Channel Update and TouchDRO, a 3 Year Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 พ.ย. 2024
- In this video:
Current Side Projects...
Stefan Gotteswinter compact DTI holder gtwr.de/stefan...
Quick Set Quill Handle (see the original video here • DIY 'Quick' Reposition...
Ring Light for the Bridgeport (new improved version)
Buy the parts here: www.ebay.com.a... www.ebay.com.a...
A long term review of TouchDRO. www.touchdro.com/
What would I do differently?
What issues have I had?
Hardware improvements (scales, display, mounting the "bits and pieces"
A couple of new features on the TouchDRO app
What's happening with the revenue from my channel?
Kangaroos, ducks and cockatoos.
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Mark, for the tablet, battery... If I understand what my IT guy was saying, correctly... If you want to leave it plugged in all the time, there should be a setting for charge amount, (probably not the correct name,) in the tablet's settings, and you should set it to not charge more than 85%, to give your batteries charge down time.
I checked that and it is buried in the menu under battery care on my Samsung tablet (the 3 year old one I recently took down to the workshop). I enabled that setting so I am hoping that it makes the battery less likely to fail.
Regards,
Mark
The wildlife clips are always a fun addition to already excellent videos. Mark’s craftsmanship is inspiring.
Hi Mark. Very interesting episode from end to end. Please continue to post such “updates” from time to time. 👏👏👍😀
Thanks for the updates in the workshop Mark. I really need to add one of those ring lights to my mill. I'm sure the charity will appreciate what you have given them, and they will put it to good use. It is good to support these charity organizations where we can.
I do get a nice email from Wilvos each time I make a payment.
Regards,
Mark
Hi Mark, talking about weird electrical environment, my power feed on the mill would increase in speed when I turned on the spindle driven through VFD.
Thought the VFD was the culprit, 5 years old, ordered replacement.
While waiting for it to arrive I pulled the power feed apart, lot of corrosion on resistor and capacitor legs, replaced them and Triac for good measure and problem fixed.
Have a spare VFD!
Yeah, electricity is the work of the devil!😁 I tried to start my mill one day when it had been bucketing down with rain for nearly a week. It started OK and then I started to hear ominous electrical crackling and buzzing. I think the electrical enclosure was just soaked with moisture. Probably a lot of arcing action in amongst the 415V contactors!
I turned everything off and left it for a couple of days to dry out (it did stop raining eventually). It has never happened again.
Regards,
Mark
@@Preso58 Hi Mark, Great video! Your description of the TouchDRO problems caused by the mill motor screams "EMI" loud and clear. A few years ago I had to resolve problems caused by EMI affecting SCADA sensors in a municipal waterworks. Was a real challenge but I eventually won the battle. ha ha BTW, I like your T-Shirt art ... I live in western Canada in the southeast corner of BC about 1.5 hours from the Rockies and about a 4.5 hour drive to Banff. Cheers.
Great review, Mark! I think TouchDRO is the best bang-for-your-buck DRO setup out there. Yuriy has done a phenomenal job. I've got an adapter board for almost every machine in my shop.
The touch probe functionality, in particular, has been a game changer for me. I picked up a cheap $60 import touch probe, wired it to the adapter board, and it's been fantastic. It's dead-nuts accurate, and has made edge- and center-finding an absolute breeze.
It looks like you're on the beta version of the app, as I am. I'm eagerly awaiting Z-height probing to be added! I use Tormach TTS tool holders... Once that feature is incorporated, I'll start populating the tool library, which will make it even easier to switch between tools on mill. Diameter offsets, height compensation... Automatically displayed with the touch of a button. It's so awesome!
As an aside... The ability to do math within the axis dialogs has been a feature for quite a while. It's definitely a super useful feature!
