Low cost slim glass scale

[Harry Knutz]

The Toauto pinout is like this photo.

The top of the plug which has 5 pins 1 thru 5 should be wired as such:

5v on pin 1
0v= ground on pin 2
Signal A on pin 3
Signal B on pin 4

This is Toauto pinout.

 

[dabear3428]

This is the board that I ordered with the pinouts.

Adapter for Glass and Magnetic ScalesTDA-420 (4 axis + Probe/Tachometer) / Ditron/Aikron/Sino

Main Input Pinout Options​

Four main scale inputs on TouchDRO TDA-400 and TDA-420 use female DB-9 (D-Sub 9) connectors preconfigured for one of the scale peanuts listed in the table below.

Brand	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Acu-Rite SENC Scales		A	A'	B	B'	OV	5V	R	R'
Electronica/EMS, PM MagExact	+Z	Z'	5V	Shield	Gnd	A	A'	B'	B
Ditron, Sino, Aikron, Easson	A'	0V	B'	Shield	R'/Z'	A	+5V	B	R/Z
Vevor	A'	0V	B'		Z'	A	5V	B	Z
Generic Chinese Scales		0V				A	5V	B	R1/Z

For more detailed information plese refer to Supported Optical and Magnetic DRO Scales

can anyone tell me what the R/R1/Z signal is for?

 

[WobblyHand]

Some scales have a reference pulse for absolute location. Cheap scales may not wire the signals. My glass scales do not output the reference.

 

[Paul Fithian]

Happy to report this works:

DB9 Connector Wiring

Next activity will be to cut this scale down to the required length, it's too long.

 

[Nesse1]

Cutting glass scales can be risky. Some people do it, but it's not without risk. Please post info on your method, and (hopefully) success.

 

[ycroosh]

it would be interesting to see what Ycroosh has to say about them.

The second scale came in today (this time it actually works). I haven't had a chance to check with the interferometer yet, but it seems to behave like any other Chinese scale. The form factor is heavily "inspired" by Acu-Rite SENC 50 scales.
So far I see two problems:
Lack of QA - the first scale was completely dead on arrival.
Lack of documentation - neither box contained any documentation, and there is nothing in the listing. The pinout is standard Ditron/Sino, so that is not the problem, but as far as I can tell, there is no reference track.

Plusses are obviously the price and size. This is so far the smallest Chinese optical scale I've seen.
Overall quality of materials is pretty good as well, so I suspect that this is made by Ditron for one of the various Sino's (the oritinal Sino was not a company, but rather a trademark used by a distributor that resold Ditron scales; now there are dozens of "Sino<something>" scales. I suspect the super low price is because these are either the third shift, or "fell of the truck" scales.

Once I get some free time, I will check the scale for accuracy (which will be a few weeks, though... super busy right now).

Regards
Yuriy

 

[ycroosh]

Cutting glass scales can be risky. Some people do it, but it's not without risk. Please post info on your method, and (hopefully) success.

Cutting glass scales is almost trivial, given that most of us have machine shop for which we buy said scales. The only "interesting" thing is scoring the glass strip so it breaks cleanly in the right spot. I found a sharp tungsten carbide v-bit or something similar works very well.
1. I'd mill away aluminum on one side
2. Score the glass
3. Mill away aluminum on the opposite side, and the little bridge that is left under the scale.
4. Score on the opposite side.

At that point the glass should break cleanly.
Pro tip, score the glass about 3-5mm "short" (so it will be recessed into the frame, and won't interfere with the end cap.)

One BIG caveat for some very cheap scales - I have one scale where the glass strip is glued by about 20mm on each end, and is left floating in the middle (adhesive must have been expensive ...). In that case, you will need to glue the new "end" after step 1.

Regards
Yuriy

 

[Paul Fithian]

For cutting the scale to length, my plan is to remove the glass from the extrusion, cut the extrusion, score and snap the glass, and reassemble.

I’ll post some pictures when I do it

 

[dabear3428]

The second scale came in today (this time it actually works). I haven't had a chance to check with the interferometer yet, but it seems to behave like any other Chinese scale. The form factor is heavily "inspired" by Acu-Rite SENC 50 scales.
So far I see two problems:
Lack of QA - the first scale was completely dead on arrival.
Lack of documentation - neither box contained any documentation, and there is nothing in the listing. The pinout is standard Ditron/Sino, so that is not the problem, but as far as I can tell, there is no reference track.

Plusses are obviously the price and size. This is so far the smallest Chinese optical scale I've seen.
Overall quality of materials is pretty good as well, so I suspect that this is made by Ditron for one of the various Sino's (the oritinal Sino was not a company, but rather a trademark used by a distributor that resold Ditron scales; now there are dozens of "Sino<something>" scales. I suspect the super low price is because these are either the third shift, or "fell of the truck" scales.

Once I get some free time, I will check the scale for accuracy (which will be a few weeks, though... super busy right now).

Regards
Yuriy

Thank you Yuriy,

 

[dabear3428]

For cutting the scale to length, my plan is to remove the glass from the extrusion, cut the extrusion, score and snap the glass, and reassemble.

I’ll post some pictures when I do it

I think i will be able to use these as is but my plan was to stuff some packing to support the glass and bandsaw it off but then i'm lazy lol