A love for the way tools used to be made

Back in my childhood, I enjoyed visiting my grandad's workshop to use his lathe and milling machine. Those early days instilled in me a deep appreciation for the Myford lathe's timeless charm, its robust build and endless versatility it offers.

Bringing Myford Lathes into the 21st Century

As much as I revered the classic appeal of Myford lathes, I couldn't help but think they deserved a modern touch, especially when it came to measurement tools. That's where my mission began: to seamlessly blend tradition with innovation and provide model engineers and hobbyists with a tool that would enhance their Myford lathe experience.

The DRO Dilemma

Turns out, most DRO systems out there just didn't cut it for me. Those bolt-on kits? Well, they messed up the elegant look of the lathe. The internal ones? They didn't measure across the whole lathe travel, and the accuracy? When you drill a little deeper into the specs, its often disappointing. Plus, none of them played nice with the taper turning attachment, and only measure across 2 axes -  their frankly massive sensors don't allow a solution for the compound / top slide.

The Quest for Perfection

Being a perfectionist at heart, I simply couldn't settle for anything less. I embarked on a journey to create a bespoke DRO system tailored exclusively for Myford lathes. Drawing upon my experience as a Principal Engineer in a leading consumer electronics firm, I sourced a minuscule yet extraordinarily precise magnetic encoder chip from Germany. This remarkable chip, complemented by my own bespoke electronics, enables the smallest possible sensor with incredible accuracy. I even painstakingly recreated the entire Myford lathe in intricate CAD detail to identify those hidden spaces where my custom sensors could be elegantly housed like they were meant to always be there.

A Journey Grounded in Expertise

This isn't my first rodeo. I've been down the entrepreneurial path before, and I've successfully brought products to market. So, when I say the MicroDRO is a labor of love, you can trust that it's backed by experience.