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Looking at DRO for 6x26 knee mill - need advice

kevin.decelles

kevin.decelles

Jack of all trades -- Master of none
Premium Member
I'm looking to add a DRO to my Busy been ct054 knee mill (6x26). I would like the best blend of quality vs. cost. And no, buying a new mill with DRO on it already isn't an option. My budget is between 350-800 Canadian.

I'm looking for advice/opinions on:

2 vs 3 axis
glass vs. magnetic scales
features to look for on display unit
brand/vendors to consider/avoid
india vs. china vs. USA
amazon vs. KBC vs. banggood vs. aliexpress vs. shars vs. precision-mathews vs. modern vs. other-local-calgary-hodge-podge
Shipping concerns?
experiences / gotchas to watch for on installs
pictures of your own DIY DRO installs
 
I have glass scale cheap ebay unit, $400 +/- was easy to work with, i ordered longer than needed scales and cyt to fit. I believe i have a thread showing it in “your projects” under “my mini machine upgrades”. I got a 3 axis because it has 3 axis and it allows for radius cuts.
 
I put a DroPro’s 4 axis on my Craftex mill with out any problems the quill can be locked off or be used in combination with the z axis readout.
 
I've bought 3 sets of the Chinese ones and they seemed quite good, showed up fast and are accurate. Glass scales, don't go with the 1 micron precision it will just irritate you that you never hit you number.
 
I got Chinese DRO of eBay I think (or aliexpress) very, very, very happy so far with it.

If I have some spare time I will buy more Chinese DRO systems for my other old mill, my old falling apart lathe and on my surface grinder.

I uses border bee for fees.
 
Ebay search “3 axis dro kit” and expect to pay about $400 for a complete set all in. I love mine, no complaints.
High priced ebay items come quickly .... mind your seller is still active as chinese newyear is a month long celebration
 
I just ordered a 3 axis dro from AliExpress (with promise of dhl ) for 215USD. I'll let you know how that goes

I got a confirmation message from seller to confirm travel lengths and to let me know what the overall size will be.... it was in good English so I'm optimistic so far!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Which one did you get? I'm about to ordering one as well. How did you specify scale lengths with the supplier? Via email or was there provision to specify them during the checkout?
 
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Too bad that you guys are ordering now. I had posted (a long time ago) that I was ordering and we could've got a better price on them if we ordered 5 or more (I probably need 2 or 3 more)
 
kylemp said:
Too bad that you guys are ordering now. I had posted (a long time ago) that I was ordering and we could've got a better price on them if we ordered 5 or more (I probably need 2 or 3 more)
Click to expand...

Any feel for what kind of better deal could be obtained? I'm sure there are others on this forum interested in going the DRO route.
 
kylemp said:
I already tried that.. You could talk to the seller and ask him then try to organize it again.
Click to expand...

Are you in for 3 if the price is right? What's your price point?

I found a $215US package. Purchasing 5 or more reduced it to $204US. Free shipping via DHL. Still responsible for Duty. I'm thinking 5 units will draw more attention with the duty inspectors v.s. one. Worth it?
 
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