TOAUTODigital Readout 2 Axis 3 Axis DRO Display Linear Scale 250mm 10" Precision 5um for Bridgeport/Knee Milling Lathe EDM Mill Machine

I mistakenly ordered this size (1000mm) longer than I needed and had to "shorten" the scale to custom fit my 9a Southbend Lathe. If you are very careful and pay attention to detail, the shortening process is fairly straightforward. There are several YouTube video on the process and the manufacturer also provides short videos on the process. (the YouTube videos are better)After you order, expect an email from the Amazon Seller to make sure you have the correct size.

Not sure how long it will last, but it works great so far. I put it in 3-axis configuration on my mill with 5 micron scales. This LCD version is much better than the similar LED numeric display version. For one thing, it guides you (more or less) thru setup for the useful functions such as holes around a circle, etc. Key labels are shown at the bottom over the F keys and change with the functions to give you a clue as to what to do. Written documentation is still virtually incomprehensible, but there's plenty online about the functions. They're all the same as the LED version, but with onscreen prompts.

I had to make an adapter for the 9 pin connector but other than that the scales went on with little effort and worked right from the git go.

Installed on a SIEG X2 mini mill with 100mm, 200mm and 250mm scales. Everything works as described. Although there are plenty of YouTube videos on how to use, it would be nice to have an understandable manual.

This DRO is very poorly made. I'm glad I opened the cover before installing it. I have attached several photos of some of the issues. I'm returning this without using it. Frankly, it scares me. I guess this is why this was the cheapest DRO on Amazon. I expected some compromises, but not this bad. I'll be buying a more expensive and better-built unit.Major issues: 1. The main PCB is attached with one screw and several blobs of hot melt glue to the LCD, two of which came loose during shipping. The main PCB is directly over the AC power supply, so if it becomes further detached, it will likely short out on the unshielded power supply. 2. The shield wire to the DB-9 connectors and earth ground has a cold solder joint and no connection. The DB-9 shells are soldered together with a piece of bare wire, and the joints are all cold (meaning there was not enough heat to properly melt the solder to ensure a good bond). 3. The shield wire under the power supply was stripped too long and is likely to contact the DC positive, causing a short.Minor issues, but still indicative of poor engineering: 1. The power supply is not shielded. In a precision instrument, and likely for FCC emissions requirements, the switching power supply should be shielded. This prevents the high-frequency noise of the switching power supply from interfering with the signals from the scales. Additionally, had they used a shielded power supply, and the poorly attached main board came loose, it would have fallen on the shield and shorted to ground rather than potentially falling on a component with AC voltage. 2. The wires for AC, DC, and signal are bunched together in the case. There was no attention paid to isolating the unshielded signal wires from the AC or DC power. The plastic case is not a shield, so ideally, the signal wires should have been in a shielded cable running up to the main PCB. 3. This last one is more of a preference than an actual issue. When dealing with signal wiring, I prefer to attach the earth ground to the shield and the chassis and leave the DC negative to float. This can help eliminate a ground loop from creating signal noise crossing from your DC supply to the shield. In this case, they soldered the earth ground to the DC negative (and left a large amount of bare wire that could short out).

This was a replacement for one I broke when performing maintenance on my mill. It works great.

The seller tries hard to help, but the scales are junk. Missing parts inside the enclosure and circuit board that doesn’t fit. Signal loss from encoder to display. They offered to help fix the issue. But that should not be necessary.

used on my mill

So far I’m really happy with the DRO. The install went good but keep in mind that it doesn’t include much for useable brackets and hardware.Dealing with fasttobuy was good, they contacted me to confirm scale lengths before shipping. I appreciate that but it added an extra week to the wait time. They make it pretty clear in the description that a 200mm travel scale actually measures 340mm in length and a 800mm scale = 940mm. Also the included manual is for a different display, most of the features are covered but some not and the setup menu is completely different than what the manual shows.After using it for a few weeks I’m really happy with it.If I needed a second one, I wouldn’t hesitate to reorder this one except I would order it directly from fasttobuy and save $100-150