RF-25 Mill DRO Y-axis Scale

RF-25 Mill DRO Y-axis Scale
Last updated on Saturday, March 25, 2023 02:17:29 PM Mountain US Time Zone

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Scale Brackets, Scale,
Lower Brackets, Cables, Handle Animations

Scale Brackets

Tapped 50% threaded NC 1/4-20
mounting holes at end of table.

1/4" thick upper bracket must clear
lead-screw bearing bracket housing.
Semi-circular relief is stronger
than a rectangular alternative.

L-channel bracket with scale mounting bolts.
L-channel bracket must clear power-feed motor.
The L-channel serves as the scale mount &
protects it from impact, fluid & debris.

Six-inch vertical-style scale mounted.
All sharp corners have since been rounded.

I have installed rubber washers on all the scale mounts to
allow a little floating to reduce the strain on the transducers.

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Scale

This is the first scale I ordered for the Y-axis.
The catalog picture & description did not match what I received.
This 6" horizontal-style was smaller & does not
have as good of a receptacle (for me) as the vertical style.
If you have space limitations and/or are tacking-on wires,
you may want this style. Instead, I used this style on
the Taig lathe DRO. The better receptacle
(for my needs) is shown on the Z-axis scale page.
I solder a 100-mF 10v tantalum capacitor
across the battery leads of the scale.

Lower Brackets

Lower bracket mounted using 1/4-20 bolts.
This mill base side is 5 deg.
Tapped holes are perpendicular
to the mill base surface.

Lower bracket detail.
Bolt clearance holes perpendicular to
both front & back 5 deg surfaces.
The rear holes are horizontally centered on the bracket.

Cables

1/4" thick connecting bracket uses
M3-.5 upper bolts & 8-32 lower bolts.

This mount protects scale's front (which is not needed) &
places the SPC output on the bottom, back, left.
Only hardened SS scale surfaces are exposed.
This style scale has a good SPC plug receptacle.

Cable is protected with spiral wrap & has nylon ties
for strain relief. X-axis & Y-axis cables are (directly)
routed under the mill inside the stand allowing me
to use the standard 6 ft. SPC cables. All cable plugs
are held in place with a spot of hot glue.

The RF-25 mill's free-floating Z-axis design works
so well that now all of my mill & lathe scales
are attached at only one end while the other end
remains captured but loosened to allow floating.
This approach greatly reduces minor out of alignment induced
stress on the transducer. This design also helps to reduce DRO
jitter as does a clean, deburred transducer with NR capacitors.

Handle Animations

Revolving, chrome plated carbon steel handle, animation.

Left: OEM plastic handle table locking
levers interfered with DRO brackets.
Right: Replacement zinc alloy/steel
locking adjustable levers.

Animation of the replacement locking levers for the carriage.
Kipp (USA) adjustable handle (ball style) 5/16-18
with a 2.36" (60mm) long threaded stud.
Levers now more accessible, clamp much tighter,
clear base & are away from the lead screw.

Metric Sizes
M4-12, M4-16, M4-20, M4-32,
M5-12, M5-16, M5-20, M5-25,
M6-12, M6-16, M12-50 (2 pack)

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Scale Brackets, Scale,
Lower Brackets, Cables, Handle Animations

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