[Strip]

I bought a Haimer! Yeaaah!!! I broke the tip!! Booooo!! My ignorant, uncoordinated self hit the release pedal before my hand had a grasp on it. it shattered the second it hit the the vice. I have never kept my indicating tools in the ATC. But I am considering keeping the haimer in there to keep this from happening. I do run coolant, Is this a bad idea?

[Hirudin]

If you have very high pressure coolant I'd advise against it. Coolant got into my Haimer after only a couple days and ruined it. It still looked like it was working, but it got gummed-up inside so wasn't reading accurately. It's basically a glorified dial indicator inside so it probably could have been repaired, but I failed when I tried.

If it's not too much hassle it's prolly best to play it safe and keep it outside. At least it's only used when you'll be standing at the machine anyway and you'll also have more room for cutting tools.

[keen]

Yeah I am paranoid about dropping my new Haimer...or slipping with the mouse.....I have one spare stylus.....it cost a lot to bring into NZ ... $200.00 to get it through customs. Plus about $50 from memory for freight.

But I love it!....such a time saver. I skimmed a thou off the bottom of my spindles so they are running perfectly true, and on one machine it ran almost perfectly true out of the box. The other about 1/2 thou out.

Keen

[Strip]

As a fail safe I always keep an empty hole on the atc for #1 tool. This way it's just easier for me to fetch tool #1 and zero the machine for the next part. I have just always manually installed #1 in the spindle and removed it before I store #1 back in the changer. To date, I have destroyed 2 dial indicators, 2 carbide mills and one haimer probe by pushing that foot feed before I was ready. Not sure why I do it, I guess I just get in a hurry and have a brain fart. But it sucked to break that haimer probe 20 minutes after I opened the box. Also, the one I purchased has a 3/4 shaft. Do I really need to put it in a chuck or can I just clamp it in the spindle as is?

[Hirudin]

To get the height-finding functionality out of a Haimer you really want to have it register (register - use a surface or point to accurately position another object) against the bottom of your spindle. This is what keen is referring to above - skimming the bottom surface of the spindle makes the registration more accurate.

Since you have a 3/4" shank, I think the best thing to do would be to get a "TTS conversion ring" from Tormach. They have two kinds. One that you epoxy on...
30675 - TTS Tool Conversion Kit
and one that you press on...
32432 - TTS Tool Conversion Kit

I'd assume the press-on one is better, but I haven't used either personally.

[Strip]

Actually, I did order the press on ring already, I am hoping I can heat the ring and it slip on, then I will cool it quickly so as to not transfer too much heat into the indicator. I do not know yet if this is going to work. If it doesnt, I am going to take a little off the ring and try it again. I see no viable way to press on the Haimer so I am hoping the heat thing works. The Haimer has a flat plate on the shaft now that I thought I could register on. I also ordered a 3/4 collet for an er 32. I prefer to not go this route because I really dont want a 10 lb indicator.

[MichaelHenry]

I used a glue-on adapter on my 3/4-in shaft Haimer and its been working fine for the past couple of years.

[CadRhino]

I have an atc and haimer.
My atc has not proven 100% reliable yet.
I would never store it in the atc. Plus, I need that extra tool space.

I bought a Haimer! Yeaaah!!! I broke the tip!! Booooo!! My ignorant, uncoordinated self hit the release pedal before my hand had a grasp on it. it shattered the second it hit the the vice. I have never kept my indicating tools in the ATC. But I am considering keeping the haimer in there to keep this from happening. I do run coolant, Is this a bad idea?

[shred]

I have an atc and haimer.
My atc has not proven 100% reliable yet.
I would never store it in the atc. Plus, I need that extra tool space.

Same here although my ATC is reliable, I don't want the Haimer being slapped around with every tool change, nor do I want it getting coolant in bad spots if spray happens to go the wrong way.

[Strip]

I have an atc and haimer.
My atc has not proven 100% reliable yet.
I would never store it in the atc. Plus, I need that extra tool space.

When I first bought my machine I had a lot of problems with the atc. I took it apart and tightened the setscrew on the carousal and havn't had a wreck since. But you do make a good point.

- - - Updated - - -

Well, I guess I will take everyones advice and hope I dont release it again.

[mountaindew]

I keep PDB adjusted to the point it takes some effort to remove tools , most the time. "they don't fall out "
This I guess would not be good idea for a ATC setup. I have broken a couple hamier probe tips from jogging around while on phone or distracted. At about 60$ each I learned fast to pay attention when that tool is being used. The hamier probe is so important to my work flow I would hate to damage it in any way. I keep another 5 tools in a rack to use if or when hamier is out of action. All the m3 and m5 commands to stop and start spindle for wiggle edge finders is enough to make anyone go bat crazy imho .

[popspipes]

I use cheapo dial indicators to set Z, I have broken 3 of these at about 15 dollars each.
I use a coaxial indicator for X and Y, imports are relatively cheap.

I make too many screwups to buy an expensive indicator.

[Steve Seebold]

I have used a Haimer 3D indicator for 15 years and love it. Sure, I have broken a few tips, but I always keep some spares on hand.

It's a whole lot faster than a conventional edge finder. And way more accurate.

[CadRhino]

Tightening everything, going to path pilot and doing the keyway fix have helped reliability in my atc tremendously. I am on week two of running it but have had one crash where the machine dropped down through the atc fork for some random reason. It may be a bad driver but I am not 100% confident until there are no more weird crashes that happen out if the blue. It is much much better than when I was running it in Mach and before I went through and tightened everything up.

When I first bought my machine I had a lot of problems with the atc. I took it apart and tightened the setscrew on the carousal and havn't had a wreck since. But you do make a good point.

- - - Updated - - -

Well, I guess I will take everyones advice and hope I dont release it again.

[Strip]

I received the new tip and finally got to use it and I absolutely love the haimer! On another note, I purchased the atc holder ring from tormach and heated it to a dull red. It dropped right on the 3/4" haimer shaft perfectly. I then quickly quinched it under my coolant nozzle to keep the ring from heating up the haimer. I now have a TTS ready haimer with no other holder or attachment. it made for a very compact and light set up.