[apeman88]

I bought an econo touch probe (http://www.wildhorse-innovations.com...d&productId=80) a few years back and never hooked it up. Just found it and would like to use it with my Tormach and having some problems hooking it up.

The Econo probe is a NC circuit (circuit complete until probe tip hits breaking circuit) and pin 5 of the input on the Tormach panel is a negative trigger (trips when negative signal is given). So in a sense, it needs to be reverse (either Econo Probe or the Tormach/Mach 3 trigger).

I understand I can ask Tormach for the Mach 3 files and change the input to active... but without modding the Tormach/mach3 settings... is there a way to hook this up so it will work? Anyone else got this probe? What did you guys do?

I'm thinking about finding a NC Photovoltaic Relay to hook it up inside the econo Probe so it will reverse the signal. Not sure if this is a good idea. Reason for this is to keep the Tormach as original as possible and also to make the LED on the Econo Probe work.

[davidperry3]

I have that one. The fix is in the XML file. Tormach will tell you how to do it... after you sign away your warrenty. It takes about 30 seconds to change the file and you will kik yourself for not figuring it out in the first place. I agreed not to tell, so in the interest of not antagonizing them this is all you get :-)
If your warrenty is out anyway then it won't matter. If I remember right this saved me about $1500 over their probe and tool setter.

[apeman88]

Thanks.... warranty has been gone for 2yrs so not worried about that.

Can you advise after the config changes the LED on the probe will still not work? Looking at the circuit... I don't think it will. This is part of the reason I was thinking about hooking up a relay to swap the hi/lo output but am afraid of the relay delay.

[davidperry3]

I will have to look. I don't have it up on this job. I will let you know in a few days. It seems like there was a way to make the LED work depending on how you wired up the plug. If nothing else just contact the Wildhorse guy he was very helpful to me.

[davidperry3]

I hooked my probe back up and the LED (on the probe and the screen) does come on when touched.

[apeman88]

I hooked my probe back up and the LED (on the probe and the screen) does come on when touched.

Really??? Humm.... For me... the screen LED comes on but the LED on the body of the probe is not working. I took it apart and understand the probe is basically a NC switch and it will open when probe tip is moved. I can wire it so the LED is on and when it touch, the LED goes off but cannot wire it where the LED is OFF and turns on when it touches. Do you remember how you wired it up?

Thanks for the confirmation. I'll have to tear my apart and try to figure it out.

[davidperry3]

No I don't remember the wire combinations. Call the guy at WildHorse he will tell you how to do it.

[Matt Clara]

How do you guys like your econo-probes? I'm thinking of purchasing one, but there's not a single review of the part anywhere I can find. I see I've found my way to a metal working forum--will the econo-probe still work on wood? From its description, I'd say it should, but all the examples show it as metal probe touching metal part.

[M250cnc]

Matt Clara

The answer to your question is yes it will work for wood

Then again you would spend more money that you need a better option for wood workers would be a cross hair laser. There have beeen some threads over on the Mach3 forum about them.

As an owner of one which i bought for $100 i would say they are at the lower end of quality.

If you are a precision engineer like me rather than DIY engineer then you may be disappointed in the design/quality

I re engineered mine and am now extremely happy with it.

I made my own height setter that works on the same principal but it is only 15mm high


Phil

[apeman88]

For $100, I have no complaints. Yes, it is not a super high quality unit but then again, it didn't cost $2000+. It's not a Renishaw.

That being said, the econo probe works very well. It is based on touch and not conductive so it will work with any type of material including wood.

I would love to get a really nice touch probe (Tormach or Renishaw)... but as a hobbyist, still can't justify the cost.... so got my eye on eBay for now. :-)

[Matt Clara]

Thanks guys. I also want to use it to "trace" objects with my router/mach 3, creating 3D models out of the resultant information. Wildhorse says it'll work fine for that, so I'm going to go for it.

[Magnum164]

Thanks guys. I also want to use it to "trace" objects with my router/mach 3, creating 3D models out of the resultant information. Wildhorse says it'll work fine for that, so I'm going to go for it.

I debated going that route but broke down and bought a Microscribe unit. It can also be used for part qualification as well. But the price is a little more unless you can find a good used one.

[Matt Clara]

I debated going that route but broke down and bought a Microscribe unit. It can also be used for part qualification as well. But the price is a little more unless you can find a good used one.

The microscribe site doesn't list their prices--I hate that!

So I went to ebay to look. They cost over 10x the wildhorse product.

