Hold down clamps, what do you use?

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Originally Posted by Tenson

That's clever! How do you implement such a an auto-z sensing circuit for Mach3?

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Some links for you Tenson: Mach3 CNC Probe Tool, Laser Zero finder < this one has the touch off plate featured.

Let me know if you need any more help on this.

.Me

I've just posted this if anyone would like to make a set of clamps:

Link: Step clamp design - Hold down thin or irregular shaped objects while milling!

Here's what I've implemented (the green touch off sensor wire is bottom right of picture) & the croc clip attached to Jonathan's spindle mount!)...

http://www.hostmyjpg.com/images/03241b2c_5.jpg

the beauty about a long clamp is that you don't need a lot of force to hold down the board, which means less warp upwards in the middle of the board.


it's very simply, but if you mill pcbs often, it's definitely the way to go

Tenson,
hopefully this pic will give you a better idea of how it works. This is 25mm thick plate its clamping. At the moment I have a wooden bed so Im using a wood screw but once my ali bed is in place I can use a 6mm bolt.




Attachment 5784


Ian

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HankMcSpank

you don't need a lot of force to hold down the board, which means less warp upwards in the middle of the board.

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Hence I just use double sided tape for PCBs. No distortion as well, no force really...
You could drill a 4mm hole somewhere convenient in or near the spindle mount and put a 4mm 'banana plug' on the wire. Annoyingly that method doesn't work for me since. presumably, the oil in the spindle bearings is electrically insulating the tool so I have to clip directly to the tool.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Web Goblin

Tenson,
hopefully this pic will give you a better idea of how it works. This is 25mm thick plate its clamping. At the moment I have a wooden bed so Im using a wood screw but once my ali bed is in place I can use a 6mm bolt.

Ian

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Thanks for the picture, I imagined it the other way around with the flat part pushing down on the material. I might just copy some of these :)

The dxfs are here, hopefully.

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