Other Smithy Owners ?

[JerryL]

New Sino DRO for Granite

Hi All
I got my Smithy 1324 Granite in July 2007. I was to receive a FREE DRO as part of my package ... The machine came and the DRO was on back order . I waited and called and waited until about Sept .
Smithy kept saying they had changed over to a new Brand / Style and where getting the installation parts made etc .

I got it and it was the Sino... I started to try and hook it up and the directions at that time where about useless and very skimpy and NOT CLEAR AT ALL.

It ended up that I had to make several spacers / bushings / and Modify 2 of the brackets .....

I was on the phone several times with Smithy and they where very helpful and gave some suggestions ..... They also sent me a replacement Mounting rail for the Y Axis .

I had gotten one of the VERY FIRST ones that they sent out the day after they got them from their supplier .......

Smithy did take care of me for all the probs . THEY ARE VERY GOOD AT DOING THAT FOR A CUSTOMER ..

The SINO has way more features than I'll ever use or want .... It is VERY SENSITIVE and reads down to 0.000000 You breathe on it and it changes .
That I know of there is no way to make the read out less sensitive or use less digits .

I would rather have a DRO that just gives you a +/- Position and read to 0.0000 ( Tens of Thousandths )

If was free so I guess I can't complain .

JerryL

[smiller6912]

All's well...

I received my DRO this morning and I have it installed. I had only two minor problems, first- one of the mounting plates was taped for M6 (per the instruction) and there were M5s in the hardware pack, second- one of the "Y" axis mounting screws went thru the mounting angle and up against the cross slide table, I had to shorten it by 8mm. Other than that installation was a breeze (well except for the hour and a half that it took to index everything in plumb and square).
The display mounting arm is up to you to locate. The pictures that Smithy sent me showed them using a vertical column on the right rear of the chip tray, I brought home a 3x3x1/4 angle from the shop to use in that location but decided I liked it better on my left so I used a 3" piece of 4x2x1/4 that I had here and mounted it to the top of the gear box cover. I like it there as I don't have to reach over the machine to get to it and it is right over the rest of the controls. I have been told that some people mount it to the wall behind the machine, that wasn't going to work for me.
I found out that the first units that they received had the mounting hardware fabricated backwards. It seams that the Chinese use first angle projection and we use third angle projection on the detail drawings (I've run into that problem before with European drawings). So, some of the first people to get them had quite a hard time figuring out the mounting. I believe that has been fixed with the ease that I installed mine.
It is loaded with way more bells and whistles that I normally use but I'm going to try them out.
According to sino-ld website, these have an accuracy of .0002, we shall see.

All in all, I'm very happy, so far.....................

[HSS]

I installed the Sino DRO on my 1324 2 weeks ago and am very pleased with it. The manual leaves a lot to be desired. (it is horrible, actually). The DRO isn't hard to figure out, but it would be wise to write down what you did to get it to do what you wanted, for future use. I have been using the bolt circle feature a lot making a disk for a dividing head. I agree with others in prior posts that .00000 is way too much accuracy.

[torchroadster]

Glad to read the reports - sounds like everyone is reasonably happy. One question - does the Sino have functions for the both lathe and mill operation? Or just one? One thing that has been holding me back (other than $) on a DRO purchase for my Granite 1340 is that all of the commercial units seem to have functions for either a mill or lathe but not both. Since the Smithy is really both it'd be nice to have both supported in the DRO - I'd always figured I would get the mill version on others and make do on the lathe.

[smiller6912]

Glad to read the reports - sounds like everyone is reasonably happy. One question - does the Sino have functions for the both lathe and mill operation? Or just one? One thing that has been holding me back (other than $) on a DRO purchase for my Granite 1340 is that all of the commercial units seem to have functions for either a mill or lathe but not both. Since the Smithy is really both it'd be nice to have both supported in the DRO - I'd always figured I would get the mill version on others and make do on the lathe.

This unit is programed specifically for the 3 in 1 machines. It uses the "3MS" display head. If you are interested, I have a (MS-Word) copy of the manual that I would be happy to share. It might help give you a better idea of the functions. -WARNING- You will need to speak Chinglish.

[HSS]

This unit is programed specifically for the 3 in 1 machines. It uses the "3MS" display head. If you are interested, I have a (MS-Word) copy of the manual that I would be happy to share. It might help give you a better idea of the functions. -WARNING- You will need to speak Chinglish.

