USdigital linear strip and direct belt drive.

Hi,

I am building a small single axis for wire guideing on a small coil
winder. I have a small servo motor, geckodrive and short THK rail.
I intend to use a belt drive where the belt is clamped to the
carriage of the linear rail, much like is done in most inkjet
printers.

To get the best accuracy I can I was hoping to use a linear scale of
some sort. Renishaw do some lovely ones but they are very pricey. I
know US digital are famous for there cheap rotary encoders but has
anyone used their linear strips along with either theire encoder head
or a HP HEDS?

If so I'd like to hear how well it worked and how the strip was
mounted?

I'd also like to hear of any potential problems I might face using
this set up and also if I should be careful about pulley choice.

Thanks

Graham