Ideas on a removable highly repeatable mount
I had worked at a company (Precitech) that had an "Optical tool setter" option for thier lathes. It was removable, and would repeat to the same location within .000050" (50ยต"). http://www.precitech.com/OTS.pdf
The trick is to use 6 ceramic rods and 3 ceramic balls to create a kinematic mount that is highly repeatable. The rods are arranged in pairs to make "V" blocks. The 3 balls are mounted to the camera and nest in the "V" blocks. The center lines of these "V" blocks all point to a center point (they are radially oriented). The center of gravity for the tool setter was balanced right at the center point of this "nest", so all you had to do was lift it on and off.
Plus, if you bump it in almost any direction, it would move out of the way - usually without harming the camera. I am considering making something like this to mount a camera on my mill, but have the V-block nest mounted vertically with a rare earth magnet (instead of gravity) to hold the camera mount to the side of the mill.
Once I have time to design this, I'll post some pictures.
Another idea along the same lines - but far simpler:
Perhaps a custom "V" block with a rare earth magnet at the base of the V. This could be designed to stick to the OD of the quill on the machine. It has the benefit of moving with the quill, wouldn't be damaged if you started the spindle, and would fall off if you bumped it. Plus, it is referencing the OD of the quill - which is the guide surface of the quill, so it should be highly repeatable.
I guess I'll have to design this one too!
NEATman