Is your MS-Word copy of the manual the same translation as the one in the manual? I have the manual and they leave out steps that are required to get the results you want. Also their translation of a flow chart is "a circulation schematic diagram". I think they translate straight from a chinese-english dictionary. If your copy is easier to understand, I sure would like a copy.

[HSS]

Glad to read the reports - sounds like everyone is reasonably happy. One question - does the Sino have functions for the both lathe and mill operation? Or just one? One thing that has been holding me back (other than $) on a DRO purchase for my Granite 1340 is that all of the commercial units seem to have functions for either a mill or lathe but not both. Since the Smithy is really both it'd be nice to have both supported in the DRO - I'd always figured I would get the mill version on others and make do on the lathe.

The Sino will work in lathe or mill, equally well. I mounted my pendant on the wall to the right end and behind the machine. Easy to see and reach and no vibration from the machine. Even tho you use a DRO, don't get rid of your mics or calipers, I have found errors in accuracy with the DRO. Even so the speed of getting to tolerance is better, just check it with instruments before you unchuck.

[torchroadster]

Even tho you use a DRO, don't get rid of your mics or calipers, I have found errors in accuracy with the DRO. Even so the speed of getting to tolerance is better, just check it with instruments before you unchuck.

I understand that the DRO isn't a replacement for measuring tools - but about the SINO accuracy are you seeing something more than the stated accuracy? I think it's 0.0002? Or are the errors just related to variation in the machine or zero setting tolerances?

smiller; Thank you for the generous offer of the manual. I've found the one online but like HSS said if your's is something different then I'm very interested.

[smiller6912]

I don't know what version you guys have but, I have two, the one that came with the DRO and the Word copy and, in looking them over, they are not exactly the same (the one that I got on line does not include the Smithy version 3MS) but they are about the same. I don't think there would be much different in the copy you have. I will still be glad to email you a copy of the one I have but I'm pretty sure there is no big differences.
I was mostly offering the copy just to give someone a look at the capabilities, it is still impossible to read.
I was talking to Smithy this week and they told me that they have hired a consultant to do an update to the manual but, it is a way off yet.
I didn't have a lot of problems understanding most of the instructions with a little trial and error and where I did have problems, the folks at Smithy have been very helpful.
Never hesitate to call them, I've found them to be great people to deal with.
My hat is off to Kerry, he is always right there with the info I need and he seams happy to do it.

[HSS]

You are right about Kerry, Smiller, but I think he prefers the DRO from Canada over the Sino. Kinda makes me think I might have liked the one from Canada, also. The reason I went with the Sino was that Kerry said the Sino was somewhat easier to install. Having installed the Sino and the things I had to do to install it, I wish I had gotten the Canadian one. It couldn't have presented any more installation shortcomings than the Sino.

[HSS]

I think I'm going to reroute my cables. They are ok the way they are, but I don't like the way it looks. I also have to be careful or at least aware of how far around, I push the milling head to get out of the way when turning on the lathe.

[HSS]

Smiller, have you used the bolt circle feature yet? I have mine set up for inches and in bolt circle it wants the dia. in mm. Haven't figured that one out yet so when I get to there I just use mm. Maybe that is their way of getting me to go over to metric.

[smiller6912]

HSS,
I find that interesting, I had negligible installation problems. I had to shorten the screw on the front of the Y scale mount (8mm) where it was extending through and hitting the table and I was missing 2 M6 screws for the mounting of the Y read head, and I had to tap 2 holes for the X scale (as indicated in the installation instructions), but everything else was very straight forward and simple. I got the impression that he preferred the Sino for the added capabilities and better resolution. The exchange rate between the US and Canada verses China made the Sino less expensive.
Anyway, I'm happy with mine. I've only had it two days and I'm still just playing and learning but I already see how this is going to save me a butt-load of time.

[smiller6912]

Good folks

OK, I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you own a Smithy and have any questions or need some help, just call Kerry. I've been tuning up my G1324 and every time I call or email he has been right there with what I need. He is very knowledgeable about the products, and goes out of his way to make sure that I get everything I need.
This is the way tech help should be done.
Great job Kerry.........................

[HSS]

Smiller,
Have you used the arc function on your sino dro yet, and if so, how? The manual is a joke.
Thanx
Patrick