Banggood Single Axis DRO Review

[vincei]

Give a man a ruler and he'll be satisfied. Give a man 2 different rulers and before long he'll have a dozen rulers and will continually doubt himself 😂😂😂😂

[exhempknight]

I have a set of these scales on my mini lathe, and have been quite happy with them. I ditched the battery-powered displays in favor of a TouchDRO board from Yuriy's Toys... You connect the USB cables from the read heads to the board, and it connects to a tablet via bluetooth. The TouchDRO app has all the same features/functions of a much more expensive DRO display, and more. In addition to the scales, it also has an input for a Hall effect sensor (for RPM readout), and a touch probe input, which I have found incredibly useful.


I was able to build a DRO setup that is as accurate and repeatable as my home shop needs to be, for not a lot of money.

[haroldbell]

I have had three on my milling machine for some time now and can recommend them . They are also available from ARC Eurotrade a fraction cheaper but better packaged and quicker delivery

[britishreaction]

Another video while I'm on the ship! Boxing day treat. I'm getting spoiled for Christmas! Good review and honest. Seems a worthy bit of gear. Your reviews are great because they are keeping our hobby affordable. And I.just realised I'm the first to comment which is surely a first.

[leerogers]

Thanks John. Those of us that use older machines and want to keep them reasonably original but also accurate will be interested in this . You can learn to live with an old leadscrew but sometimes you'd prefer not to.

[dynoguy]

I got the same (not from Banggood) as a 750mm version on my milling machine, pretty good repeatability for the price, the only thing to remember is that these are not water tight, so be careful with coolant squirting on them . An illuminated display would be nice, too ... but other than that, can't really complain.

[davidjames]

John, I have 3 of those on my mill and 1 on my lathe and I am very happy with them. I bought mine online from Aliexpress and they are from Shahe who make good instruments.

[tomcardale]

I have these fitted to my lathe, not from Banggood but from Arc Euro Trade. They actually spec the accuracy as slightly better than Banggod do. The packaging was significantly better but the contents of the package was identical.

The mounting brackets were a bit pants, but were modifiable to work.
The display is slow to update and not very clear.
The display shuts off after a few minutes which is actually quite annoying, they turn off sooner than I'd like and a lot quicker than my Starrett calipers. Accuracy wise, they are comparable to the Starrett calipers (which are comparable to my Mitutoyo ones). If the display shuts off mid work it doesn't loose the position.

They are not the most wonderful of scales in the world, but they do work and they're cheap. For a little Boxford they're fine.

[Stefan_Boerjesson]

Thanks for yet one more interesting video. I use 3 scales of the same type on my mini mill They work well. They turn off the LCD after some inactive time but they remember their positions.
Did You check up the mounting pieces, especially the mounting "right" angles?
The mounting angles I got, and other users too, were not square so I made my own ones out of 6061 ALU. The supplied angle mounts will bend the scale like a banana and the slider will have a hard time. The reading will be all over the place as another Tuber said.

[bostedtap]

Good review, don't let Banggood pay you too much!, we don't want you to retire, though Deb's may not like that 😂😂

[brandontscheschlog]

This is pretty cool. I think you’re the first one to compare a commercial DRO to one of these budget magnetic scales.

[joycemiller]

You tell it how it is John just like me love it love your videos lots of knowledge good to see an English man doing good stuff

[bostedtap]

I think the 0.06 mm specification was for linearity over the working length, ref 150 mm, reasonably acceptable. Notice the longer scales have higher values.
May be worth using standard lengths, eg guage blocks, or a micrometer setting bar to check you machine DRO.

[waynemannix]

The problem with Bangood is that they except no responsibility for delivery. I ordered four tool holders for the quick change post on my lathe and two arrived. I contacted them and the response was to bounce emails back and forth for two weeks with no resolution. I gave up at this point, I wouldn't by from them again.

[mickymondo]

Don't get any coolant on them and fine particles from cutting cast iron doesn't do them much good either, the scales themselves can be cut with a junior hacksaw easily enough to custom fit them, I did have a pair on my lathe but have upgraded to a 2 axis DRO with glass scales which are coolant proof and unaffected by ferrous particles

[ShevillMathers]

John, this is a magnetic unit, rather than the more accurate/expensive glass optical units. What is the DRO on your mill? Magnetic strip or glass optical? All the Best Wishes for you and family for 2020. Great videos-every one. 👍🛠🇦🇺🔭 Southern Cross Observatory-Tasmania 42 South.

[paulbanks]

Nice video as always 👍
One question when you turn it back on is it as per the last time it was used or just a random number? If they keep the last value then I could use it on a drum sander or thicknesser. BTW they are wood worrying tools 😁

[davesage]

Turning itself off is only good if it comes back on at the same reading it turned off at. Some of those come on reading zero's (or random values) which is a pain if you are doing a long job (or want to leave the job for a while) and don't move the axis and need it to hold the reading.

[DougsShed]

I got a longer one and it had the same inadequate packaging. Arrived bent but I managed to straighten the bar

[peterparsons]

i bought one from eBay a while back, fitted it to the cross slide on my lathe, thought i would check using one dial gauges i normally use on my lathe. the fooking thing never read the same twice, what can i expect for less than a tenner