Tool grinding jig

interesting site Rob but EEEEEEK if I need some gold plated cast iron I know where to go. I'm assuming the gold plate from the price being 4x the axminster price.

The Duratool one has an adjustable physical level built in (more accurate than the electronic level) for accurate zero setting and an absolute/relative function.

One application I haven't seen mentioned is sticking one to a chuck jaw for non-critical dividing, such as drilling cylinder cover studs.

Neil

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 19/03/2014 16:06:41

Hi Neil,
I have the "Wixey" version and I use it almost in the way you describe. The only difference is I fix it to the spindle pulley with a piece of angle. I have ordered two of them today. One to use and one to see how difficult it is to convert it to a shaft input like the version that Machine DRO used to sell. I also plan to try to hack the communications protocol between the two boards in the unit. It would be interesting to buid a remote display. One problem I have seen with the Wixey one I have is if it snaps down to hard on a metal surface it looses its calibration. I do not know if the is a fault on the one I have or if they all have this problem.

Les.

I have just started to investigate other possible uses for these angle gauges. So far it looks like it should be possible to connect to them mechanically to measure shaft rotation. Also the display board is separate from the encoder part and connected by a 6 pin connector. I may be possible to extend this connection with a length of cable if the impedance of the signals is low enough. If anyone is interested I will start a thread and post more information as I find it.

Les

> One problem I have seen with the Wixey one I have is if it snaps down to hard on a metal surface it looses its calibration

Mine takes a while to settle down if this happens. I imagine it's the accelerometer chip going beyond its design limits.

Neil

Hi Neil,
They don't use an accelerometer chip like smart phones and tablet PCs do. It uses a pendulum with eddy current damping. I think the position is read in the same way as digital calipers. I think there is a circular version of the PCB that is inserted in to the bar of calipers. I think there are 18 radial fingers of track on the rotating PCB wheel.

This is the pendulum.

The pendulum seems to be made of copper and the 8 disks you can see inserted into the back cover are magnets. (Just like the 3 in the base.) There are some more pictures in my photo album. I have higher resolution photos than in the album and some notes with what I have found out so far about the communications protocol between the two boards. If you are interested in this information let me know and I will email it to you. (I still have your email address.)

Les.

Edited By Les Jones 1 on 22/03/2014 17:17:30

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Yes Please, Les

MichaelG.

Yes please from me also. Adam

Very interesting Les. I'll let you quietly destroy yours and keep mine in one piece

Neil

Yes please Les. Very interesting topic.

Barry