From the Shop: Digital Scales - "The YADRO-Files" : Part 6 Intro Part 1: "pimp my scale", or the BCD-protocol Part 2: bigger is better, or 24 bits in 2's complement Part 3: Talk to your equipment Part 4: Get connected Part 5: A look inside YADRO Part 6: Screw your scales … <back<  >next> Screw your scales … to the mill. Things take time, so did YADRO. Finaly, here is how I fixed the scales to my old trustworthy Deckel FP1. You'll also see, how I modified the scales, wired them up and how the housing the scales live in looks like. The scales don't like water or oil, so I thought about how to solve this problem. Electrical connections As I decided to use RJ12 connectors (telephone cables) and to solder one end of the cable directly to the scale, I needed a way to make that connection secure. I solved this together with the plate that moves the slide on the scale. The sheet metal (aluminium) is about 3mm thick and has a slot milled in, that will guide and protect the cable. You'll soon see why. That plate is just stiff regarding to the longitudinal axe of the scale. That is what you want. It can bend in all other axes and thus compensate misalignment. The slot where the cable is in is covered with some thin (0.1mm) brass to further protect the cable. That slot was filled with epoxy, the cable put into, covered with epoxy and then the brass sheet put over. The cable is coming out in the back and is traced to the 4 connectors where they were just soldered onto. I used some hot glue to stop the cable from moving. You also can see the two capacitors for the scale's power supply that went into the battery compartment. If have cut some 30 * 40 * 2mm aluminium to length and slitted it, so that the tongue with the cable can reach through that slot and the slide move free on the scale. A tube 25 * 40 would have been better, but my dealer didn't have it on stock. You will notice the missing caps on the end of the tube. I have put them there later. They can be readily bought. When you fix that whole assembly to your lathe/mill, you have to properly align it! I won't go into detail about that. You also will have to drill some holes and tap them. But if you do have a mill, you will be able to handle that job. That ugly yellow tube on the left is for the cooling fluid. The lever to clamp the Y-axe will be modified. As it is now, it is just good enough to clamp the axe. I haven't yet made photos of the other axes. There is an modification to the housing I will add when I do get dirt problems. I will add a "brush courtain" in the tube that will keep water and swarf out of it. All scales were mounted in such a way, that the slot in the tube is pointing down or away from where the chips will come flying from. This point is really worth thinking about! There you can see the mess I frequently make during work. Excuse: I was in the middle of mounting the scales. You also can see how I mounted the laptop. The red tube coming from the ceiling is for the mill's mains. Right right to it is a tube coming down that holds the laptop on an arm. That arm can be swung to the back to go out of the way. The mounting for the laptop was welded out of some tube (round and square) and flat that did the job. BTW: In the back on the floor (on a little cart) is the arm to convert the Deckel FP1 into a horizontal mill and an other table that can be tilted in all axes. Right behind the mill is my drill press, in the left background you can see my … I call it lathe. Feel free to donate me a Weiler, Colchester or Schaublin. Intro Part 1: "pimp my scale", or the BCD-protocol Part 2: bigger is better, or 24 bits in 2's complement Part 3: Talk to your equipment Part 4: Get connected Part 5: A look inside YADRO Part 6: Screw your scales … <back<  >next>