Deckel FP2 from 1964, what's this screw for (near Y slide)?

I'm painting my 1964 FP2. I would like to know, what's this screw for (near the Y axis slide)? I've marked it with a question mark:



I have a theory, which concerns the bracket I am holding in my hand. This bracket sits just above the door, on the non-operator side. It supports the coolant tube and lies just below the adjustable stops to trip off the Y-feed. My machine has a "factory installed" DRO, and this bracket supports the blocks that hold the read head for the DRO scale. My theory is that this bracket is NOT the standard one for non-DRO machines, and that the standard bracket is supported by three screws, which are M, M and "?" in my photo. Evidence that this is not the standard bracket: it has hammertone paint which matches some of the other DRO hardware, rather than the standard machine hardware.

Can someone with a non-DRO FP2 confirm this? Is the screw in question holding on this bracket, on your machine? In which case, on my machine it has no function, and I'll close it off with a grub screw before painting.

(One reason I ask: on my machine this screw had a bit of teflon tape wound around the threads, suggesting that it is part of an oil passage. But I am unaware of any such passages in that area.)

Hi Bruce,

my Deckel FP2 (1st generation; no DRO yet) has none of the both "M" marked threads.
For fastening the bracket, the "?" and the not marked thread between the left "M" and the "?" are used.
There are no seals around the screws for the bracket.

Cheers,
Karl

Bruce,

I think the screw is one of four that holds the plastic trim piece on the machine. It looks like there is a hole with no screw in your machine between the ? hole and the left M hole. Here is a picture of the trim piece on my machine.



I hope this helps.

Regards,
Nigel

Nigel, thank you, it couldn't be any clearer. This is also consistent with what Karl wrote. To mount the head for the Y-axis scale, Deckel produced a solid steel trim piece which only used two of the four mounting screws. That's what's fitted to my machine. So I need to block off two screw holes, not just one. Cheers, Bruce