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Digital readouts on a manual lathe ? Thoughts Please

Darren H

Plastic
Joined
Dec 30, 2022
I recently acquired an old manual lathe.
I was thinking about adding a digital readout. I don’t have much machining experience so I am wondering if adding more than the basic 2 axis would be worth doing. Like the carriage and cross slide are given but what about a dro on the compound slide and tailstock ? Is this something a person would use much just a waste of time and money. I don’t have much experience on a lathe so I don’t really know. Thank you so much for your experience and input for a newbie.
 
I recently acquired an old manual lathe.
I was thinking about adding a digital readout. I don’t have much machining experience so I am wondering if adding more than the basic 2 axis would be worth doing. Like the carriage and cross slide are given but what about a dro on the compound slide and tailstock ? Is this something a person would use much just a waste of time and money. I don’t have much experience on a lathe so I don’t really know. Thank you so much for your experience and input for a newbie.
Learn how to run the lathe with proficiency first.
 
I thought about adding the compound, but considering the various angles I set it at, and the total lack of repeatability based on reading an angle scale that may or may not be dead on to begin with, I decided ... NO ...

And more bulk, more hassle routing cables ...

Tailstock? Honestly, I can't think of any *reasonable* reason to do that. I think if for whatever reason I need anything other than the dial, I'd rig up a dial indicator. I have on a couple occasions used a test indicator on the nose of the quill.

I *WILL*, however, eventually add a Z axis to the knee on my mill at some point. That, and a scale on the quill, linked in the DRO would be sweet, but more bulk and BS to deal with. The VMC is the obvious, rational, and simpler resource to exploit in that scenario.
 
Yeah, you soon figure out that the only use of the compound, is for thread cutting and putting specific bevels on an edge.

Most of your work will be done with the two axiis that have the scales on them!
 
I was thinking about adding a digital readout.
I've been thinking the same thing for 20 years. If you want to do better than +/- .0005 then get a DRO.
Use the dials for a while first.
A few times with a very sharp tool I could increment by .00025, that is traversing between two lines on a dial.
I use a 10x magnifying eyepiece. I think it came off of a microscope. Those types of eyepieces are good for close-up work.
But this traversing the dial like that, you never really know where you really are. I've heard that once you get a DRO you don't go back.

Use the lathe and see how tight everything is.
Make a cut pass on stock going left.
Now go right with no depth of cut change.
If you still cut material then what good is a DRO?
 
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The dro is convenient for sure but not needed.

You might consider buying tooling to expand your machines capability first. A dro you can do without but some tooling you gotta have.

Unless you have money for both!
 
Check Newall.
 
I was wondering the same a year ago when I put them on my Emco Super 11, ended up going three axis including the compound and am VERY glad I did, I use all three of them a lot. No need to put one on the TS that I could see, if you need to make a hole to a close depth you're gonna bore it anyway.

 
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After having a DRO on two different manual lathes, I have no interest in being without one. The consistency, time savings, and convenience are priceless IMO. If you couple it with a solid tool post ( or a gib lock on the compound ) and store your cutters in the DRO tool library, you can basically chuck a piece of stock, select the tool( and recall it in the DRO ), zero your Z axis( after facing the part ), and turn a part to within a couple thou or less, without ever taking a measurement. Having that ability is a no brainer for me. I'll definitely be adding one to my tailstock as well. Drilling to accurate and repeatable depths is nothing but a plus IMO. Unless you have a really long travel dial indicator, it's about the only way to do it. The other alternative is a drill chuck mounted to a quick change tool post. Then use the Z-axis on the DRO for drill depth. You get power feed as a bonus with this setup. I see absolutely no downsides to a DRO on darn near any machine.
 
Got to have a Dro on Z-axis to be efficient.
5 of 6 lathes have z axis only and last machine uses Trav-a-dial due to bed length. Still prefer my dials on the crossfeed when I'm sneaking up on those fine cuts. The mills on the other hand have to be fully digital!!
 
I just ordered a cheapy from Amazon for our toolroom lathe.

Mostly as a timesaver for the newbies/slowpokes who get slowed down by the whole dia/radius thingy.

If it turns out to be a good option, then I'll lobby for an Accurite unit, or similar.

It is a fairly small lathe though. I can see where a larger engine lathe could gain quite a bit in efficiency from a two axis unit. And as stated above, don't bother with a cross slide/tailstock reader.

Complete waste of time, and will only get in the way.
 
Yeah, you soon figure out that the only use of the compound, is for thread cutting and putting specific bevels on an edge.

Most of your work will be done with the two axiis that have the scales on th
After having a DRO on two different manual lathes, I have no interest in being without one. The consistency, time savings, and convenience are priceless IMO. If you couple it with a solid tool post ( or a gib lock on the compound ) and store your cutters in the DRO tool library, you can basically chuck a piece of stock, select the tool( and recall it in the DRO ), zero your Z axis( after facing the part ), and turn a part to within a couple thou or less, without ever taking a measurement. Having that ability is a no brainer for me. I'll definitely be adding one to my tailstock as well. Drilling to accurate and repeatable depths is nothing but a plus IMO. Unless you have a really long travel dial indicator, it's about the only way to do it. The other alternative is a drill chuck mounted to a quick change tool post. Then use the Z-axis on the DRO for drill depth. You get power feed as a bonus with this setup. I see absolutely no downsides to a DRO on darn near any machine.
Make brackets for a digital caliper to be mounted on the tailstock Cut off the jaws to prevent laceration of your hands and right arm.
 
I've been thinking the same thing for 20 years. If you want to do better than +/- .0005 then get a DRO.
Use the dials for a while first.
A few times with a very sharp tool I could increment by .00025, that is traversing between two lines on a dial.
I use a 10x magnifying eyepiece. I think it came off of a microscope. Those types of eyepieces are good for close-up work.
But this traversing the dial like that, you never really know where you really are. I've heard that once you get a DRO you don't go back.

Use the lathe and see how tight everything is.
Make a cut pass on stock going left.
Now go right with no depth of cut change.
If you still cut material then what good is a DRO?
You have wasted untold 100s of hours the last 20 years, I will never have a lathe again without a DRO on all 3 axis. I always mount a digital caliper to the tailstock. I have been putting off getting one for the L&S as I have 3 axis on the LeBlond and the Holbrook but will be ordering one for the L&S this week.
 
I just ordered a cheapy from Amazon for our toolroom lathe.

Mostly as a timesaver for the newbies/slowpokes who get slowed down by the whole dia/radius thingy.

If it turns out to be a good option, then I'll lobby for an Accurite unit, or similar.

It is a fairly small lathe though. I can see where a larger engine lathe could gain quite a bit in efficiency from a two axis unit. And as stated above, don't bother with a cross slide/tailstock reader.

Complete waste of time, and will only get in the way.
Waste of time, in the way. No, I use mine everyday and would not be without it.
 
Waste of time, in the way. No, I use mine everyday and would not be without it.

Maybe I wrote it wrong, My bad.

On OUR lathe, it would be a waste of time. The tailstock is pretty clapped out, and the only time I use it is to rough out a hole to be bored on location. If I need a specific depth, I also bore it.

Your mileage may vary.
 
My thoughts on putting a DRO on a manual lathe: Yes.

Also: do a search. This has been covered previously, ad infinitum. This one is decent in terms of benefits:

 
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