I am on the beta testing list for Yuriy . I must say I had been wanting the mathematical calculation capability for some time and I only recently noticed the new layout which included separate buttons for +-*/. Maybe I was looking in the wrong place? The other possibility is that I had updated the tablet and it was a Samsung feature that added the capability. I have one of those (cheap-ish) touch probes on my CNC mill and it works great so I may get another one for the Bridgeport. The one in the CNC is in it's own dedicated MT3 holder so I don't need to recalibrate it so much. I like the Idea of the Tormach TTS holders but they're quite expensive here in Oz.
Regards,
Mark
Interesting video. Good to hear that we are helping a worthy charity. The wildlife is great too.
Nice update Mark. Always things to do in the shop. Nice to see the wildlife too.
Steve.
Very informative as I have been looking at TouchDRO for some time now. Thanks
Hello from New Hampshire, USA. I'm 160 miles from Bridgeport Connecticut.
Hello to you! We did visit Boston (close by) a couple of years ago but we only had two nights there. I was curious about where Bridgeport machine tools are made now and it turns out that they are manufactured in Elmira NY. I am quite fond of my Bridgeport mill.
Regards,
Mark
That ringlight fixturing application of the indicator clamp is great, as it provides indirect contact with the hot part of the ring, reducing head output transferred into the quill and quill bore itself...
Also, who minds a chatty video? You are a teacher anyways, isn`t that part of the job description?
All the best and kindest regards!
Steuss
Thanks. Getting the balance right i.e. commentary vs. action is always a challenge.
Regards,
Mark
Thanks for sharing all of this. Build videos are good, and I very much enjoy the ones you make. Speaking from the perspective of a relative amateur though, I get more useful information on average from "talking" videos like this one than from build videos. So please don't feel like you need to apologize for all the talking!
I also appreciate your giving credit where due, to Stefan and to Projects Down Under. I hadn't known about the latter before but already have him pulled up in another tab to check out next, so thanks for the lead!
Stefan is my inspiration. I have learned a lot from what he does. The Projects Down Under channel flies under the radar a bit but he does some interesting videos. I learned how to use my DBit grinder by watching his tutorial.
Regards,
Mark
All good Mark. Happy holidays!
Good episode! That arm looks like an original part.
Love to see the birds in your yard , the only ones in my yard are Sparrows, and Bluejays, with an occasional visit by a Robin. I have iGAGING scales on my mill / drill and my biggest problem is forgetting to turn them off and coming back to dead batteries . Thanks for all the information and hope you have a Merry Christmas .
Thanks. We visited Germany and Belgium for a month in October and we saw a total of three birds that weren't sparrows, seagulls or pigeons. I was told that the spring is the best time to see songbirds though so maybe we were there at the wrong time. The cockatoos are fun to watch but they can be downright annoying sometimes when they start screeching at 4:30am.
Regards,
Mark
All that talk was great information, no chit chat. Thanks!
Liking the future projects. I’m not thrilled with the touch DRO, I converted to glass scales after I burned out my tablet. The dimmer switch is also available on Amazon, I use the same dimmer on my cnc hot wire foam cutter
That was interesting. Thanks for the video keep on keeping on.
I've been using TouchDRO since 2016 on my Sherline, running on a now 10 year old Samsung tablet that would have been e-waste long ago otherwise. Still working great with the capacitive scales and homebuilt Arduino controller. I run shielded cables with the shield only bonded to ground at the controller, with everything powered from the tablet's usb charger. Didn't know there was a new version, I'll have to go check that out.
I tried multiple "fixes" to make my capacitive scales reliable and I got close but I was never 100% satisfied with it. The glass scales just work although I was annoyed with myself for having to do it twice.
Regards,
Mark
Thanks for the TouchDRO review, valuable information for my decision to buy a few out.
TouchDRO works really well for me because I like the graphical interface. I just recently fitted a 3D touch probe and I am planning to do a follow up video on those features.
Regards,
Mark
G'day Mark. I definitely think Touch DRO with a tablet is the way to go. How about integrating the tablet PSU with the power switch of the Bridgeport so that you don't have to remember to do the tablet separately? Great to hear that Wilvos are benefiting from us watching along, too. Thanks as always for the look at the wildlife!
