Touch Probe Recommendation

[christopera]

Hi Dave,

I know you don't sell probes, but because of MSM I increasingly am relying on probing operations, especially so for work coordinate setup. Additionally, I am currently working on adding a fourth axis and eventually a fifth. As I see this progressing I only anticipate my use of the touch probe increasing. That said, my Wild Horse probe simply doesn't have the repeatability that I am looking for. At best I see around .005" repeatability, and the probe requires constant adjustment, which further complicated things as the master tool as the length varies with adjustment. I've abandoned it as a tool heigh setter and now use a touch plate constructed from PCB as you suggest in your documentation. Using the PCB I see around a .0002" +/- accuracy and better repeatability. I'd like to get my probing operations into that same ball park.

I see Mitutyoyo 902329 probes going for reasonable prices on eBay. It appears that this probe is no longer in production though, so parts could be an issue. Though I pride myself on having never crashed my probe, it will happen eventually. I've also tried to find specs on this probe, but have failed to do so. Given this, while I suspect it's of a better quality than my Wild Horse probe, it's hard to say what the actual performance of the probe would be.

Additionally, I've come across the IMService probes. They appear as though they should be a step up over the Wild Horse and appear to be more robust. Hopefully that would result in the desired accuracy and reapability fixes, but since I have no experience with the devices I don't know.

Finally, that leaves the Tormach Touch Probe, the lesser priced one. It appears like a top rate unit as well, again I have no experience though.

All of this said, I'm wondering if in your experience you prefer a make or model. Unfortunately I don't think I can justify a $3k Reninshaw unit, and even $1k is probably unjustifiable.

[DaveCVI]

Hi,
Well I hesitate to recommend one probe over another as everyone has a different balance they like for cost vs performance.

I will say that currently, my main probe is one of the lower price Tormach probes. I like the way it adjusts to make the probe tip centered. I initially went to it because it uses standard probe tips (which I get from https://itpstyli.com - I find them reasonably priced for probe tips). I also like using a real round ball tip instead of the nub on the tapered bolt shafts.

I modified the Tormach probe by replacing the cable with a jack in the side of the probe. Thus the cable can be remove from the probe body. This lets keep the probe in my ATC and I added smart logic to MSM for the ATC support to prompt the operator to connect the cable when the probe tool is mounted from the ATC etc.

Dave

[christopera]

Dave,

I'm glad I asked. I was leaning towards the Tormach unit, for real technical support if nothing else, but the probe tip price was actually something that was discouraging me. Your link changed that. In the Tormach documents they avoid using a test indicator as a means for centering the probe, at first that seems odd to me, but I guess when they purvey software that has a calibration facet you might as well push it.

As far as the jack connection, I had been considering a similar modification to my probe, not for an ATC (as I don't have that) but rather since the most common cord failures I see are near the termination. Given issues with the probe I could have a backup cord in waiting, if nothing else it would serve as a quick means of troubleshooting.

I understand the Tormach devise is simply a switch like many probes. I unfortunately have a Gecko G504 (I actually like it, but like many things it has challenges). With the Wild Horse probe I cut the LED setup out and wired it up NC (thus avoiding some of the challenges you outline in your documents). I let the LED on the MSM screen set do the work. Obviously there are drawbacks, but I run my system with zero debounce so my hope is that these types of delays are at least minimized. Given this, are there any additional challenges I should be aware of should I decide to purchase the Tormach probe?

[DaveCVI]

Nothing else comes to mind...
Dave

[Jos Raven]

Hi,
I moved from the Wildhorse to a Renishaw MP11 probe.
Also because of the difficult aligning of the tip and poor repeatability.

I made a straight shaft adapter for it with a 16mm shank.

I have not yet mounted it as I am waiting for the 16mm collet to arrive.

Jos Raven