Model Forum / General / Models / March 2010

I've fitted a 3-axis Newall (from Chester) to my Centec 2B. Its a really
impressive bit of kit - very accurate and versatile. The scales consist
of precision ball bearings in a sealed carbon filament tube, which makes
them impervious to dust, swarf and cutting lubricants, and virtually
unbreakable. The downside being that Newall have to make them to fit
your machine.
I'm a self taught hobbiest and chose Newall on advice from expert
friends (so I could blame them if was no good). They also talked me out
of my initial thought to save money by having the 2-axis version - their
advice was spot on - the 3rd axis is definitely needed.
Its not the cheapest DRO around by a long shot, but its certainly  as
good as, if not better than, any on the market. Its use on the Centec
has transformed it totally.

By the way, service from Chester and Newall was excellent.

Look very carefully at some of the specs of these cheaper units and
compare to cost.
At one time they were the only way out for home shop guys but with the
advent of cheaper imports, better DIY kits they are now out pricing
themselves.

Also I note that whereas before these cheaper units such as the Ortec
and BW used to state one thou resolution they are now quoting larger
resolutions of 0.002" and 0.003"

If you was to fit one of these to a lathe that would transpose to
0.004" to 0.006" on diameter, something anyone should be able to
better on dials without a DRO.

There are a couple of kits out there that use Chinese scales to a
resolution of 0.001"
Ebay carries a some buy it now proper DRO's using glass scales to a
resolution of 0.0002"

Most also offer additional features such as bolt circles, centre
finding and multiple offsets.
Sites to look at are
http://www.shumatech.com

And Arc Euro is carrying the Comp-u- system as a built up unit.
http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/

--
Regards,

John Stevenson
Nottingham, England.

Visit the new Model Engineering adverts page at:-
http://www.homeworkshop.org.uk/

I have an ortec dro on a myford vmc(which I wish to sell) and a newal
dro on my lathe, both give excellent service. The ortec unit on my mil
has a resolution of 0,02 mm i.e. 0,001

--
krukowsp