I will have to look into that as a solution. I usually do remember to unplug the charger but I often have to go back to the workshop and check "just in case".
Regards,
Mark
Talking is fine by me as I learn a lot from you, and my wife thinks your Australian accent is cute!
Thanks for the update on the touch dro. I am sure it will come in handy for Yeats to come
I just acquired a Touch DRO adaptor together with Aikron glas scales and used a Black Friday Fire tablet offer - not least due to your positive experiences with Touch DRO. This video comes as a nice confirmation that I didn’t do it all wrong. Thanks a lot!
I think glass scales are the way to go. The only issue I had was that I couldn't fit the chip cover on the scale fitted to the quill. Because of the orientation it's really hard to find a way to prevent dust and chips from getting into the scale. So far it has been reliable though.
Regards,
Mark
any details you can add to how you mounted them to your knee mill? did you go 1 or 5um and regular or slim?
@@tlambert409 are you asking me? I have a mini mill, not a big knee mill. For this I acquired 1um slim scales, which seem to work very well. I left away the cover for the X scale, because that would have cost another 10 mm of Y travel.
Mounting the scales is always an awkward job. I fitted the X scale at the back of the table however I have seen them fitted to the front. If you fit it to the back you need to be mindful of squashing the scale and it's cover if you run the table back to it's limits. The Z scale can be fitted to either side but you need to have the read head at the back so swarf and chips will find it more difficult to get inside. Same with the Y scale, the slot in the cover should face down. It really does depend on what type of mill you have when it comes to figuring out how the mounting brackets work. In general, having slots rather than holes gives you more options for aligning the scales and if you have a 3D printer it would be worth rapid prototyping things in plastic before committing to making them in metal. I used 5 micron Sino scales (Chinese made) they are a KA300 which is the form factor. The slimmest scale is a KA200 but they might be a bit flimsy for the longest axis on your mill. @@tlambert409
@@yagwaw i think i have decided on 5um. i dont link i will need more for location for my needs. thank you for the information. i have a cloan bridgeport, so likely different mounting will be needed.
It's a beautiful thing, what you share. All of it. thanks and cheers!
Gday Preso, I’ve been really impressed with the TouchDRO, only issue I have is when I’m finished for the day I turn the power off to the screen and TouchDRO box, next time I start the unit again the position is miles off with out anything being moved, not sure why though, one day I may upgrade to glass scales but for now the igauging scales will have to do, great video mate, cheers
Matty. I always leave the Bluetooth adapter powered on. I understand it will remember the absolute coordinates which I try to set to the back left hand corner of my vice jaws. However. before I realised that I shouldn't start the app until the Bluetooth was established I would lose the absolute coordinates and have to reset them frequently. I was referencing your Cincinnati when I mentioned that some users have capacitive scales and they work consistently. In my view, glass scales seem to be immune from the erratic behaviour I got with the iGaging scales and I never did get to the bottom of the fault. I still have all the capacitive scales and the adapter. I really should set it up on a bench outside the workshop and do a proper test to see if it really is just the workshop environment.
Regards,
Mark
I have TouchDRO on my Mini Mill and a great Feature is that the 4th axis can be set to be added to one of the others. In my case the Quill movment on the mill uses a separate built in micrometer display. So I was always having treat the Z movement of the head and the quill movement separately. I removed that built in micrometer and added a DRO scale inside the mill that measures quill movment. In TouchDRO settings I joined that axis to Z, so now regardless of whether I use the Quill or move the head, it registers as a Z movement on the DRO.
9
That is one reason I went with TouchDRO. I looked at a couple of Chinese made DRO systems including the Sino but it was really hard to tell from the information accompanying the advertisements whether they would do axis summing. TouchDRO does it well though. It's a winner for me.
