Thread: Aldi Sale

Check out Mcjing as well.

Peter

Just bought one.
Works ok. checked against a good set of feeler guages and the accuracy is as stated.
Saves my eyes from trying to work out the non digital type.

I picked up 5 digital calipers and will DRO my lathe and new X2 mill that will hopefully arrive tomorrow (check out the GadgetBuilder's site from the link, he has some interesting MiniLathe mods that could also be applied to other smaller lathes). Another example is shown on Steve Bedair's great 9x20 site. The calipers are of passable quality although not as good as the one that I bought off eBay from Hong Kong, but that cost me a bit more than the $20 that these are going for.

Great link, blu-rock! Puts my digital height gauge to shame, what an application, thanks.

Blu-rock, have you also looked at the DROs at CDCO Machinery? Some excellent prices there!

Big Shed, Thanks for the link. I haven't seen that site before and those prices seem to be really good: $US260 for a 2 axis, 150mm setup. I did contemplate a real DRO earlier on and was looking at a Shumatech DRO kit that I fist saw on Hoss' site (you have to see what he has done with that little X2 mill to believe it (picture below)! He has a good X2 thread at CNCZone.

Although I really like the full-blown DRO idea, I suppose I find it a little hard to justify the cost, at the moment.

I would be interested to see a picture of your digital height gauge.

Originally Posted by Blu_Rock

Big Shed, Thanks for the link. I haven't seen that site before and those prices seem to be really good: for a 2 axis, 150mm setup. I did contemplate a real DRO earlier on and was looking at a Shumatech DRO kit that I fist saw on Hoss' site (you have to see what he has done with that little X2 mill to believe it (picture below)! He has a good X2 thread at CNCZone.

Although I really like the full-blown DRO idea, I suppose I find it a little hard to justify the cost, at the moment.

I would be interested to see a picture of your digital height gauge.

I was more interested in their separate DROs, very well priced, thinking of getting a vertical one for my thicknesser.

Digital height gauge is on loan to a friend ATM, will photograph when (if?) it returns.

Haven't joined CNCZone yet, trying to avoid slippery slopes here!

Yep, they look pretty slick. I have numerous parts for my first CNC project and the slope sure is slippery. Even though I have not even really started my first project, I am planning my second.

Blu-rock, I don't know how I got to the GadgetBuilders' site, may have been one of your links, but that site just has so much info, including on DROs.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Blu-rock, I don't know how I got to the GadgetBuilders' site.

The Internet is a wonderful thing. I think you got there via my initial DRO link posted on 22nd May 2008 09:37 PM.

The dude has some interesting info.

I have been up since 5am and I gotta get out to the shed and see if I can easily drill the calipers to mount them up.

My X2 MiniMill arrived yesterday and I will mount a couple of calipers on that as well as on my lathe.

If you are contemplating buying these calipers remember that you will probably get what you pay for - just.

The pair I bought took a couple of hours lapping with brasso to achieve a feel that was not akin to crushing rocks. The inner tracks of the slide were very roughly ground and the gib strip had burrs on its ends.

The screws holding the reader to the slide were too long. As a result the reader flapped at the top and the readout went bananas.

The jaws are remarkably thinner than the pair bought in China a few years ago. This lack of rigidity means that to get an consistant measurement you have to hold the jaws between thumb and forefinger.

The saving grace is the large readout - easy on aging eyes.

My two cents worth!

Tony