I agree with the comments regarding DRO's sometimes getting in the way. I have always used TRAK DRO's on lathe and mills, they utilize a rotary encoder like a Trav-a-dial. No glass scale to get in the way, far less troublesome than glass scaled DRO's as long as you maintain them. Clean and change wiper(s) about once a year. As regards threading with a DRO I don't understand the negative comments, what's the difference if the cross slide zero is set on a dial or a DRO display? The tool is fed in with the compound and withdrawn at the end of the cut by visual observation. What's not to like about the DRO? I thread up to a shoulder both ways, conventional feeding up to the shoulder and mounting the tool upside down and feeding away from the shoulder. BTW, I also bore on the "back side" of a blind hole, feeding out of the hole running the lathe in reverse with the compound set to the left rather than the right. Takes a little getting used to but saves a lot of stress & worry about running into the bottom of the hole. Try it, you'll like it!