I have been using a touch dro for just under 2 years.. with glass scales and I am very pleased with touch dro especially with yuri’s latest upgrades … I avoided the usb connected scales … I have experienced too many issues with usb in my work life in applications like the touch dro … by the way one of the advantages of the Bluetooth connection to the display is the ability to mount the touch dro box on the back of the mill or in my case on the wall behind the mill … allowing me the dress the cables neatly out of the way … the only disadvantage of this system is the lithium battery in the tablet… it’s a fire hazard if left on and connected to a charger for long periods… A nice upgrade for the touch dro box would be to incorporate a memory so the zero and table position where maintained with just the dro box powered…
I do like my TouchDRO setup. I probably only use about 25% of the functionality but it's nice to know it's there. My understanding was that the Bluetooth adapter will "remember" the absolute coordinates as long as the power isn't interrupted. I also noticed that the incremental position is also maintained with the app closed and the tablet powered off. As long as you don't move the scales with the app closed it should be right the next time you start it. A 5V battery would be a good way of keeping the memory intact even if there is a power outage.
Regards,
Mark
@@Preso58 …yes I power my touch dro box with a lithium battery pack … the type that plugs into the wall … it’s good for about a day or so when it’s not powered. I keep it plugged into an outlet that is switched… normally I turn the power off when leaving the shop, so the dro is “good” till the next day….and if need be I can leave the power on to maintain the dro longer. By the way I have my battery chargers for my cordless power tool plugged into power strip which I switch off as I leave the shop. That way when I leave my shop, which is attached to my house, all the lithium battery chargers are powered off.
Great video Mark. Could you make the pin holding the light clamp longer? When you lower the spindle you could lower the light ring down to avoid the shadow with a longer pin. However having the ring lower may obscure your view
You could make it longer but it might be a nuisance to have to constantly adjust it. I think the main benefit is to illuminate the work area surrounding the tool rather than to throw a concentrated beam of light on the cutting area directly under the tool.
Regards,
Mark
Some devices allow for the elimination of the battery. Some require a little soldering when ditching the battery. But many do get rid of the battery and sleep easier. Check your tablet model and if someone has done it or someone is selling a kit to do it. Keep up the great content. Quality over Quantity. The Algorithm is biased!
Thanks. I never really run the tablet using the battery anyway so removing it al together would be ideal. I will check out some solutions.
Regards,
Mark
So glad you were able to use the TH-cam money to help
Thanks. I do get a nice thank you email from Wilvos each time I make the payment. I didn't mention it in the video but one day my wife and I were returning from our morning walk and we spotted a dead wallaby on the side of the road just opposite our front entrance. There was a baby joey in the pouch and it was still moving. We called the wildlife rescue and they sent a lady out who took the dead mother and the joey back to a wildlife hospital. The problem with the very young joeys is that their mouth is fused to the mother's teat and if you just yank it out of the pouch the joey will almost certainly die. We didn't hear the outcome but I was grateful that someone took the time and effort to see if they could save the joey.
Regards,
Mark
Hi Mark !
Merry Christmas and the best wishes to you and your family !
🎄🍀🎅😊
PS: meanwhile I've tested the world-famous "Vegemite" !
Strong taste, but after some trials really eatable !
Greetings from Germany
Good on you for trying our National spread! We tried and failed to buy Vegemite when we were travelling around Germany recently. We have learned to take our own with us when we travel overseas. Running out make me very sad. We did manage to buy some in an "exotic" food market in Montreal, Canada but man, it was expensive!
Regards,
Mark
Great update, I followed your original touch dro video with interest because I was looking at dro options at the same time. I ended up going with a sino and glass scales and have been very happy that I don't have to much around charging it and starting apps etc. However the software functionality on the touch dro is better and the upgradablity is obviously superior. So I would say win some lose some I still couldn't pick one as better or worse as I do think it depends on what you are doing with it, to be honest mine is mostly a ruler, I don't use the fancy functions, so thank you for your very informative videos.
I have been totally happy with the Sino glass scales and DRO on my lathe. But the mill needs a little more in the way of functionality. I did have a Sino DRO on my old mill and it drove me nuts when I tried to do bolt hole circles. I had to get the manual out every time to decode the cryptic messages on the display. I know other users aren't bothered by it but I respond to graphical information better than abbreviations. I am old enough to remember word processing using Word Perfect. You never got to see the formatting until you printed the document, and it was nearly always wrong. Then Microsoft rolled out Word and WYSIWYG. It was a revelation for me.
