Limits or homing switchs???

[irving2008]

theres a good thread on CNCZone about magentic hall effect devices...

i think if you used weak magnets (see the thread for reasons why) and mounted them at the limits and put the sensor on the moving part (yes i know it complicates things but means the 'sticky swarfy' bit is generally away from the cutting area...) then they could work well... and its cheap...

[tribbles]

Since I'm cutting foam, I'd be more concerned about the foam dust blocking up the optical sensors.

I'm not sure how aluminium swarf would impact magnets (sure, steel swarf would)...

I've got reed switches rather than hall effect devices (which can easily replace microswitches). However, I'm not sure about their accuracy for home switches. Since the frame of my machine is steel, I can easily move the limits since the magnets stick to it :)

(Seriously, I'd glue them down when I was satisfied they're in a good location).