4 Axial Digital Read Out Mill Lathe Package Fits on Universal Size Milling Machine
4 Linear Glass Scales on X, Y, Quill and Knee
Brand New
Free Shipping in 48 States Extend 5 Years Limited Warranty
FAQ:
Glass Scale vs Magnetic
Scale
A simple number will tell you all.
99% linear scale is running on glass now, so magnetic scale must have some fetal
disadvantage. Sony was only few companies to make magnetic scales before, Sony
killed it 10 years ago. Ford killed focus, Chevy killed Cruze. There must be
some reason. Ford and GM claim unpopular and no demand. So I guess Sony has the
same reason to kill magnetic scales.
Now Few Company spread rumors on
glass scale, how bad the glass scale is, and it's not water proof, doesn't last
and so on. It's funny that those companies were selling glass scale for years,
now they try to convince customers stay away. Do they really slap themselves on
the face? In another words, the glass scale they're selling maybe have some
problems, and all those bad words above should apply. Therefore, for all
customer who bought their weak glass scales before should go after the seller and
ask for compensation because they didn't disclose the truth about products when
they sell it. Before they push glass scales sales, now they say glass scale is
bad. It’s a joke. By the way, I sell glass scales since day One, never ever
changed.
The truth on glass scales is far
more accurate than magnetic scale. You may ask both type scale labeled as 5um
or 2 tenth, so what's the difference. Keep in mind, 5um or 2 tenth is
resolution, not accuracy. Resolution is what you can read from display unit. However,
the real accountability or repeatability is called accuracy. Let’s dig into it.
Both glass and magnetic scales have error if you don’t calibrate. On glass
scale, it’s called linear error, which is very easy to correct, however, the
error on magnetic scale is called non-linear error. For example, glass scale
linear error is insistent. If error is 2 tenth off on 1” travel, then
regardless from 0-1” or 3-4”, 4-5”, it’s always 2 tenth off, then you enter in
one fixed compensation ratio to fix that. However, on magnetic scale, error
could be any number in different travel range, example, from 0-1” travel, it’s
2 tenth off, then from 2-3” travel, you may see 3 tenth off, then from 3-4”
travel, you may see 4 tenth off, then from 4-5” travel, you may see 2 tenth off
again. Therefore, on the same 1” travel, the error is non-insistent, so it’s
really hard to compensate, as a result, when you’re running certain function on
the display unit, you may see difficulties. If you don’t care, you may live
with it, but I think most customers prefer reliable, accurate and easy
calibration scale to begin with.
2nd, on water and dust
poof, If you pour water or spread sands and dusty directly to both glass scale
and magnetic scale, none will last, that’s the truth. On the water proof, we
should call it splash proof, which means wet splash may goes into scale. So
both glass scale and magnetic scale are sealed against wet and dust. Glass
scale usually sealed in 2 or 3 layers and magnetic scale has very thin seal. Also, don’t forget that both scales come with
shield cover, what those covers for, it’s for shielding scale away from splash
and dust. When you mount scale, usually it’s face down, not up, ask yourself,
is water going down or going up. Water is 100% going down, scale cover is face
down, scale is face down as well, so the water will flow over shield cover and
drop on the floor. People are running glass scale by water jet and edm all the
time, if not water proof, how can glass scale handle it.
3rd, whether scale should
be cut or not. It’s an interesting question. On the standard knee mill, like
bridgport or off brand Bridgeport or clone, there are enough space on the
machine to mount scale, so you should get longer taller and stronger scale to
mount, who wants to cut. People usually get scales on Bridgeport as long as
possible if space allowed. The longer, the saver to cover full travel of the
table. So the truth is that dummy will cut. The only machine you may need to
cut to install is those small mini or bench type mill, those are toys or hobby.
I focus on industrial machine more than home hobby toys. I don’t sell toys. Usually
home shop machinist watch runout and accuracy very closely, and they don’t want
rough scale neither. On the lathe, cross slide height space is limited, then I
have slim scale to overcome, slim scale height is even less than magnetic
scale. On 12 or 13” or even smaller lathe, you may need slim scales on the
cross slide, but on 14, 16 and 18” lathe, the space is high enough most people
go with normal height scale.
Finally, well build glass scale like
mine will last years as well which has been approved by thousands of customers.
My glass is commercial grade thick glass. Few companies slap face on themselves,
now even saying bad words against scales they were selling before. As a result,
customer who bought theirs before will suffer and pay the price, it’s bad. I
don’t run business that way. I don’t want to post any fake numbers on the life
span, like 1 year, couple years, 10 years, 20 years or maybe life time. Last or
not, only customers can tell. I don’t write false advertise or misleading
customers. My goal is that when you retire and pass the machine to next
generation, my scale on the machine is still working.
