Quote Originally Posted by Robin Hewitt View Post
See before and after pic :D

I'm adding a new cpu to get absolute positioning from cheap Chinese digital scales rather than relying on the lead screws. A second opinion as to the tool location, one that can see backlash and compensate for it, I have about .003" in X and Y.

The wiring was a mess and about to become a disaster so I moved all the electronics on to the back of the cabinet door. Tidy with easy access. Still need a fancy fixing for that conduit on the X axis motor, luckily the machine still works so no probs.

Changed to solid state relays for the motor and suds pump so I'm switching 15 volts DC rather than 240 AC. Well, that was the plan, but then I realised I often want to be able to kill the steppers without having to turn on the PC so I stuck in a switch to off the 40V PSU. Back to switching mains, whaddya do?

Next is handing control to the new cpu so it works on the USB rather than the printer port, then I can start fitting the scales.
looks a lot better Robin. Wish I had that much space to start with!

Can you explain 'cheap Chinese scales' further and how you plan to use them... I assume in place of encoders on the leadscrews? I was thinking on the lines of hacking apart a couple of cheap 200mm digital vernier units - that would give 0.01mm resolution (.0004thou), were you thinking along the same lines? If so, have you opened up one yet to see whats inside?