Need Help With DRO Installation

[Zee]

Im in need of some help from someone in my area with the installation of a dro on a 14x40 lathe. Im about 60 miles west of Waco, Tx. Thanks for your time!

[KMoffett]

Which lathe?...which DRO?

Ken

[Zee]

Hello Ken,
Its a star lathe, I would like to go with a acu-rite dro. Or something simple to use really.
Thanks, Kyle

[KMoffett]

Are we talking about one of these old line-shaft belt-drive lathes?:http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...-lathe-278673/

Ken

[Zee]

No Ken, this is a gear head lathe thats only a few years old. I couldn't find any information about this lathe on the net. I really don't know much about it other than its made in Taiwan and that it came from the valley.

[Lu47Dan]

Kyle, if it was made in Taiwan, then "Star" is most likely an importers brand that died out.
Some photos of the lathe would be very helpful.
Unless you can find one used and in good shape an Acu-rite DRO will cost a lot more than the lathe did....
I have an Easson DRO on my mill and have been happy with it's performance. I bought it from these folks.
http://www.dropros.com/DRO_PROS_Eass...illing_Machine
The manual was a little vague in places but I figured it out,
The scale on the "Z" axis should extend the full length of the bed not stop short of the end as a longer scale does not add that much to the price of a kit.
Dan.

[Zee]

Thanks for the information Dan.
The lathe looks just like the Jet 14X40 zx lathe. Im really hoping to find someone in my area to help me install the
dro. I never have installed one before. I will pay for someones time to help me install the dro. By the few responses I have had, I may have to figure it out myself.

[Lu47Dan]

Kyle, Installing it yourself, is not all that hard to do.
I had to build a couple brackets to install mine but I managed just fine. On the site I linked to there are a series of videos on mounting the scales on the lathe, for your installation I would go with the magnetic scales instead of glass. They are slimmer than glass scales and can be cut to custom length to fit where you need it to fit.
Watch the videos as they were helpful to me in my installation of the scales on my mill.
Here is the installation of the kit on my mill.
http://www.shopfloortalk.com/forums/...ad.php?t=34573
There are several videos on YouTube that cover installation on a lathe also. I do not have links to them but you can search for them.
Good Luck.
Dan.

[BigBoy1]

I have an Easson DRO on my mill and have been happy with it's performance. I bought it from these folks.
http://www.dropros.com/DRO_PROS_Eass...illing_Machine
The manual was a little vague in places but I figured it out. The scale on the "Z" axis should extend the full length of the bed not stop short of the end as a longer scale does not add that much to the price of a kit.
Dan.

+1 on DROPROS. I got two Easson DROs from them - one for the lathe and one for the mill and I'm totally happy with them both. Get a scale long enough to cover the entire length of the bed. It is really worth it. The only feature I haven't figured out how to correct is on the lathe DRO. When the DRO on the lathe is turned on, the default setting for the X-axis is the radius mode. You have to switch to the diameter mode each time you turn it one. Got into trouble making the first parts using the lathe DRO until I figured out that it was reading in the radius mode and NOT the diameter mode as I thought.

[Zee]

Ok, thanks for all the help!
Kyle

[Davo J]

This might help you out, there are a few others on google as well.

http://www.boysungrain.com/dro-2l.htm