Regards,
Mark
Enjoyed your topic this day. Thanks for your time.
Your original videos on the installation of the the TouchDro helped me a lot when installing it on a small mill. I sold that mill and got an old Bridgeport which didn't come with a DRO. I really like the TouchDro and want to install it with glass scales on the Bridgeport. What are the sizes of the scales you used, and did you have to modify them? Do you have any video on that upgrade, would love to see it. If not maybe some details on mounting the glass scales. The new swivel arm looks great, as always great job and thanks for sharing.
I did not have to shorten or modify the glass scales that I bought. The Sino scales that I purchased were 5 micron and most suppliers will sell them in lengths that will fit and still provide enough travel length. The ones I ordered were KA300 and the sizes were 670mm for X, 420 for Z (the knee). 320 for Y and 170 for the quill. You should check the table on your Bridgeport because there were several length tables fitted from the factory. Mine is 42". The good thing about TouchDRO is that you can sum the quill and knee movements to give you a combined Z travel for the workpiece relative to the tool
Regards,
Mark
IMHO, Stefan's low-profile dial indicator holder would be even better if it included an adjustment screw to move the indicator body.
Stefan did challenge other users to come up with a fine adjust. I tried but it started to become a lot chunkier
Regards,
Mark
Thank you for the video!
Thank you for the link to ProjectsDownUnder as well!
Nice projects Mark, and solid practical advice about the DRO. Tech integration is a constant challenge as the OS providers think nothing of changing their interfaces any time they feel like it - I suspect Google is worst for that. Low quality components is another constant problem - different domain but my son has recently wasted so much money buying car parts from previously reputable brands only to find they are just badge engineered junk now. In that sense buying genuine parts seems to make sense again. And don't get me started on Samsung tablets - years ago I bought a TAB 2 and I got one OS update from Samsung the whole time I had it and within 12 months it was slow and almost junk. These days I stick to Microsoft where I can. Useful info on the scale types. Cheers
Thanks Paul. I have had the same experience with Samsung tablets. They start off great and then slow down to a crawl. If one were truly cynical, one would think it was a deliberate strategy to get one to upgrade!
Regards,
Mark
When I got my BP clone I wanted a quick adjust quill lever right away. I just couldn't wait a the several days it would take to order one. (Amazon and next day delivery wasn't a thing yet.) So I set about making one. It was three weeks before I finished it. That's OK, I prefer my custom made lever to any commercial one I've seen.
I've been disappointed by my ring light. It mounts on the quill face, and if I'm using a small end mill it obscures my view. I have to bend over to see, because I'm tall. And if I'm drilling, the chuck casts a shadow. I still use it though, along with a small LED gooseneck lamp from Ikea on each side.
Finally, is that a Dawn vise at your elbow? I have one just like it. Imagine, a bloke from the Pacific NW of the US with an Aussie vise.
I badly want to finish that quill handle but I am waiting for a chain connector to turn up from a Chinese supplier. It forms the linkage between the locking pin and the lever attached to the handle. I could have just made one but again, I got lazy. I meant to order it before I went away on holiday but forgot.
The quill light does help but it does need some additional side lighting. A LED gooseneck on both sides like the kit that H&W Machine Repair sells would be ideal.
The vice is a Dawn. It was one that was in the US (Unserviceable) bin at work. The nut was cracked but I made a new one from steel and bronze. All Queensland schools were supplied with mostly Dawn vices because of a preferred supplier policy prior to the 1990's. Now, anything goes!
Regards,
Mark
Very interesting Mark thank you. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Some interesting content in all of that. I only use the el-cheapo Chinese Shahe DRO scales and I only have the 3 individual readouts, I've been tempted a couple of times to lash out and buy the Touch DRO adaptor. I had an issue a while back with the readouts changing on me all the time, sometimes very significantly, at the time I had them mounted on the cover over the motor and drive for the spindle, in the end, I decided it had to be electrical interference and moved the readouts away from the mill and that solved the problem, I was also having a similar problem on the lathe and solved that by wrapping the leads in Aluminium foil.
