.

And, no I'm not on some kind of commision nor am I associated with these guys in any way.

Cheers.

Skel.

Edited By Skel on 25/07/2016 22:53:04

They might offer serious competition to the Newall system.

Certainly at first glance their sealed magnetic tape scales and the method of construction used offers the IP protection and degree of resolution to make them contenders.

It would be interesting to see a comparative test run between the two systems

Brian

I have to say arc do a pretty good dro system with glass scales, wouldn't be without them.

Michael W

Skel, that looks a very good system indeed. All me machines DSG, K & T, Warco and Chester all have Newall's I was on the website you mentioned and I like the look of the LCD display units with the Graphical interface, very nice. I remember a saying when buying my first dro and it was a toss up between Newall and Heidenhain. and the saying was " Buying a DRO can seriously damage your wealth " certainly true when talking of those two makers. The Newalls have never missed a beat and the oldest must be getting on for 14 years. You will find them a real boon and wont want to ever go back to looking at dial grads again. Well Done.

I would check in to the micron readability first if think a bargain, considering 5 micron not much use for fine tolerance threading, 30 micron may as well use a tape.

Shame Machine Dro don't offer the two part magnetic scales any more 25mm high x 7mm thick, just cut to length +50mm no excess baggage that's now every where and a direct fixing. Shallower and thinner too, now gone down the pan offering some items as ems and others but more to choose from.

Look at the bulk Brian might as well go for C type glass easier to fit.
I wouldn't be able to get them on my cross slide without sacrificing a rear tool post and stick well above in the way.

Looks interesting Skel. If you don't mind me asking the question that many of us will be wondering about, what was the cost if the installations?

I see ems-i supply the magnetic tape naked as well as pre-fitted to a mounting spar. At a bit over 1 mm thick and 10 mm wide perhaps those of us with larger machines might find it possible to squeeze it inside the cross-slide dovetail with the read head fixed to the back of the apron. This would circumvent the usual problem of having to choose between mounting a spar alongside of the crosslide where it gets in the way and is vulnerable to swarf or letting things poke out the back of the lathe.

One disadvantage of magnetic scales is vulnerablity to external magnetic fields. Put a mag base or one of those dangerously strong modern magnets too close by and it will upset the beast.

I wouldl be interested to know how folk get on with the LCD display version. Some years back I got a white and blue LCD 4-axis one intending to upgrade my Bridgeport from with a quill readout as well as the usual table and knee ones. Had to send it back as it was too slow to change, especially when the workshop was chilly, and prone to ghosting. Bought home to me just how impoertant a clear, fast changing display is when nudging up to the right place to stop feeding. Definately not a trivial issue. Too fast and you can't read it at normal feed speeds, too slow and you are always behind.

Clive.

5 microns is 2/10 of a thou, that's plenty good enough for me. 30 microns is just over a thou, a bit too coarse for machining, but if you can read a tape measure to that precision you don't need to go to SpecSavers

Well considering a hairs breadth is about 30 microns and a globule of cigarette smoke is around 10-15 microns you'd need to either be eating an awful lot of carrots or came straight out of a comic book.

Michael W

Not the case its not sinking in its the repeatability!

Mines a 5 micron supposedly and can have a repeatability error close on 0.08 at extremes but usually +/- 0.03mm

Me too. Seems to be one of those annoying sites that doesn't show any pricing. There's usually a reason why...

Hi Jon,

Just wondering if you've got a problem like the one I had. My cheapo DRO suddenly developed erratic poor repeatability on the X-scale. After a bit of faffing around I found that the scale and head had become slightly misaligned due to a loose screw. The head not running true caused the scale to intermittently flex, bind and then break loose. It was enough to mess up repeatability by up to 0.04 - but not every time I used the mill.

Dave

Hi all.

Just spoke to the guys at EMS regarding prices as some of you had asked me.

They say that you are best to contact them and they will deal with each DRO on a case by case basis as there are so many variables involved.

All I can say is that I was very very happy with the price that I paid for my two complete setups.

They even replaced one of the scales free of charge and paid for the postage both ways when I had a slight issue.

They also say that they will not be beaten on price.

Their words, not mine.

Cheers.

Skel.

Fair enough Dave but that wouldn't apply to magnetic or glass scales, they work even when out of alignment as much as 1/4" tried it. All runouts on each scale over entire lengths within 2 thou, the extrusion isn't that accurate.
The Sino glass I can just about tell on X axis lathe, mill X axis over 170mm length will change 0.01 to 0.015mm as if dovetails are bowed. Glass on quill rigidly mounted do have errors approaching the magnetic on repeatability.

Quite agree on any online site with holding prices, I usually venture elsewhere as it often tries to hide something. Do know EMS are competitive a mate has a 3 axis but only cost me £10 more for a better readout and far superior C type Sino scales (one longer dearer) from Allendale.