DRO Function Buttons

Which Buttons You See

Two things decide what the strip carries. The machine type in the current machine profile selects the milling or the turning set, and measurement mode swaps part of the milling set for the measuring one.

The first time you use a machine profile, every function that applies to that machine is turned on, so the strip starts out with all of them. Most shops use a handful. To thin it down, switch off the ones you don't reach for under "Function Strip Preferences" in the "User Interface Settings" screen, and the strip closes up around them. A button described here that is missing from your strip is usually switched off there.

Three of the buttons carry a second condition on top of that, so switching them on in preferences is not enough by itself. "Mill Head Tilt/Nod Compensation" and "Compound Slide Angle Compensation" each need a scale to project, and each stays hidden until one is configured and free. The "Mill Head Tilt/Nod Compensation" and "Compound Slide Angle Compensation" pages both list the exact conditions. "Measure Dimension" reads a caliper rather than the scales, so it appears only once you have turned on "Enable Caliper/Micrometer Input" under "Caliper/Micrometer Input Settings".

All three are hidden rather than grayed out, which is why they are worth calling out here: a missing button normally means the function is switched off, and for these three it usually doesn't.

The Three Global Buttons

The strip always opens with the same three buttons. They act on every displayed axis at once rather than on one, which is what separates them from the identical-looking controls inside the axis details dialog. Neither preferences nor the machine type can remove them.

"Zero Set"

Zeroes every displayed axis where it stands, in whichever coordinate system is active. Press and hold to set the absolute origin at the current point instead. TouchDRO asks you to confirm that one, because it moves the datum everything else is measured from. For the difference between the two zeros, see "Coordinate Systems and Datums".

"Abs/Incr"

Switches every displayed axis between absolute and incremental coordinates. The half of the icon that is lit is the mode you are in, so the button reports the state as well as changing it. Press and hold to clear the offsets, which TouchDRO also confirms first.

Incremental

The same button with incremental coordinates in force.

"Inch/mm"

Switches every linear axis between inches and millimeters. Angular axes are not affected, and keep their own degrees or divisions setting.

Millimeters

The same button with millimeters in force.

Milling Machine Functions

"Indicate Workpiece"

Picks up an edge, a centerline, or the center of a hole with an edge finder, a touch probe, or a microscope, and sets the origin there. Covered on the "Edge Finder" page.

"Set Z Reference"

Sets the Z datum by touching off against a tool height setter, a feeler gauge, or a touch probe. Covered on the "Set Z Reference" page.

"Cutter Radius Compensation"

Shifts the readout by half the cutter diameter, so it reads the cutting edge rather than the spindle centerline. Covered on the "Cutter Radius Compensation" page.

"Tool Height Compensation"

Shifts the Z readout by a stored tool length, so Z keeps reading from the same surface through a tool change. Covered on the "Tool Height Compensation" page.

"Head Angle Compensation"

Keeps X, Y and Z correct while the mill head is tilted or nodded over, by projecting the travel back onto the machine's axes. Covered on the "Mill Head Tilt/Nod Compensation" page.

"Rotate part"

Pivots the stored geometry, the drawing and the reference image about a pivot you set, so a workspace laid out square lines up with a part clamped at an angle. The angle is typed, or read live from the angular axis, so a part on a rotary table stays lined up as you turn it. Covered on the "Rotate Part" page.

"Arbitrary Hole Circle"

Lays out holes on a common radius at whatever angles you enter, for a pattern whose holes sit at uneven spacings. Covered on the "Unequally Spaced Hole Circles" page.

Lathe Functions

"Radius/Diameter"

Switches the cross-slide readout between radius and diameter, so X reads the way the print is dimensioned. Like the two global toggles above, the lit half of the icon is the mode in force. The icon above shows radius mode, where X reads the actual cross-slide travel.

Diameter

Diameter mode, where X reads twice the cross-slide travel. That is the number you would measure across the part with a micrometer.

"Tool Offsets"

Holds the offset for each tool on the post, so the readout keeps its zero through a tool change. Covered on the "Lathe Tool Offset Memory Basics" page.

"Compound Slide Angle Compensation"

Projects compound slide travel onto X and Z while the compound is set over at an angle. Covered on the "Compound Slide Angle Compensation" page.

"Measure Dimension"

Shows a caliper or micrometer wired into the adapter as a full-size readout, with a button that copies the measurement into X as a diameter. Because it reads the instrument rather than the scales, it appears only once "Enable Caliper/Micrometer Input" is turned on. Covered on the "Measure Dimension" page.

Functions on Both Machines

These five sit in the strip on a mill and on a lathe alike. They appear in a different order on the two machines, since a lathe reaches for the measuring functions more often than for the hole patterns.

"Hole Circle"

Works out a full or partial bolt hole circle from its center, diameter and hole count, and saves every hole as a sub-datum. Covered on the "Hole Circle Function" page.

"Hole Grid"

Lays out a linear or rectangular hole pattern, straight or at an angle, and saves each hole as a sub-datum. Covered on the "Hole Grid Function" page.

"Equidistant Hole Array"

Divides the line between two points into equal steps and saves each one. Covered on the "Equidistant Hole Array" page.

"Radius/Arc Cutting"

Steps a cutter along an internal or external radius, so a manual machine can rough out an arc or a fillet. Covered on the "Radius and Arc Cutting" page.

"Measure Distance/Angle"

Reads the straight-line distance and the two angles between the current origin and the current position, with a units selector of its own on the dialog. Covered on the "Measure Distance/Angle" page.

Measurement Mode Functions

Switching a milling machine profile into measurement mode replaces the three functions that describe a cutting tool with the two below. "Indicate Workpiece", "Head Angle Compensation" and "Rotate part" stay, since all three describe geometry that still matters while measuring.

"Reference instrument"

Tells TouchDRO which instrument you are measuring with, so the readouts refer to the microscope or the probe rather than the spindle. The icon above is the button with nothing picked yet. Covered on the "Measurement Mode" page.

Camera or microscope

The button carries the instrument you picked, so the strip reports what is measuring without opening anything. This glyph means a "Camera / microscope" profile is active.

Touch probe

A "Touch probe" profile is active, and captures wait for the probe's trigger.

Edge finder

An "Edge finder (2D)" profile is active.

"Align Measurement Axes"

Turns the X and Y readouts about the current origin, so a part sitting crooked measures against its own edges. Set your zero first, then square the readouts to the part by typing the angle, reading it from the angular axis, or picking two points along an edge. On the strip it lands right after the "inch/mm" button and before the reference instrument. Covered on the "Align Measurement Axes" page.

The two rotations work on opposite sides of the readout and can both be in force at once. "Align Measurement Axes" turns what the readouts report; "Rotate part" turns where the geometry sits. While either one is turned, TouchDRO shows the angle in a chip beside the crosshairs.

The five measuring functions themselves live on the graphical view rather than in this strip, and are covered on the "Measurement Functions" page.