CNC Probe - Tried this one?

Has anyone tried one of these probes??

http://medw.co.uk/wiki/CNC+Probe

Seems it might work ok, price is good.

Good or bad idea?

The other option is a 3d-taster device but the cost is way higher, proven to work though.

To me they appear to be chalk and cheese and the first is little more than a slightly adjustable £10 cheap probe which allows you to dial out spindle run out but only if placed 100% accurately into spindle every time where as the Haimer type is a quality precision tool.

I would go for the standard £10 probe or the quality precision tool and dismiss the first but thats just my opinion, I can see no great gains from the design just a lot of faffing for little gain.

The only real benefit i can see with an electronic one is that you can use Mach probing macro's etc.

I do that with an upside down 4mm broken mill for nothing.

Hmm, but the work or tool needs to be isolated for the circuit to work no??

Not on my current MDF bed and on the mill usually in the vice when edge or centre finding vice is easy to isolate when mounting.

Ah Ok.

Most of my stuff is clamped to the mill table so no way of isolating it really, would need to be an isolated tip probe.

This would be an isolated tip, pick up the wires from beeper or led switch to connect to mach probing and save 90%

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160mm-Led-...25.m3641.l6368

Interesting, thanks, I would have to butcher it though as the body is 20mm - mini-mill max is 12mm

Still, it might serve as a useful donor of parts.

They do a 12mm as someone was posting the other week on here "Boyan" I think i recall, and as Mach inputs are usually 5v even taking battery connections should work, leaving beep and led intact.

I have two of these. I got mine from the USA but I think its the same unit. Does what I need, its wired as a probe input via my CS Labs into Mach. I dont have a plugin to use it properly yet, just a lack of time from my side. Not as accurate as a Renishaw but nowhere the same cost either.

I have one spare - happy to sell it for around £75 including local shipping.

Thanks

I've got the deepgroove1 touch probe, although I think it's one of the more expensive ones now, however I can't fault it.

Repeatability is in the sub 0.05mm range, but some/most of that is likely to be lack of repeatability in the machine it's mounted on. I made up a small interface board for mine, as I didn't want to switch the KStep 24V opto directly with it, so the board means the probe is only switching 5V. The board also provides a couple LEDs so I know it's got power, and if the probe is triggered.

I bought two of these type (they're all the same really) from George (komatias) but haven't had time to play with them yet. I also need to make more travel on the Z axis now to use them as they're quite long.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by njhussey

they're quite long.

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Yes that would be a big problem.