To be honest, I dislike many people that,
in order to push their minority or unpopular products sales or maybe their
sales are poor, now they spread rumors on majority and popular items all over
places. Sometimes, they contradict to themselves. The truth is that majority of
scales on the market are glass scale, 99% or even higher. More and more
companies stop making magnetic scales. To be clear, only few companies even
making magnetic scale at beginning, and now they all dropped out due to high
cost, lack of demand and accuracy.
Americans don’t know how to drive
stick shift now; auto tranny is in 94% cars. In order to sell standard
transmission car, they may say automatic transmission doesn’t last. In
contrast, Auto tranny can go over 200K miles easily. The friend of mine, his
Toyota Tacoma pickup truck was wrecked after 400K with original engine and auto
tranny, and he convince me to buy Toyota since I never own a Japanese car
before. So let’s be clear, scales last
not, depends on how well it’s been built, depends on how well you take care of
it, which is the same transmission, how it build and how you take care is the
key.
Why
tpactools dro lasts longer than majority of import units, which has been proven
for years.
Good question, the short answer is that my unit is
built for industrial, not a home hobby toys. Commercial and industrial company
is running machine all day long, so they need a reliable unit on the machine. However,
home machinist runs once in a while. If the unit can handle industrial well,
then it’ll handle home shop like piece of cake.
Can
you tell more details how your unit is well built?
Here are few details, 1st. the glass inside
scale is thicker and stronger, glass is a key to a glass scale, it’s very easy
to understand. Look around, see the glass on any office building, then compare
with the glass on your home window. Also, make trip to Home Depot, and look at
different window with different thickness glass, then you’ll know something. 2nd
the bearing sliding on the glass, my bearing is Japanese. If you’re in bearing
business, then you’ll know what I’m talking about. 3rd, data sending
unit, people called reader head, which sending data from scale to the display
unit via long data cable. That little piece motherboard and all electrical
parts in the reader senor head has been tested long enough before production,
and all electrical parts are from quality supplier as well. 4th,
when I place order, I don’t order common unit, which is the same like others. I
usually ask supplier to make the purchase order according my special
requirement. I can’t tell you all because some are commercial secrete or
intellectual property, which is the key to a business and products.
Is
your display unit made of metal or cheap plastic?
All my display unit from 1 to 4 axis
are made of
metal, so it’s metal case, heavy and durable. If you never see what
metal case, you may think plastic case is pretty good, once you see
metal, then plastic looks like a toy and feels like a toy. I don’t sell
toys.
Is
0.0001" or one tenth scale necessary?
Usually rookie will ask this question. Here is number
break down. For manual Bridgeport and lathe, maximum accuracy you can reach is
about 0.0005â€. I don’t think you can make parts with 2 tenth tolerance on a 50
years Bridgeport. So you only need scale accuracy to match 5 tenth or a little above
to cover Bridgeport. Keep in mind, 2 tenth is less than half of 5 tenth, which
means 2 tenth is more than double that Bridgeport accuracy can reach, so it’s
accurate far enough. Now you may argue with me, 1 tenth is even more accurate,
yes I agree. However, 1 tenth scale is much more difficult to make, unstable, and
more important is that 1 tenth scale has much less lift span than 2 or 5 tenth
scale. So why do I pay more for the something I don’t need. Lathe is the same,
whatever cross slide or carriage travel, accuracy is far away from 2 tenth, so
0.0002†scale will cover perfectly. Keep in mind, 1 tenth scale is not
installed on mill or lathe, and it’s installed on some special measuring device
or equipment in the lab, plus they don’t run those super precision devices all
day long. I haven’t find any supplier can make decent 1 tenth scale reliable,
if you see cheap 1 tenth, don’t buy it, you’ll suffer more than enjoy from long
run. I carry 2 tenth only, and 99% vendor and supplier are focus on 2 tenth as
well.
Warranty?
Since mine is well unit, so I don’t worry about
breaking down in short term. Customer trust me, and I’ll return trust with
quality products. Usually, there are two cases why scale is break down. 1st,
products are defect, which is less likely happen to me. However, if it happens,
I’ll keep my words, and warrantee for 5 years for entire unit, it includes
everything you bought, display unit and all scales, this case will be my fault.
2nd, if it’s customer fault to damage the scale, few examples couple
be, scale is a little short, not cover entire travel, then the scale is over
run, or scale is not mounted in the center of table, then over run from center
to the end, or people who run the machine never take care and clean scale, I
called it abuse. If all those happen, let’s be clear, those are not seller’s
fault, I’ll provide option of free repair if repairable or replace with a
little cost. In order to avoid all of those happen, make sure measure table
dimension before place order, as long as you tell me correct table length, then
I’ll send you scale that long enough to cover travel on all axis. Also, make
sure all scales must be mount in the center of the table, finally, don’t show me
any signs of abuse, so please calibrate scale before initial running, cover up
and clean scale once in a while, if you take care the scale, then scale will
return you with longer life span. Same like oil change on your car, if you
abuse engine and tranny, don’t change oil on time, what’ll happen.
