Mini Lathe Z-Axis DRO

[dgbreggin]

As part of my project to add DRO to my mini-lathe, I acquired a generic 16-inch horizontal linear digital scale on sale. This was several years ago, and no longer available from that supplier.

I made a pair of mounting brackets to hold the scale below the carriage. I also make a rigid linkage to connect the sliding portion to the carriage. It is very important to mount the scale parallel to the movement of the carriage such that the linkage doesn't try to bend the scale as it moves. To facilitate that, the vertical mounting holes are slightly elongated and the (horizontal) length of the mounts are identical.

Mounting the scale at an angle for better visibility did complicate the link to the carriage, but it was well worth the effort. The alighment of the linkage was facilitated by more elongated holes.


Here are the pictures.










I positioned the scale such that it would not interfere with the telescoping lead screw covers I installed.




Note: The display on my inexpensive scale updates relatively slowly. This means that I cannot use the DRO to accurately track the position of the carriage while it is moving.