encoder mounted on horizontal spindle?

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Black Forest
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encoder mounted on horizontal spindle?

Post by Black Forest »

I have a Klopp universal milling machine that I want to add a Centroid control. It has no good place to mount an encoder to the vertical spindle. It also has a horizontal spindle that runs simultaneously as the vertical spindle. It would be quite easy to mount the encoder to the back end of the horizontal spindle as there is enough space there. In all the years I have owned this machine I have never used the horizontal spindle! I could still use it with the encoder mounted though if I wanted to or make the installation easier and mount it where the drawbar would be.

Is there any reason not to do this?
DocsMachine
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Re: encoder mounted on horizontal spindle?

Post by DocsMachine »

As long as they're always geared 1:1, the encoder should at least read speed correctly.

However, for things like rigid tapping, there will almost certainly be a nontrivial amount of gear lash, or slop, between the two spindles, and that will introduce an equally nontrivial error in where the controller "thinks" the spindle is. Assuming it doesn't fault out entirely, after it's sent a signal to the spindle motor, but hasn't registered any movement for X number of pulses/milliseconds, etc.

Really, difficulty mounting or no, the encoder needs to be pretty rigidly connected at 1:1 to the spindle in question. Any error, slop or other disconnect just invites problems and chronic broken tools.

Doc.
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