Hi All, when I went to start my session, I found that the Tormach probe appears broken/disassembled:
Could someone comment on what happened?
Hi Kyle, thanks for bringing this up—could you please also fill out a problem report to ensure this gets seen by the appropriate volunteers?
Sorry @kyle.spafford kyle, the connection just randomly failed while probing the other day. The new one is there i just ran out if time yesterday to wire/calibrate it. Will definitely glue the connection again on this one
Initially I was going to suggest a more robust probe but I don’t think there is really anything between the $50 and $1000 price point that’s a good option. We can crash a lot of those probes for $1000 and other than not being hard wired they work great and repeat well. Maybe we should design a little clip to hold the usb cable in and then epoxy it. The hot glue I used last time was only gonna work for so long.
Ah, OK. I saw the new one in the bottom drawer and figured the replacement might be in progress. Please let me know when it is available. It is hard to go back to the manual edge finder.
Would it be frowned upon for members to have their own probe? You would have to recalibrate at the beginning of every session which could be a pain.
But, I am finding it a bit nicer to have my own tool holders, mod vise jaws, etc.
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@kyle.spafford I don’t believe you are alone in that. I know a couple members who have varying degrees of their own setups.
Yah that was definitely my bad, I had told nik. but missed you on the schedule.
You could definitely get one for yourself if you’d like. You can just mark the old offsets then change yours in the offsets when using then change back. ( need to make sure someone doesn’t use the wrong ones though)
For sure @jimbojsb I will whip up a clip. Also amazon had accident protection for like $ 8-12 on it . Will definitely buy that next time. So it’s even cheaper when it breaks
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Nik had me order an additional replacement for just the tip so we have one on hand immediately when needed.
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@jimbojsb Would you say a bit more about the problems with probes in the 50-1000 price range? Thoughts on Tormach’s passive probe?
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The problem is there aren’t many. And if you crash one, like crash it for real, you’re out $500 or $1000 and not $50. Now, if you just baby crash it, it’s more likely to survive. The Tormach probe is insanely overpriced. Probably the best probe for the money is a Hallmark ITTP. That’s what I use on my personal Tormach. The other one I would consider is a Drewtronics.
@kyle.spafford if you wanted most of the convenience of probing and wanted to bring your own tool, I think a Haimer 3d Taster is probably the right answer. It’s almost as fast as probing, tips are breakaway and readily available on Amazon prime, doubles as a dial indicator for most use cases, and doesn’t need to only be set in tool 99 in pathpilot, you can save that offset to any slot (my personal one is in 98…). Mine is in a BT30 tool holder so I can’t demo it for you at the shop but if you’re thinking of going that way I’d be happy to let you indicate some pieces in my garage and see if you think it’s right for you.
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Makes sense, thank you for the info. Lots to think over.
Also, no need for a demo of the Haimer. I think i have seen enough info/videos of their use online to have a good idea of what that would be like. Thanks for the offer though.
Can you please post some links? I searched for “Haimer 3d Taster” and got all sorts of stuff.
Here is a video where the maker of the Hallmark probe compares it to using a Haimer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAh_YFhH_V8&list=PLnhBXrvCgEaKUQn_6Og_SjgilcuebjqkH
Search results for: 'Haimer' Various models, you’d need one with a TTS holder to use at the shop. I have the metric one, it’s a little nicer form factor, but if you want to actuall measure things with it too you’d probably want the inch one.