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Abene DRO for quill ?

Not done this, but there are DRO's (Heidenhain for one) that can use the output from a rotary encoder to output a linear move.
The output is scalable so you can account for the relationship between the quill handle (pinion rotation) and the actual quill movement....

Seems an easy way to fit a readout..Not perfect mind you as there would be backlash between the rotation and the actual quill movement...

Cheers Ross
 
Was not aware of such an option.
Long time pondering over a way to do this besides what you just now suggested. Been experimenting and close to a solution ( not perfect but workable).
 
I think I might have gone with the rotary option as Ross suggested....
That pizza slicer seems a bit risky on your machine.

Interesting approach in any case...!

BR,
Thanos
 
"pizzaslicer"is the least of my worries.It's incredibly sturdy fixed and made out of a sawblade.The whole contraption on the other hand is very cheap in comparison with a Heidenhain or something like that. At least I don't have the resources for that :o
 
Clever... Aside from the rotary encoder option, seems like the only other option is for a shaft clamp around the quill, which would limit your upward travel stop position.
 
Yes, but that clamp has to turn because the shaft itself also turns ! Thats why I had to come with this .20200802_142736.jpg
 
That's the problem : there is no stationary part in the quill.


Of course there is...otherwise the entire vertical head would rotate with the tool....
Might not be easily accessible , but the stationary part (non rotating) is indeed there....
Would love to see a section drawing of that vertical head....
Cheers Ross
 
Of course there is...otherwise the entire vertical head would rotate with the tool....
Might not be easily accessible , but the stationary part (non rotating) is indeed there....
In the video OP posted, you can indeed see this. The quill is stationary while the spindle nose turns around this point in the video
(37 secs in, in case this doesn't embed right).

As the quill pulls flush with the vertical head, OP would have lose a bit of travel if the DRO clamps on the quill. How much quill travel does this Abena have?
My FP2 vertical spindle only has 60mm of quill travel and I'd be loath to lose any of it.
 
Why don't you believe me : the part of the quill on the outside of the quillhead is ALL turning. Of course INSIDE there will be a stationary part but let someone tell me how to use that for a DRO.
 
Why don't you believe me : the part of the quill on the outside of the quillhead is ALL turning. Of course INSIDE there will be a stationary part but let someone tell me how to use that for a DRO.

Here's a picture taken from your video with a little bit of annotation:Abena spindle.jpg.

I think what Ross and other are suggesting is that you clamp to the "stationary", e.g. non-rotating part. This would mean the quill couldn't retract all the way into the head, hence some loss of travel.

I believe the stationary part is called "spindle housing", whereas the rotating part is the "spindle", of which you only see the "spindle nose". Between the housing and the spindle you'll have bearings of some description, and the whole lot is then called "quill" if it's in an arrangement that allows extending it in and out of the head.
(Please correct me if my terminology here is wrong).
 
One more time : the part that you annotate as "stationary" is ALSO rotating.
The WHOLE visible part of the quill rotates ! So there is nowhere to attach a clamp that will not rotate with the quill. That's why I had to come up with this setup.
 
Its your machine, don't doubt that the spindle is rotating at the lowest point of the quill (the quill is generally understood to be the outer housing., while the spindle is the rotating portion within the quill that extends
to mount your tool holders)
The only point i was making is that there has to be a portion of that assembly that does not rotate....and as i said before it just might not be readily accessible

Personally i would want to see a section drawing of the assembly....perhaps there is another point of access that does not use up any travel....
For example, how about a thin strip of flat spring that wraps around the OD of the hand feed lever dial....with one end attached to your scale . The opposite side of the scale has a return spring.
When you move the feed handle the flat spring is wound up on the dial ,(or a suitably made "wheel") and pulls the read head of your readout scale...When returning the flat spring unwinds and the read head of the readout returns under spring tension....
Maybe a small rack and pinion on the feed handle that moves the read head or the DRO.....

Or perhaps there is a way to get contact with the quill from above...Perhaps your idea could be incorporated at the draw bar where it was out of the way.

I will be the first to admit that i would not have thought of going the way you did....it does solve the issue...
Personally not a fan of any extra spinning parts at the spindle nose, or the extension of the read head hanging down....there are times for me when those extra pieces would interfere with getting the spindle and tool into a difficult location...Suppose it all depends on what kind of work you are doing.
Thanks for sharing.

Cheers Ross
 
Personally i would want to see a section drawing of the assembly....perhaps there is another point of access that does not use up any travel....

Yeah, I'm a n00b at this, but it sounds strange to me to build a spindle that doesn't push the main bearings as far forward as possible.

Here's a thread with some low res screen shots. Here's a pretty low-resolution section drawing of of the spindle.

174583d1467095938-parts-diagram-abene-quill-head-screen-shot-2016-06-28-9.37.44-.-..jpg
.

Looks like a pretty conventional arrangement to me. Tapered rollers between the spindle and housing right at the nose, as far forward as reasonable, with ball bearings upstream. Looks like preload is applied with a nut just below the drive splines, against a sleeve that runs down to the bearing race (though it's hard to tell from the lousy picture). There's a quill clamp right at the front of the head, both in this image and in OP's video, and it clearly can't clamp on anything that rotates.

If OPs spindle sleeve is really rotating with the spindle, then there's a big problem somewhere.
From OPs video, it really doesn't look like this is happening. I watched it again and you can see longitudinal scuffing on the spindle sleeve - as you'll see on any quill that's been in use for any time. To my eye, this scuffing is stationary on the sleeve while the nose turns, just as it is on both spindles on my FP2.

Anyhow, if the DRO mount is good enough for OP, then so be it.
 
Think the quill was an option...In fact somewhere on this board is a post from a member here that bought a new vertical head from the factory
to get the quill feature.....Not sure exactly what model he had....But like yours it had no quill when it was acquired.

Cheers Ross
 








 
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