Build digital readout

[racear]

Have crankshaft grinder that just lost Trak digital readout. Company said no longer serviced. Need to build a 8 inch travel DRO. Thought about using digital caliper with RS232 readout but don't know about software. All I want to measure is Y axis. Any suggestions offered wold be more than appreciated.
racear

 

[MikeHalloran]

A digital caliper will probably work okay. Lots of guys bolt them to Brideport quills, where the caliper's own display is right in front of you anyway.

Building a custom interface is a fairly ambitious project by itself. Here's a construction article for interfacing to cheap Chinese calipers;

http://www.pcmx.net/gauge

Name brand calipers use different formats. But you could just buy the mating microprinter and use that as a display.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[IRstuff]

One possibility is to use a PC running Hyperterminal, which will at least allow you record the data, assuming it's in text format.



TTFN

 

[eromlignod]

Can't you just buy one?

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/N2DRVSH?SITYPE=1&SITEXT=digital+readout&KNC-T7L391316886

Don
Kansas City

 

[MikeHalloran]

Don has a point. Given what caliper vendors charge for interface cables and SPC accessories, a regular industrial DRO is worth considering.

Also worth considering is that the SPC cables are typically delicate, and the caliper batteries don't last long when transmitting data, so you will be buying cables and especially batteries regularly.

So far as I know, all calipers' SPC data is sent as ASCII text, so a terminal program should be able to display it and capture it.

You could also use a PDA as a display terminal. Again, you'll be dealing with expensive cables with delicate connectors, and batteries.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[gatz]

I designed a digtial stop for a KMT 14" manual cold saw a few years ago. Factory option was about $3600
Used a Mitutoyo 18" scale/readerhead with output to a single axis display. It was an off-the-shelf item.
THK rail & bearing blocks made it smooth and accurate.
Worked very well and has been trouble free for about 6 years. Haven't had to replace the small battery in the reader head yet.
The stop has some features that even the commercial version doesn't have.

Thanks
Gatz

 

[racear]

Gatz
This sounds like something I might be interested in. Where can I get some more info.
racear

 

[gatz]

racear,
Here's the Mitutoyo part numbers we used;

Scale...... 572-234

Cable...... 905694

Display.... 572-011A

Gatz