The shooting star DRO's look like a good value for the money, and I have heard good things about them here and elsewhere. But for those of you who have them, are they robust in the long run? Do little bits of swarf eventually get into the encoder and jam up the works? Do the wire loom rack protectors successfully keep the swarf and oil out of the innards?
I've had some experience with the cheap chinese single-axis DRO's like you sometimes see on the quill of a milling machine, set up on my old mill/drill. Mine seem to be very touchy when they get a little oil or coolant on them. They lose zero or skip steps. I'd like to avoid this on my new mill with a more robust system.
Al