In regard to Bluetooth and Samsung, I listen to Triple M from Brisbane online while I'm not recording video, and I play that through a Bluetooth speaker, it can take a moment to connect the 2, but nothing like you are getting, maybe somewhere around 30 seconds or so. If you don't put out another video this year, Merry Xmas to you and yours. 👍
Thanks. I tried earthing the TouchDRO adapter circuit board, fully insulating the iGaging capacitive scales from the mill and even running the Bluetooth adapter from a phone battery bank but the reset fault kept happening. It was so frustrating and I went back to using the micrometer dials as a backup. The problem wasn't TouchDRO it was just the scales and since switching over to glass scales the problems just went away. I like having the tablet in the workshop but I must say, I prefer to listen to Triple J! Nothing like a bit of hip hop and indie music to while away the hours!
Regards,
Mark
@@Preso58 The hip Hop is all yours, I'm an old rocker 👍
one of my Touch adaptor does not like to be plugged into the wall, so i use a small 12v battery pack to run it and that got rid of all interference i was getting.
Well done, thanks.
You sold me on touchDRO I want that on my mini mill
Another informational video. Thanks
Those kangaroos are very cute. Around here in Ottawa we frequently see deer, wolves, coyotes and turkeys. Very occasionally a bear or moose.
The other day a Kangaroo was on the lam around Toronto , escaped while on its way to Ottawa zoo.
I saw those videos
We have visited Canada twice and plan to go back soon. We badly wanted to see a bear, and a moose but the closest we got was a deer that leapt out in front of our (rental) car. Maybe next time.
Regards,
Mark
Black bears and massive moose I. Algonquin Park, Hrizzly Bears in Alberta and British Columbia
Thanks Again for A Great Video and THANKS THANKS THANKS for the Wild Life Show
I enjoy your videos. Yeah, lithium batteries that are swollen are bad news. I had two smartphones' batteries swell from keeping it charged all the time.
Good video mate, cheers! Ive got a very similar setup with the ring light to your original so now you have made me want to upgrade it! What diameter light did you buy?
James (Canberra)
I think it was 110mm OD. bigger might be better. It depends on what type of mill you have.
Regards,
Mark
@@Preso58 Cheers Preso, 110mm will fit perfectly, I found time to measure it up and order the bits.
G'day Mark, great follow up. After your first Touch DRO videos I went the whole DIY option and made my own unit using the schematic on the touch DRO website and uploading the software to the ESP32. I had pcb's made by JLCPCB and amazingly it worked first time. I used glass scales from the outset as I had already bought them for my Bridgeport.
The one question I have for you or any of your viewers is how to make the display digits larger? I am using a 10" Samsung android tablet and comparing my screen to yours, I have smaller digits with a bigger gap below the RPM and the buttons along the bottom. There is obviously a way to get the display to look like yours but I have yet to find it. Any help would be appreciated. Cheers.
The settings page has three different font display styles to choose from. The seven segment option isn't really the most legible and there is also a monospaced font and a default font. I think the one I used in the video is the monospaced version. There are lots of settings in the latest version of the app which make better use of the screen real estate but try changing the font first.
Regards,
Mark
Thanks for the reply Mark. I tried all fonts first off but it did not change the size. I updated to the latest build version of the app but no difference. It looks like the aspect ratio of your tablet could be different than mine, so maybe that is why your readout appears larger but is in fact the same size. One of the advantages of a DRO is an easy to read display and larger numbers are a plus. Keep up the great work.
Mark I was thinking about your diesel furnace you built. I saw a fuel oil burner from a home heating boiler. It was all in one fan, pump, sprayer and ignitor. Do you think a unit for heating a home boiler would create enough heat to melt aluminum?
