As some may recall, this is the FP2 where apparently the Activ DRO went kaput and the owners were too stupid to know the machine could be "straight wired" to use a regular DRO. Not only did they create a crude "rapid only" extra DC drive, but removed the Z axis scale and the bracket that held the scale head, but also cut the connectors off every scale cable and removed all the boxes that the scale wires were routed thru !
I was able to straight wire and get the original DC drive back working in pretty short order, but re creating a DRO system for the machine took quite a bit longer. Tempting to buy a used Activ TNC 113 DRO from Singer or Peter and get it completely back to original....but in the end I liked the idea of a more modern DRO which incorporated more than 3 axis in the same screen. In fact I may eventually add a rotary encoder to the forward/back table tilt and have 5 axis showing on the display.
As there is some labor involved in removing those boxes, especially the lower rear one, It's almost as if they decided the machine was "haunted" somehow and all indications it ever had a DRO had to be eliminated ! Bizarre, I know.
Luckily, they did leave a short length of cable for the universal table rotary encoder and the X axis scale...so I was able to either solder Dsub 15 connectors to those or in the case of X, solder splice new cable direct inside the box. Even better, they left the entire Y axis cable...sans the 9 pin round end connector however....Isn't that the strangest thing ? And these guys supposedly made aircraft parts in the Miami, FL area.
I found a compatable scale for the Z axis on eBay dirt cheap that works perfectly, and amazingly, a nearly new Heidenhain Positip DRO for less than 500 bucks including shipping. So, rather than the usual hodge pode of scale cables, I decided to do it like Deckel did it originally....with the cables routed thru boxes and flex conduit. Except for the C axis cable, which needs to be quickly removable in case one changes tables.... X, Y, and Z cables, plus the 120 volt power wire all are ultimately routed thru one flexable conduit as shown.
The first photo shows most of what was missing in orange and subsequent photos show the end result.
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I was able to straight wire and get the original DC drive back working in pretty short order, but re creating a DRO system for the machine took quite a bit longer. Tempting to buy a used Activ TNC 113 DRO from Singer or Peter and get it completely back to original....but in the end I liked the idea of a more modern DRO which incorporated more than 3 axis in the same screen. In fact I may eventually add a rotary encoder to the forward/back table tilt and have 5 axis showing on the display.
As there is some labor involved in removing those boxes, especially the lower rear one, It's almost as if they decided the machine was "haunted" somehow and all indications it ever had a DRO had to be eliminated ! Bizarre, I know.
Luckily, they did leave a short length of cable for the universal table rotary encoder and the X axis scale...so I was able to either solder Dsub 15 connectors to those or in the case of X, solder splice new cable direct inside the box. Even better, they left the entire Y axis cable...sans the 9 pin round end connector however....Isn't that the strangest thing ? And these guys supposedly made aircraft parts in the Miami, FL area.
I found a compatable scale for the Z axis on eBay dirt cheap that works perfectly, and amazingly, a nearly new Heidenhain Positip DRO for less than 500 bucks including shipping. So, rather than the usual hodge pode of scale cables, I decided to do it like Deckel did it originally....with the cables routed thru boxes and flex conduit. Except for the C axis cable, which needs to be quickly removable in case one changes tables.... X, Y, and Z cables, plus the 120 volt power wire all are ultimately routed thru one flexable conduit as shown.
The first photo shows most of what was missing in orange and subsequent photos show the end result.
