DTI Stand - Single Lock Type?

All,

Can anyone recommend a DTI holder - the articulated type with a central locking knob that locks all three joints in one action?

Prices seems to range from about £20 (including a DTI ! ), to about £200 for a Mitotoyo item.

Obviously I want one with a high force switchable magnet, and high rigidity.

Thanks.

I have a hydraulic Dasqua from Chronos, mid price range but very good.

Thanks Henry.

What's the reasoning behind it being hydraulic?

I have the one pictured(or it's twin), and a couple of much smaller ones that were about £10 from ebay. The big one works perfectly out of the box; less than a turn of the knob locks it up tightly. The cheap ones now do the same after I took them apart and finished all the mating surfaces of the wedges properly.

So I would say it's more of a wedging action than hydraulic

Beware the 15 quid ones from Amazon or similar. My review ***HERE***

John

Edit: Add Photo

Edited By Journeyman on 06/01/2021 13:42:15

Magnetic bases, of various qualities, are available separately. You pays your money....etc.

TBH I've no idea Dr! It does allow for a good feel when setting up if needed, unlike the clamp type which tends to be either clamped or not the hydraulic damping is there as required. Others here have Mitutoyo hydraulic but they are twice the price! I have to say it is very stable, I bought it for clocking on the mill, I use it under the head and sometimes on the quill/spindle so it needs to be stable. I have a conventional clamp type with a magnetic base for use on the lathe but much prefer the hydraulic!

One thing you might want to consider is the size of the base and arm, I have a Seig SX4 mill, its fine size wise for that, but may be a little large for smaller machines.

Edited By Henry Brown on 06/01/2021 14:02:50

Not so sure about the need for a high force magnetic base. Much to be said for one that is strong enough to support the gauge with the arm at full stretch but still weak enough to let you slide it around on the table with a decent push. I have one I can fine adjust by a sort of levering rolling action of both thumbs. Easy to get a decently controlled few thou' shift.

Consider getting one of the inexpensive single lock arms off E-Bay and adding your own base. Unlike Journeymans experiences my £10 (ish) arm works well. The arms are shorter than the usual gauge mounting types and more in tune with the space available on our smaller machines. The one I got to carry the Bjur nozzle and vice alignment dial gauge on my Bridgeport is about 2 1/2 inches between pivots.

That said, for most purposes I loathe the single lock, articulated arm gauge carriers with a passion. The Eclipse post and pivoted arm ones I use for gauge mounting have a screw adjustment that is easily set to a thou or less.

Clive

Edited By Clive Foster on 06/01/2021 13:46:37

Edited By Clive Foster on 06/01/2021 13:47:32

Having bought a cheapie version of the type above to fit to an existing magnetic base, a quick strip down of the device revealed the method of locking the stand. I cannot however understand the principle of operation of the hydraulic type. Is there anyone out there who could enlighten me please?

Gordon.

Thanks all.

I'm currently using a very large Eclipse base with a push-button magnet, fitted with a thick solid bar and a cast slider mechanism that holds the gauge arm. It has a worm-drive fine adjustment on the casting, which can very easily be zeroed, and is also rock solid when turning the DTI dial to zero. It is however very cumbersome when used on small machine tools, and the push-button very stiff to use.

I just wanted something smaller, and easier to adjust.

Whatever you use, it must be rigid.

If the clock is waving about, even slightly, accurate measurement will be impossible.

My particular bete noir are the ones with a C shaped spring in the middle of one arm. I bought one but never use it, despite the ability to "fine adjust", because it is not as rigid as the old fashioned monkey blocks.

Howard

I have a Mitutoyo hydraulic one, works fine and good for positioning the indicator then locking it solidly in position. It is my go to mag base.

Martin C

I bought a cheap one and wasn't impressed - it moved about no matter how hard it was tightened.

So I bought a Noga. Fantastic bit of kit - solid as a rock. And the bottom adjust feature is excellent too - a much better place to adjust from than at the business end...

Thread on this topic from 2020 DTI stands

Martin C

Jez - These cheap mag bases 'move about' due to the fact the machined edges are not flat nor are they square to each other. I bought 2 similar to the one pictured by Journeyman in the toolmarket in Shanghai for £5 for both of them (knocked the seller down from just over £8 for the pair) I thought it was worth the money just to get the arms!

However, after transferring the arms to a more substantial Starret mag base I discovered the out of truth in the original base. Put it in the mill and trued it up and now it is quite a handy tool with the smaller base.

Martin

I have a Noga and 2 cheap versions. The Noga is perfect as it should be for the price. The 2 cheaper items now work very well after stripping and fettling them.

regards

I just bought one of the cheap ones for £14. I wasn't expecting champagne taste for lemonade money so I found it quite adequate given the cost. The base sits flat and the magnet will hold a DTI and a 2" dial gauge with the arm at full horizontal extension, so I'm happy with mine.

Cannot emphasise the need for rigidity enough. When I was re-setting up my lathe, initially the set up consisted of a good quality mag base and arm as shown above. It was extraordinarily difficult achieving repeatable results. So I made a rigid DTI holder, which eliminated the mag base and arm. Bingo!! Repeatable results. I'll see if I can find it and get a photo, it wasn't difficult or complicated.

cheers

Bill

Hi Martin,

In my case it was definitely the arm which was moving... Paid more than £2.50 for it too!

Cheers,

Jez.

Thanks Guys. I'm going to go with a Noga item for about £85. I'd done with buying tools that have to be fettled.

Obviously I'll keep the massive Eclipse base as well, just in case.