"Grumpy" wrote in message
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Does anybody here have any experience with the Eason ES-8 DRO?
We have one on a lathe in the museum workshop where I volunteer restoring
old machinery such as steam traction engines and similar stuff. We have a
relatively new(18 months) lathe with the Eason DRO on it. I'm having a bit
of trouble with it and, as I'm not to familiar with DRO's, don't know
whether I'm expecting too much from it or if there is something wrong with
it. I take an initial cut with the lathe, then measure the diameter of the
work and set it into the DRO and hit enter. I then put the next cut and
turn on the motor. The reading immediately changes and dances around by a
few hundreds of a millemeter or thou. After taking the cut on the work, I
measure it and find that it is off by as much as 7 hundredths of a
millimeter from what the DRO says it should be.

Am I doing something wrong, is ther a fault in the DRO, or am I just
expecting too much from what is a relatively cheap devise?

Any ideas would be appreciated.


I am not an expert machinist, but I see no one else is responding. Have you
considered there may be some slop or stiffness issues in the cross slide?
For example, if the cross slide pivots due to cutting forces, the cutting
tool may move back while the glass scale on the other side moves forwards.
If the stiffness issues can't be corrected, you may be able to live with
them by taking the same depth of cut before setting the DRO and when making
the last cut. Also make sure you always set and read the DRO with the same
force on the tool.