Wildhorse it is.

[Magnum164]

The microscribe site doesn't list their prices--I hate that!

So I went to ebay to look. They cost over 10x the wildhorse product.

Wildhorse it is.

Yes, you have to use one a lot to justify the price. I hate that they don't list the price as well and the $10K is for the MX which is .002 accuracy $6K is for the G2X which is .009.

[David Bord]

Matt Clara

The answer to your question is yes it will work for wood

Then again you would spend more money that you need a better option for wood workers would be a cross hair laser. There have beeen some threads over on the Mach3 forum about them.

As an owner of one which i bought for $100 i would say they are at the lower end of quality.

If you are a precision engineer like me rather than DIY engineer then you may be disappointed in the design/quality

I re engineered mine and am now extremely happy with it.

I made my own height setter that works on the same principal but it is only 15mm high


Phil

Phil, would you be willing to share some details on your height setter? Thats a nice looking piece! Also, any tips on modifying the probe? I have one but like you found the quality to be a bit off for precision work. Its great to play with but I want something for checking hole centers and setting my vise.

David

[M250cnc]

Hi David,

Thanks for your comments

The faults i describe may not be apparent in newer models

The probe screws together and relies on the thread for aligning the three parts that make up the body as the thread was a very poor fit it was possible to move the concentricity of the parts when handling the probe.

To overcome this i turned a boss on each of the ends and shallow bore on the middle part to allow the three parts to come together accurately.

The circuit board was a loose fit in the middle section of the probe, again leading to never getting consistent set up. I made a new PCB board with a better fit

The calibration was carried out with three adjusting points "So think how difficult it would be to adjust a 4 jaw chuck using only three adjusting points. I put 4 adjusting screws in place

The sacrificial centre piece is made by casting if you look at the wildhorse site you can clearly see this is very poorly made. I made a new one by machining it.

The probe tip broke and i then found it was made from very soft steel. I made a new one using tool steel "Silver Steel". The probe tip broke due to to an upgrade of Mach3 and the script worked different. SO ALWAYS CHECK AFTER AN UPDATE, TOUCHING THE PROBE WITH LOTS OF CLEARANCE.

If i was to make this item to sell i could put these faults right and sell at a similar price, more importantly i would design it so that a limit/estop would be triggered if the probe moved too far to minimise the possibility of braking the probe

Converting the econo probe backwards and forwards between tool setting and probing would give very poor results due to the poor repeatability

Hence i made the toolsetter i did this on the fly so i have no drawings that i can show you sorry. There are drawing of the inner workings of these probes so you could make your own with a bit of modification.

As i said i bought mine for $100 but they are now being sold for $140

There was no instructions on how to set the probe up (Maybe the maker doesn't know how) To do this i made a square steel block with a hole dead centre. This is precision made being ground all over. I find the centre of this using a DTI and zero an offset G55 or whatever now i change to G54 and probe the hole and with a custom screen i can adjust some presets to get the probe to read Zero like the DTI

If the maker reads this he will now know how

Phil

[Matt Clara]

The faults i describe may not be apparent in newer models

If the maker reads this he will now know how

Phil

Phil,
How much to get you to update my wildhorse touch probe?

[M250cnc]

Phil,
How much to get you to update my wildhorse touch probe?

Hi i am not sure if you are joking or not but i am on the other side of the Atlantic ocean in the UK

So it wouldn't be practical to upgrade your probe due to the postage cost alone.

In fact it would be far cheaper if i was to make and sell a complete probe.

The laser crosshair i mentioned is for sale in the US for under $5 see this thread http://www.machsupport.com/forum/ind...c,14932.0.html

Phil

[Matt Clara]

Hi i am not sure if you are joking or not but i am on the other side of the Atlantic ocean in the UK

So it wouldn't be practical to upgrade your probe due to the postage cost alone.

In fact it would be far cheaper if i was to make and sell a complete probe.

The laser crosshair i mentioned is for sale in the US for under $5 see this thread http://www.machsupport.com/forum/ind...c,14932.0.html

Phil

Well, I was going to add a smiley emoticon, but thought, let's see what he says. So, how much for one of your fancy fabricated probes?

While we're on the subject, Digital Machinist had an advertisement for a probe from www.performancemotion.com. There isn't much info there, so I wrote and asked how much for the 1/4" and what kind of resolution can we expect from it. They got back to me on Saturday. Here's what they said:

"The price for the 1/4 shank with tool sensor is $240.00. The resolution is better that .001."