[lew90nicis]

Hi guys,

I hope this is the correct section to post this thread. It is tormach related I suppose.

I have converted an optimum bf30 to cnc and recently fitted it with a tormach tooling system (which I love).

I now want to buy a tormach passive probe so I can home the mill directly from the fixture plate. However, as I don't own a PCNC1100 or 770 will I be able to modify the probe so I can use it on my converted cnc mill?

Any info on this would be greatly helpful,

John.

[AVRnj]

In short, yes, no problem. All the passive probe is, is a NC switching device. When the probe tip is touched, it closes the circuit and sends a signal to the BOB and in turn, Mach3 or whatever control software you are using.

Tormach even sells the female connector that you can very easily (2 wires) wire to your BOB.

You won't be able to use the convenient macros for zeroing x, y , z or centering a circle, and you won't be able to use Tormachs zeroing utility, but those are all things you can do yourself, the macros are out there on the internet in various places.

I will also tell you that you can build your own if you are so inclined, or there are cheaper probes available to buy as well if you are not using a Tormach, but the Tormach passive probe is very good and mine came out of the box perfectly zero'd.

Hi guys,

I hope this is the correct section to post this thread. It is tormach related I suppose.

I have converted an optimum bf30 to cnc and recently fitted it with a tormach tooling system (which I love).

I now want to buy a tormach passive probe so I can home the mill directly from the fixture plate. However, as I don't own a PCNC1100 or 770 will I be able to modify the probe so I can use it on my converted cnc mill?

Any info on this would be greatly helpful,

John.

[lew90nicis]

Hi AVR,

Thanks for the prompt response.

That's good news. Just to be clear though, I will be able to use the probe to for finding hole centers etc but only if I use my own macros?

The pin out diagram for on the connector on the probe appears to have 5 pins. Do you know what the other 3 pin are used for?

I also had a look on tormachs website for the female connector with 2 wires out, but had no joy finding it. Do you know what this item is called?

John.

[AVRnj]

Hi AVR,

Thanks for the prompt response.

That's good news. Just to be clear though, I will be able to use the probe to for finding hole centers etc but only if I use my own macros?

The pin out diagram for on the connector on the probe appears to have 5 pins. Do you know what the other 3 pin are used for?

I also had a look on tormachs website for the female connector with 2 wires out, but had no joy finding it. Do you know what this item is called?

John.

John, yes, you will be able to probe with your own macros, the buttons are in Mach3 already, they just don't have the macros included. I think there are some skins of Mach3 you can get that have them, but I am not sure about that, I remember reading something like Mach3std or something like that had them, but not sure, it was a while ago. I have seen the Z zero macro floating around quite a bit, and I would think x and y would be relatively easy to modify the code from Z if you cannot find them anywhere.

I am pretty sure that only 2 of the 5 connectors are currently being used.

Here is the link to the female connector:

30178 - Mini-DIN, 5 position socket

If you go this route, make sure to look at the wiring diagram and get the same ones wired on the female to your BOB as the passive probe does.

[MFchief]

John,

If you search this forum for "wild Horse", you'll find a few threads discussing other probe alternatives that might be of interest, most of them cheaper than the Tormach probes.

Also I believe what AVRnj was referring to is Mach Std Mill. It's an add on for Mach 3 that has some pretty nice probing macro's. They have a web site with videos if you want to check it out, I believe the company name is Calypso.

Terry

[lew90nicis]

Cheers guys and thank you for the information, it's all been very helpful.

John.

[brian257]

I just got the Tormach probe for my Bridgeport conversion which I also recently got a bunch of TTS tooling for. You can easily use it on another machine with Mach. For some reason they don't have a lot of information on the probe separately. Most of the instructions are in the PCNC full manual which you can download on their site. A friend is using Machstandard mill for his probe and that is probably the way I will do it also. I have not paid much attention the connector they use, but I do electronics for a living and if I can't find the correct mating connector I will just cut the connector off and put my own on.

[UniqueMachining]

MSM (Mach Std Mill) is the screen set referred to. Attached are some screen sets for the probing functions.
I have been using it for years and probing is just one of its superior functions.
Try their web site for a full explanation.

The link to Mach Std Mill is below.

Calypso Ventures, Inc.

John