- Joined
- May 7, 2014
- Messages
- 776
I had started a post over in the CNC space w/ Jim about LM10's by Renishaw that are now very hard to source.
I went digging looking for a source as I really think these are a great way to go if you can get the prices right.
The link to that thread is below. On this thread I thought I would post a few notes and impressions of the equipment. The company is called Ditron. They have a website here : http://www.dcoee.com/index.aspx
My sales person replied to every email within 1/2 day. Answered all my questions. They offer warranty on the purchase.
I know scales are everywhere, but I found it very expensive to get into 1um magnetic scales w/ tape. I know that dealing with foreign companies can be risky but PayPal had no issues with them, and they have several large OEM distributors in EU. There are a few outlet in the US but I did not find much in the way of a full Ditron US rep but did not look all that hard.
The scales I ordered came in via FedEx in 4 days from China. Not bad! Cost was $128 for 3 boxes. (I had basically a $1K order and paid way under list so $128 to get them here fast w/o jostling and poor handling was fine w/ me.
Quality of the read heads looks really solid but I cannot see inside. Good weight. All metal, indicator light, and stainless slide covers of the mag-tape in an extruded aluminum frame. The cost for the frame and cover were minimal. What started out as a "mag-tape" and "read head" order turned into the Slide/Scale whole Assy since it was a very small difference to get the whole aluminum frame for what I needed. I think $10 or something.
Display is the usual 2 or 3 axis display I see all over ebay. Unknown if they just source the case/membrane and put in their own PCB, or what- But the manual is the best ChinEnglish I've experience yet. After my Hunyang VFD manual, ... I went gray and semi-nutz. This is 100% better. Ohh- quick point- The web site is not laid out too well. If you contact them- They have specialized display's for Lathe, Mill, EDM, Grinder, etc. They also have a "V" series that can be sofware selected to emulate mix and match all of those options.
eg- The 2 axis lathe scale will now be the Grinder scale as it can run in that mode. That also has a Grinder vibration algorithm to smooth out the display jitter. The 3axis Mill display will mode over to the "L"athe equiv so I'll put that one on the lathe. Cool huh. Maybe it's standard but I'm new to upgrading scales.
The nitty gritty- ( a few pics below) I put up the scale on my BP 815 and made a read-head mount. It's sitting 1mm off the slide and I'm able to select 1micron and 5micron on the setup of the display. In 1um mode I can run the handle soooo gently and watch the um digit move. (usually in 2's or 3's at a time but it is running in 1um to my knowledge. Wish I could track any error or distance...well see over time.
To test: I have some block gage standards from bid spotter. crappy set that had 3, 4,5 of the same sizes for at least 4 different blocks. I think I'll try to take 1 size to another known size and see how it goes. Would that be an ok test? I am hoping we can get the CNC forum lead to get a 1um head to test against the LM10 and see how it runs-out of distances.
Getting late- The dust cover was folded up and fits like a glove. Paint is drying on it. Finally got to use the HF 3:1 bender, cutter, and roller today. Glad I bought that for my Son a few years back. Bacon saver today.
In the end the list I bought is over in the other post as a reference. To keep it short, link is below w/ some pics. All in all I think I definitely saved some dollars. Tune of 50% or more depending on where you go and OEM you buy. I used Alibaba but I made sure I was dealing with a real Co. Call PayPal. They're great to check with. Awww -MAn.... Sorry the pics went 90' on me. crud. Tired... Will fix em' later.
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/lm10-renishaw-mag-linear-scale-replacement-vendor-spec.49299/
I went digging looking for a source as I really think these are a great way to go if you can get the prices right.
The link to that thread is below. On this thread I thought I would post a few notes and impressions of the equipment. The company is called Ditron. They have a website here : http://www.dcoee.com/index.aspx
My sales person replied to every email within 1/2 day. Answered all my questions. They offer warranty on the purchase.
I know scales are everywhere, but I found it very expensive to get into 1um magnetic scales w/ tape. I know that dealing with foreign companies can be risky but PayPal had no issues with them, and they have several large OEM distributors in EU. There are a few outlet in the US but I did not find much in the way of a full Ditron US rep but did not look all that hard.
The scales I ordered came in via FedEx in 4 days from China. Not bad! Cost was $128 for 3 boxes. (I had basically a $1K order and paid way under list so $128 to get them here fast w/o jostling and poor handling was fine w/ me.
Quality of the read heads looks really solid but I cannot see inside. Good weight. All metal, indicator light, and stainless slide covers of the mag-tape in an extruded aluminum frame. The cost for the frame and cover were minimal. What started out as a "mag-tape" and "read head" order turned into the Slide/Scale whole Assy since it was a very small difference to get the whole aluminum frame for what I needed. I think $10 or something.
Display is the usual 2 or 3 axis display I see all over ebay. Unknown if they just source the case/membrane and put in their own PCB, or what- But the manual is the best ChinEnglish I've experience yet. After my Hunyang VFD manual, ... I went gray and semi-nutz. This is 100% better. Ohh- quick point- The web site is not laid out too well. If you contact them- They have specialized display's for Lathe, Mill, EDM, Grinder, etc. They also have a "V" series that can be sofware selected to emulate mix and match all of those options.
eg- The 2 axis lathe scale will now be the Grinder scale as it can run in that mode. That also has a Grinder vibration algorithm to smooth out the display jitter. The 3axis Mill display will mode over to the "L"athe equiv so I'll put that one on the lathe. Cool huh. Maybe it's standard but I'm new to upgrading scales.
The nitty gritty- ( a few pics below) I put up the scale on my BP 815 and made a read-head mount. It's sitting 1mm off the slide and I'm able to select 1micron and 5micron on the setup of the display. In 1um mode I can run the handle soooo gently and watch the um digit move. (usually in 2's or 3's at a time but it is running in 1um to my knowledge. Wish I could track any error or distance...well see over time.
To test: I have some block gage standards from bid spotter. crappy set that had 3, 4,5 of the same sizes for at least 4 different blocks. I think I'll try to take 1 size to another known size and see how it goes. Would that be an ok test? I am hoping we can get the CNC forum lead to get a 1um head to test against the LM10 and see how it runs-out of distances.
Getting late- The dust cover was folded up and fits like a glove. Paint is drying on it. Finally got to use the HF 3:1 bender, cutter, and roller today. Glad I bought that for my Son a few years back. Bacon saver today.
In the end the list I bought is over in the other post as a reference. To keep it short, link is below w/ some pics. All in all I think I definitely saved some dollars. Tune of 50% or more depending on where you go and OEM you buy. I used Alibaba but I made sure I was dealing with a real Co. Call PayPal. They're great to check with. Awww -MAn.... Sorry the pics went 90' on me. crud. Tired... Will fix em' later.
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/lm10-renishaw-mag-linear-scale-replacement-vendor-spec.49299/
