Quote Originally Posted by Hirudin View Post
This is a cool idea! I'm going to try to make one myself, eventually. I'll be sure to post here when (and if) I build something that works.
awesome i cant wait to see it!

btw it turns out there are companies that make drawbar force gauges that are completely wireless and get held in the toolchanger just like a tool. so you can just switch to the force gauge "tool" and then have the force wirelessly sent somewhere, for frequent checking of drawbar force. this would be cool to make! kind of ridiculous for my particular mini mill with a 6 tool ATC, but for someone with a bigger mill with lots of tool space and/or someone who really pushes their machine hard with toolchanges, making a wireless version with a pressure sensor and electronics could be fun.

im just getting into strain gauges, so i think for a fun project I will try to make a strain gauge version of this. its pretty much perfect for it since you can put the strain gauge on the rod that connects the pull stud and bridge, and the forces will likely only be in one direction so there is a lot less to worry about as far as nulling things.