Re: Old Trak DRO Encoder Heads

Joe, et al:

A late response but here we go. I have a set of Trav-a-dial
mechanical read-outs on my mill. They were in place when I bought it
about 15 years ago. The X-axis runs on the front of the table and the
Y on a bar bolted to the knee.

I like these a lot. They just work. I have no reason to believe they
have ever given a false reading due to slipping or being fouled with
chips (knock on wood). I've always assumed they are about +-.001",
but I haven't checked this, other than having things I make fit
together. :-) In reality they're probably +-.002"?

The mechanism works well. If yours is by the same mfg I'd say it is
worth resurecting. Let me know how you do with it. Thanks.

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., Joe Burns <machinetool@s...> wrote:
> A few months ago I picked up an old 2-axis Trak DRO. It's made by
the same
> people who made Trav-A-Dials, and uses a rotary encoder housed
inside a
> Trav-a-Dial like enclosure.
>
> I've got all the pieces to install it to my Bridgeport. I even have
the
> control box, but someone removed the BIOS chip from the board, so
that's
> not useful at all.
>
> Anyway, my question is how accurate are these type encoder heads? I
don't
> need high precision for my work, so if they are within .001 or .002,
that's
> good enough for me.
>
> I'm planning on interfacing it to a PC probably with Tom's
software/hardware.
>
> Any tips or hints? Am I wasting my time with these heads? Thanks!