Do
you over descript products and let customer write fake reviews?
People are paying attention on item description and
reviews when buying online. I know better than anyone else. Those fake reviews
and untrue descriptions may drive sales up in short term, however, when
customer discover the truth, they’ll hate products and seller like you never
believe, sometimes, could end up with a lawsuit. I call those sellers are liars
who cheat on review and descriptions. Keep in mind, liar will be a looser. So
as a seller, I’d better be follow all rules and regulations. There is another
case, which happen quite often, and we can’t call it fake review. Customer
bought it, receive and open box, played few days and really like it, then write
5 star reviews. However, short term joy doesn’t last long, and item break down
short after that. On the dro and glass scale, it happens very often. People
bought cheap unit, saved $200 to $300, really like it, write good reviews, then
scale break down in couple month or less than a year. I don’t call it fake
review. My point is that industrial products is different from consumer items,
so customers really have to run it for couple years, then they’ll know if it’s
good or bad, last or not. there are too many victims here, enjoyed cheap unit
for couple month, then break down and come back to me finally. So my words to
those cheap guys are, buying good and reliable products at the 1st
place. Keep in mind, price is not overall of a business especially on
industrial products.
How
to buy correct unit to fit my mill or lathe?
Look at very top page, there are few size options,
like 9x36 table, 9x42 table, 9x49†table. Make sure you see the word table,
which means 9x36 is table dimension, table is 36†long by 9†wide, and it’s not
length of scale. So all your need to do
is to measure table length, then choose correct option above before add to
cart. Once your table dimension is correct, I’ll send you long enough scale to
cover all travels. When you receive and start installation, make sure mount
scale in the center of the table. If you have a bench or table top mini mill,
please choose bench mill option.
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/tpactools-dro-bridgeport-mill-install.73530/
Product Description:
Display Unit:
-
Resolution: 0.0002", repeatability: 0.0002" - Include all common milling function
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Resolution switch function -
Bolt hole patterns, centerline calculation -
Preset set and zero reset , tool error compensation -
Absolute / Incremental , Inch / Metric -
Message Prompts, Memory back-up -
80V-240V, Can be used Globally - Display has 4 input ports that allow you to connect all 4 glass scales
- ALL 4 axis X, Y, quill and knee travel will be connected to this display unit
- Metal case 12x8", it's
designed for industrial use. I don't sell plastic case, which looks like
a toy, you'll feel the difference
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multifunctional: 4 Axis Display Work on Bridgeport mill, and you can connect all 4 glass scales to it
Resolution: 0.0002" This is a newer and more advanced display unit that makes set up, calibration and operation simpler and easier
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All 4 Linear Glass Scales:
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- Resolution: 0.0002"
- Accuracy: 5um
- Super precision
- Beautiful body finish
- Max. response speed: 60 In / Sec.
- Aluminum outside cover
- sealed anti oil and coolant
- Cable is long enough
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Scale Thickness G: 1.2" / 29mm
Scale Height H: 2.6" / 67mm
Digital Counter Thickness I: 1.1" / 26mm |
Each scale come with a fitted aluminum cover and mounting screws
You may need to make your own mounting
bracket to install Y Axis Scales. It's super easy, see installation
picture below. Many people don't like the original one and they make
their own to fit on machine |
X Y Scales Installation:
X Scale installed on the back of the table |
Y Scale installed under table with brackets |
This is the scale installed on knee
|
A
glass scale installed on the quill head. It's hard to install due to
limited space, plus, I don't have any bracket on the quill, you have to
make and modify your own. You can't glass scale shorter
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X and Y Demo |
4 Axis Mill Package Available:
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Options |
Scale Travel Y, X, Knee and quill
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Fits on Milling Machine Table Size |
|
MA |
12X24X14X5-6"
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8x36", 9x36" |
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MB |
12 or 14X30X16X5-6"
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Bridgeport 9x42" |
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MC |
14X38X20X6"
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Bridgeport 9x49"
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MD |
16X38X20X6"
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10x54"
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ME |
If you want 4 or 8" scales on the quill, let me know, otherwise, quill scale is 6" travel
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Many Other size |
Pick one option after buying.
If none of those size fits on your machine, you can also choose by individual scale size below.
Available scale size for both mill and lathe
|
Size |
Scale Travel Length |
Scale Overall Length Longer than Travel Size |
|
1 |
6" |
10" |
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2 |
8" |
12" |
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3 |
10"
|
15"
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4 |
12"
|
17"
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5 |
14"
|
19"
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6
|
16"
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21"
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7 |
20” |
25" |
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8 |
24” |
30" |
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9 |
30"
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36"
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10 |
38"
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45"
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After auction, let me know either option or individual scales you choose.
Package include:
One Multifunctional 4 axis display unit with arm and stand
4 linear glass scales
Display operation manual and scale installation guide
All installation hardware, much more than what you see from picture
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