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How to shorten glass linear scale?

G

Gennady

Well-Known Member
Hi folks.
Need to cut glass-in-alum profile scale to size. There are lost of videos and discussion around - people just using band saw or hack saw for that. Who had a first-hand experience - is that really works ? Hack saw cutting glass and not shuttering it ?
 
Gennady said:
Hi folks.
Need to cut glass-in-alum profile scale to size. There are lost of videos and discussion around - people just using band saw or hack saw for that. Who had a first-hand experience - is that really works ? Hack saw cutting glass and not shuttering it ?
Click to expand...
not to be that guy, but have you already bought the scales? If not go magnetic.

If so then I'd use a dremel with a narrow diamond wheel to score the glass then bend. All the jobs I've seen with hack saw fail to snap cleanly
 
I shortened glass scales and it was dead easy. The glass is about as durable as hard cheese. The most difficult part was tapping the extrusion to reinstall the end caps.
 
DavidR8 said:
I shortened glass scales and it was dead easy. The glass is about as durable as hard cheese. The most difficult part was tapping the extrusion to reinstall the end caps.
Click to expand...

Tell us how you did it. When I used the band saw I shattered a good 1/4" of the glass portion I didn't intend to:mad:
 
Buy some diamond cutoff Disks. Light cuts will sever the glass.

That, or as @TorontoBuilder says, get magnetic. You can pay for them with the money you saved buying diamond disks.

I'm still loving my magnetic scales over 2-1/2 years later. No regrets.
 
Scored the glass the snapped it off with needle nose pliers,
Cut the alu to rough size with a hack saw and final dimension-ed it in the mill.

Gluck
 
Tomc938

Thread 'Cutting down DRO scale'

I'm just wondering: Would anyone be interested in a thread on shortening a DRO scale? I shortened my x-axis scale three times before I got the length right, and might need to shorten the Z-axis as well.

The first time I shortened the scale I was terrified I would break the glass. By the third time I was very comfortable doing it.
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I just stuck it in the bandsaw. Held the saw up a bit to score the glass and then went for it. Remember that the reader never gets close the the end because of the end cap and the fact that the actual reader part is in the middle of the read head body.
 
TorontoBuilder said:
not to be that guy, but have you already bought the scales? If not go magnetic.

If so then I'd use a dremel with a narrow diamond wheel to score the glass then bend. All the jobs I've seen with hack saw fail to snap cleanly
Click to expand...
Yep. I used a cheap PA diamond cut off Dremel wheel and it was easy.

I milled off the Al to get access.
 
I would think that no matter how badly you ***'ed the cut, it probably wouldn't matter. You could probably do it with bolt cutters or a chisel and hammer or even acetylene and it would probably be just fine.

The distortion caused is probably localized to the spot where you make the cut. And if that spot is important, the cut, or the mounting, it in the wrong location. The gradations that matter are the ones that should be in the 'middle' of the scale. In the working area
 
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