Can y'all post some photos of your quill DRO setups?

[ycroosh]

I have the same issue on my quill. I also have 1um magnetic scales on it. When I manually rotate my quill the error is .0002". I ususally have the readout set to .000 so I do not even see the error that is caused by this. One of the things I do plan to do is remake the aluminum piece that the scale is mounted to with 2 horizontal mounting slots so that can adjust it up next to the quill position thing.

View attachment 491834

Rob, where did you find an RLS scale? I've been trying to order one and can't find any place that will ship to the States.

 

[mksj]

You might consider direct mounting the magnetic tape to the head or on a raised aluminum strip, just glue it to the head's flat area with some silicone or use two small mounting screws. Reader head in green would mount as shown, and then very simple to have an L cover mounted to the aluminum base strip. Newer magnetic tape reader heads and tape are much smaller, some also have wipes to clear any chips/swarf.

Magnetic Linear Encoder Reading Head - 5 Micron Resolution

Magnetic Linear Encoder Reading Head with 5 micron resolution. Compatible with M-DRO high accuracy magnetic tape - DRO-MG-TP-05-HA

www.machine-dro.co.uk

 

[Rob]

Rob, where did you find an RLS scale? I've been trying to order one and can't find any place that will ship to the States.

When I purchased my mill from someone local to you he had already purchased them. He was in contact with you when you first started out. There where 4 of them that came with it. I decided to go with optical on my knee and table for the added protection but used the one on my quill and plan to use 2 of them on my lathe at a later date as I have them.

 

[ChazzC]

When I purchased my mill from someone local to you he had already purchased them. He was in contact with you when you first started out. There where 4 of them that came with it. I decided to go with optical on my knee and table for the added protection but used the one on my quill and plan to use 2 of them on my lathe at a later date as I have them.

It appears that you can purchase them direct from RLS for shipping to the U.S.:

https://www.rls.si/eng/faq/index/show/cat_id/5/faq/32/

 

[JimBuchanan]

I had been buying the capacitive absolute + scales and TouchDRO board one by one over last several years and just now installing on my re-built Bridgeport. If I had it to do over, I would probably go straight to glass or magnetic because of the apparent price drop. However, my perceived cost is relatively low so I'm hopeful this setup will work well enough. We will see soon.

Here is the way I mounted the 6" absolute DRO + scale on the Z quill. I made a quill stop knob adapter piece that attaches to the read head.

I then made an upper and lower mounting plate to hold the scale. The 2 drilled and tapped holes in the Bridgeport bosses are the only holes I have drilled in this re-build.

Here are the 3 parts. The back lipped profile of the upper and lower brackets were grooved with a 3/8" end mill and a 90 degree chamfer bit. Supports were welded on and tapped to secure the scale brackets. The quill stop knob "plug" is an expanding type. Attachment to read head is the 2 screws on the edge.

Everything aligned fairly easily, since the Bridgeport bosses are true and square to the quill axis. Nothing is degraded. Quill stop works and scale is retained. Speed nut is accessible by reaching around the scale. I could have cut off a good inch at the top end of the scale that wasn't needed, but everything fit together so well, I would be asking for trouble if I tried to improve anything.