Preparing for lathe installations

[restorick]

Hello,

New member here.  Thanks to Yuriy for a great resource!

I'm in the process of cleaning up a Logan 200 (10x24) and a Logan 1927 (11x36).  I'm very interested to install DROs on both.  I've read through the blog posts and researched a bit, and am thinking I'll be going with glass scales for both.  A couple of questions, if I may:

1. Are there preferred sources for these scales?  I see a number of them from China and US sellers on eBay, but would like to deal with someone who can support the product.

2. Is glass overkill for a lathe?

3. Any tips/tricks for mounting?

Thanks in advance to all.  Looking forward to this new adventure!
RIck

[Yuriy]

Hi,
I'm typing on my phone, so this will be short:
1. They are all more or less the same. Just find a supplier that has good rating and has documentation that shows pin functions

2. No, glass scales are much better for the lathe, especially for the crosswise.

Take a look at this article about Glass DRO Scales on my new site.

Hope this helps
Yuriy

[restorick]

Hi,
I'm typing on my phone, so this will be short:
1. They are all more or less the same. Just find a supplier that has good rating and has documentation that shows pin functions

2. No, glass scales are much better for the lathe, especially for the crosswise.

Take a look at this article about Glass DRO Scales on my new site.

Hope this helps
Yuriy

Thanks Yuriy. One thing you mention in an older article is the type of circuitry used. Is it safe to assume that Easson or Sino are the preferred brands?

Thanks again,
Rick

[Yuriy]

Rick,
I've had good luck with Easson and Dirton; don't have any first-hand experience with Sino, but have heard from other people that they are decent. The scales that I used in the picture in the article in the "Quality Considerations" sections are Easson and Jino (Easson being the better one). Jino was dirt cheap ( I think I paid $76 for that scale) and it's not that bad (the signal is a bit dirtier). In fact, I use it to test the TouchDRO board before shipping and it held up for about two years for what it's worth.
The bottom line is that even a bottom-of-the-barrel glass scale will be miles better than any capacitive iGaging scale, and usually better than any inexpensive magnetic scale. The trouble is usually the documentation - the Jino scale I got had no pinout diagram and the seller was clueless as to what I was asking for and kept replying "Please kindly provide the picture of the DRO and we will very make it good".
Regards
Yuriy