Issue type: Equipment Problem Area: Metal Shop Equipment: Tormach PCNC 1100 Summary: 3D probe body rattling on dowel Additional Info: On the 3d probe the plastic housing was visibly loose. It can spin and wobble along with the indicating tip. The collet nut is tight and holds the metal dowel normally. The probe still lights up and triggers.
Report generated from a filing. This report has also been sent to Asmbly staff, leadership, and space leads with any contact info that was provided. Provide additional photos or resources here to help. When the problem is resolved, ensure it is marked.
Installed and calibrated the probe, thanks Julie for helping me find it!
I’m pretty impressed by these cheap little probes. They don’t quite work with the on screen instructions due to using four set screws instead of three, so instead I adjusted opposing sides by marking and flipping the probe’s tts holder 180 degrees in the spindle, then repeated on the other axis. I was probing off the stationary jaw of the mod vise, and I found it worked best to keep the set screws mostly tight and to only rotate the hex wrench about a tenth of a rotation at a time before doing the opposite on the other side. When the opposing sides of the probe are close to equal Y+ coordinates, I tightened them down fully then backed off one screw for fine adjustment.
Turns out that the set screws also hold and align the 6mm metal shaft to the probe’s body, like a 4 jaw chuck centers something on a lathe. The old probe wasn’t going to get much more broken, so I poked at it a bit with some hex wrenches. It definitely feels like the metal the screws were touching was rough, but with enough wiggling it seems like it’s back together and working well enough to keep as a backup. It’s less accurate than the new probe, but not significantly. I put it in the new probe’s box and marked it as a repaired backup.