I almost bought one of those units from a supplier on AliExpress. I am sure they would provide enough heat but you might need to tweak the fuel and air settings. I find that I have to start mine running quite rich and then lean it out as the interior temperature of the furnace increases. I have a video coming out shortly where I show the interior of the furnace after melting aluminium. It is almost pure white after I shut the burner down so there is almost no soot or unburnt fuel.
Regards,
Mark
Mark, I'm not sure if a Samsung tablet as old as yours has the option in the settings, but newer ones (my phone and the tablet I am writing this on) can be made to only charge to 85%. Go to Settings>Battery and device care>Battery>More battery settings> then set protect battery to 85% on the slider switch. This "should" in theory not allow the battery to be overcharged when plugged in 24/7.
I will check that. Thanks.
Regards,
Mark
@@Preso58 Apologies Mark, no idea why I called you Paul. Will amend my comment.
@@billdoodson4232 that's OK. Just don't call me late for breakfast😁
@@Preso58 😅🤣😆😅
Thank you.
I'd remove the battery and directly power it from a power supply. No more waiting for the BT to come up. How is the touch screen with wet or oily fingers?
I have not had any issue with the screen and fingerprints although I did read about a guy who fitted a touch screen overlay on a PC monitor so he could run his CNC mill from Mach3. Evidently he was jogging the tool down in the Z axis and when he stopped touching the jog button on the screen the machine kept up a rapid move in Z and crashed the tool into the work. At least with TouchDRO you are not really controlling the movement of the machine. I do clean the screen with IPA and a paper towel though. I am looking into some workarounds for the battery/power issue.
Regards,
Mark
Hi Mark, you could use a laptop/PC with an Android emulator. I have done this on Linux with Genymotion ( there are apps for Windows ) and works great with Touchdro-Pro and the latest adapter.
I recently swapped out the old Samsung tablet for a newer one and everything seems to be stable and trouble free now.
Regards,
Mark
@@Preso58 👍.
How do you program it for boring bar work? can't find anything out there.
Do you mean for use on a lathe? On a mill you can only use TouchDRO to find the centre of the bore. After that you have to rely on the micrometer dial on the boring head if it has one.
Regards,
Mark
salut
tu a beaux chandail de Montréal
moi je reste 15 kilomètre de Montréal
a coté du barrage Hydro-Québec de Beauharnais 🚩
merci pour tout
Bonjour. Nous avons adoré visiter Montréal. J'ai pu me tenir sur la ligne de départ/arrivée du Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. J'ai une photo de la chaussée avec "Salut Gilles" peint sur le trait. J'ai aussi eu ma première poutine à Montréal !
Salutations,
Mark
Where does touch dro. Come from ? Thanks for your time.
TouchDRO is a one man show. Yuriy lives in the USA and he has developed the app and the hardware for the Bluetooth adapter. The guts of the adapter is basically an ESP Bluetooth module but Yuriy has worked hard to improve the functionality of the Bluetooth adapter by adding connections for a tachometer, home switches and a touch probe.
Regards,
Mark
Thanks for the infomation, I went to get the drawings for the DTI holder there wasn't anything on his website for it. Could you send me the drawings? Thanks
Sure, email me at mark.presling@gmail.com.
Regards,
Mark
For tablet charging, I have tapped in to Bridgeports internal transformer, which runs alongside my vfd and fitted a 240v outlet on the outside of the electrical box. The tablets charger and touch dro module are both powered from this so only powered when the Bridgeports main iscolator is powered on. I'm a big fan of touch dro and would like to add the speed readout but cannot for the life of me find a way to add an encoder to the Bridgeport spindle. Anyone managed to do this successfully?
I have tried and failed to find a 240V single phase connection for things like chargers and work lights. My mill is powered from a rotary phase converter and the output is 415V three phase. I tried to find a way to get a single phase tap but I don't know enough to find a way of doing it. Everything I measure is 415V. The output for the X axis drive motor comes from a step down transformer so maybe I can tap into that. I have a couple of the hall effect modules for converting the spindle RPM for the TouchDRO but my mill has variable speed and the RPM is shown on the speed selector anyway so I haven't bothered to install the sensor. I am guessing you would need to fit a magnet to the very top of the spindle?
