I Want To Build One

[Rik]

O.K. I know, I'm getting to be a pest.
I want to build a touch off plate and I want to know how.
I have a two sided copper pcb material, and wire but now what do I do with it.
I know these things, I solder a wire to the plate, but, how many conductors? Where do I add the alligator clip and then where do the wires go? I have Mach 3. Most of my searches come up with, how to build probes, but I want to know about a simple touch off plate, so tool changing Z heights are the same. I need simple details and diagrams. Thanks guys.

[Adrian]

Some links in this thread - http://forum.vectric.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18677 - that you might find useful.

[zeeway]

That post should give you the basics. The blue screen that is available for Mach3 has a built in script for zeroing your z axis.

Are you using a Gecko 540 controller? If so, you use the probe input - run a wire (single conductor) to a point near your router/spindle. Connect your z plate to this point.

Angie

[4DThinker]

Since this thread is about touch plates, does anyone have a clue how to add one to a LinuxCNC box? I have no problem making the plate and cable. The controller doesn't have anything that looks like a dedicated probe or plate jack. This is for a Probotix Meteor. I have one and we'll be getting another for the furniture lab I teach in. The students are already familiar with using a Touch plate as we have one on the large Multicam and small CNC Shark they use. Trying to get the job setup standardized.

Thanks in advance.

4D

[TReischl]

Just a note, I use a touch plate via the 2010 Screenset (written by Ger21). It can use two touch plates for multi tool jobs.

A while back the router on the machine needed some repair. It is a Porter Cable 892. I dropped on the PC 690's in it. Suddenly touch probing no longer worked. Evidently there is some insulation between the spindle and the body of the router. Dropped the 892 back in and no problem.

If your router conducts then you only need one wire going from the plate to the input. In a dual plate setup like mine, the two wires are just twisted together. The software has no idea which plate it is really looking at, just a signal.

[TReischl]

Oh, btw, a touch plate is the greatest thing since sliced bread! They make life easier, but more importantly they substantially increase accuracy relative to Z.

In the old days I used a gage block and always had a miniscule step between cuts with different tools. Setting by feel just don't get it.

[vgraves]

Not to hijack the thread, but I've got a touch plate running under LinuxCNC. As far as the wiring goes, I just used single conductor wire to both the pcb plate and the alligator clip. These were combined in a ?5mm? audio connector that plugs into an audio extension cable mounted on my router. This cable runs back to my control box.

There was a thread on cnczone about this, and I implemented something that only required a gcode subroutine rather than ladder logic. Someone took that info and made a web tip out of it: http://7xcnc.com/software/probing/. Hope this helps.

Van

[Rik]

O.K. great conversation but, how do you make it, what wires go where, how many wires. I need a diagram for now. I will get the screenset after I've built the touch plate's. Maybe some pics of the simple plates too?

[Adrian]

There's nothing special about the plates. The only important thing is that it's a uniform thickness.

You don't say what machine or controller you're using so it's hard for anyone to tell you where the wires go without that information. All you're looking to do is to create a circuit for one of your spare inputs.

[Rik]

My bad. I Have Gecko 201, cnc4pc C-10 BOB, C-37 Relay, cnc4pc Mini Power Supply, and of course Mach 3.

[ssflyer]

Not to be rude, but have you read the manual?
Their user manual actually includes a diagram of a "Auto Tool Zero" setup

[Rik]

No not rude. It has been a while, must download a newer copy of the manual, can't locate it here at home. I just thought that, this simple little thing could be shared.

[ssflyer]

It's just that, unless someone has your exact setup, there's no way to tell you how to do it. Even with your exact setup, there are several different pins it can be wired to.

[angelkarla]

Hope this helps Others

I to am building touch plate
I have followed the makers guide.com videos and downloaded the blue big tex screen, but had a few problems installing it.
For some reason on installation it duplicated the mach 3 folder with just the bitmaps in for the screen.
It did however work when copied back to the original. It was the same on two seperate computers.

[Rik]

O.K. I got it. I will use a piece of pcb material and solder two wires to it. One is for connection to the breakout board if necessary and the other is for a grounding alligator clip. I have been told that with Mach 3 a resistor may also be needed. I guess that's really all that's needed.