Moire principles are applied to the measurement of the spindle radial error motion. As opposed to conventional techniques, no master cylinder or ball is needed in the measurement so that the offset and out-of-roundness errors of the master can be inherently eliminated. Two periodic circular gratings are used, one is made on the spindle and the other is held stationary on the reference frame. When the two gratings are seen superimposed during spindle rotation, an interference fringe pattern is observed from which the information on the eccentricity between the two gratings can be extracted with high precision. The optical design and fringe analysis techniques of a prototype measurement system are described in detail with exemplary measurement results.