Regards,
Mark
@@Preso58 Hi Mark, I can see your problem. My step down transformer has a 110v tapping for the table feed and I presume yours is the same? If it is, you might be able to use a US spec 110v usb charger tapped in to that.
The issue I have with fitting a speed sensor on the quil is that it disappears down the hole when l use the quill feed. It would be simple to use the motor for the pickup if it wasn't for the hi and low gearbox.
I'll keep looking, there has to be a way.
We took an eight week tour around Oz in September and October and I have to say you live in one heck of an amazing country. The flora and fauna is like nothing I've seen before. Truly unique and I can see why you are so protective and proud of it.
Nice !!
Thx for the vid.
Hi Mark would you be interested in selling the old touch dro for the I view scales I contacted Yuri about one an he told me he doesn't sell those ones anymore
excellent!
I wish this system would work with my magnetic scales that I already have. Ive got a D80 display at the moment and its decent but the UI is bloody awful.
TouchDRO will work with magnetic scales. You just need to get the correct Bluetooth adapter. The TouchDRO website has plenty of information on how to select scale types and which adapter is most suitable. www.touchdro.com/resources/getting-started/dro-scale-selection-guide.html
Regards,
Mark
👍👍😎👍👍
"You shouldn't leave a tablet plugged in". I don't doubt you, but this is moronic design. A lithium battery should be just fine connected to its charger all day and night. Any internal circuitry that allows it to overcharge is faulty. I think older charging circuits might get a voltage burp once every couple months and if it does that, it'll overcharge. Only takes once. Also, phones and tablets are pushed right to their limits by the charging voltage. They'll last 10x as long if held only to 90% of their capacity. I'd be tempted to just leave the battery out of it and wire in a 4.0v power supply directly. Add in a capacitor to handle surges (or a supercap), and you'll never have to deal with turning it on or booting it.
There is no reason to worry about leaving a lithium battery on charge, providing it is using a modern charge controller.
They cannot/won't over-charge.. in fact they cut charge completely one the battery is "full" (drawing less than 10% charging current) and will not start charging again until the voltage drops quite a long way.
Yes, the voltage might be a bit high and you could extend battery life if you could reduce the cutoff voltage, however that isn't possible with most charging ICs. Even if it was, you cannot easily modify it inside the tablet.
So, about 20 years ago the advice was slightly good, but no modern (name brand) device will have any issues being left plugged in.
@johncoops6897 Up until, oh, I dunno, 2016, maybe a bit later, this was still a thing. Manufacturers trying to squeeze every bit of battery life out of a device lest anyone compare it negatively to a competitor. Meanwhile, phones and tablets are replaced every 2-3 years, no one cares about longevity. So of you keep topped up, it might push the lithium to its absolute limit and shorten its life. Also, charge current doesn't drop to 10%. It drops to 0%. Lithiums don't self discharge, if they stayed at 10% chsrge current after full they'd overcharge in minutes and blow up within an hour.
@@MattsAwesomeStuff - you obviously have very limited knowledge about the subject, no knowledge of charging methods for lithium batteries, and are inadvertently spreading a lot of misinformation.
Nevertheless, I am not interested in arguing with you about this subject as the information is widely avaiable if you care to research it.
Tl;dr: you are wrong 😉
@johncoops6897 Huh? Suddenly you become hateful. Alright. I'm well informed about lithium charging procedures. Lithiums aren't like lead acids or nicads or nimhs, you don't keep adding energy once they're full or they'll be ruined. 10% charge rate after they're full will absolutely explode them within the hour. Try it and find out.
@@MattsAwesomeStuff - no charge controller will continue charging a lithium cell after it is full. That's the reason that charge controllers are used.
I have absolutely no idea what you are babbling about with the 10% stuff, you obviously misunderstood something and have latched onto it like a gospel.
I wish we were neighbors!
That's what all the boy say! 😁
Regards,
Mark