[wmgeorge]

Ok I have a probe and it works great with Crafty CNC software but what I really want is the Bed of Nails method so I can scan for example a round decorative metal plate with raised features.

I see lots of talk online about this, and that whatever. How the old Wizard in Mach3 was outdated and not working... bah bah. So there is a new Wizard in Mach3 and as usual No, zero, nada documentation, except in bits and pieces found online and some of that might be for the Old version who knows?

So is there documentation for the included new Wizard someplace that does not come up in a search, and does it work? Other than trial and error and the chance for wrecking a $150 probe I am just wondering.

I am not asking for "free' just something that works.

[vmax549]

The FIRST bed of nails function that ART created works OK . The later surface probing version ART created( Creepy Crawler version) does not work.

Just a thought(;-) TP

[wmgeorge]

The FIRST bed of nails function that ART created works OK . The later surface probing version ART created( Creepy Crawler version) does not work.

Just a thought(;-) TP

So what your saying is the current Probe Digitizing Wizard does not work. The one I downloaded with Mach3 last year? So if its not working why is it there??? Is there one in Mach4 or available for M4 work? Hey, thanks for the reply!!!

[vmax549]

There are 2 surface probing wizards for Mach3 that are included. One is a Wizard and the other may be a plugin Wizard. There is one encluded in teh Wizards section written by ART it is a bed of nails function and does work. You define teh area X/Y of teh scan and teh amount of step over and it writes teh Gcode file for you to run.

(;-) TP

[ger21]

If you downloaded it separately, it's probably the plugin, which does not work. As Terry said, the included wizard does work.

[wmgeorge]

If you downloaded it separately, it's probably the plugin, which does not work. As Terry said, the included wizard does work.

No I downloaded it all together. I did not want to try and have it screw up my probe. I figure I can do that myself!! I will give it a try and see how it turns out. I was trying to get the gentleman who wrote Probe It1 to include in his excellent program. Thanks for the replies you two, It really helps to hear from experts.

[wmgeorge]

Here is what I posted above. better to be here.

Well I tried the Scan Wizard from Mach3 yesterday. What a joke.
I placed the very small object on a piece of styrofoam stuck down with double faced tape

.Learned from trial and error that scan starts lower left corner of the table by the object. Zero for Z is on the table or foam in this case. Z travel height is distance from table to above your object say .5 inch or so. So probe distance is that plus the height of your object, or how far the probe will go everything looking for a trip point. That must have a - (minus) in front of that number. Step over X and Y is the resolution you want .1 and .1 will be 1/10 of a inch or mm. Feed rate I set real low like at 3. It takes hours to do even a small scan.

Make sure your computer does not go to sleep or have any power saving features and is not connected online. I got 3/4 done and it faulted out on a "Soft Limit" error??? I do not even have that enabled!!

Big issue it does NOT always ask for a file name or make a file!! You can not save the setup screen from above, so each time you want to try.... you need to enter All the info again. The Wizard looks like someone slapped it together and said, good enough they will figure it out.

It did make a XYZ text file that could be read with notepad but it lacked information that would let it be converted into a Mesh and exported as a STL. I am assuming if the program had not of crashed the file might have worked.

[ger21]

Digitizing Wizard Settings:

Width and Height:
Size of probing area. 0,0 is origin, and width and height must be positive.

Z axis Travel Height:
Z level for rapid moves

Z axis probe depth:
Length of probing move along Z axis. Negative values probe down, positive values probe up.

X and Y Stepover:
Probing grid spacing

Big issue it does NOT always ask for a file name or make a file!!

The first line created is M40. M40 calls a dialog to save the file. I get this every time, as soon as cycle start is pressed.

It did make a XYZ text file that could be read with notepad but it lacked information that would let it be converted into a Mesh and exported as a STL

The wizard creates a point cloud only. You'll need other software to convert it to an .stl. No further information is required to do this.

[wmgeorge]

Well the M40 did not always work or I would not have put that above. The point cloud file might have worked if the program had not of crashed, and I will look into that today. The Wizard has a lot of short comings but no one else seems interested in making an improved one. I am looking into using a Kinect and some software to do scanning, but that may be just a fun thing but nothing we can use.

Thanks for the reply Gerry, its always good to hear from someone who knows.

[vmax549]

Art also wrote a converter program to convert the points cloud.

MachCloud point viewer program

Near the bottom of the page.

IF you are probing at that speed of course it is going to be slow going. (;-)

The real beauty of CNC is you do not have to stand there and watch it work.

Here I have never seen it NOT work. It is by nature a slow process IF you are using a fine resolution.

Just a thought , (;-) TP

[wmgeorge]

Yes, I have it scanning even as we type. Gerry, I might not of had the cursor at the top of the created g code file as it worked just fine now. I made sure it was starting at the M40. Thanks guys... again. BTW I thought I had Nortons turned all the way off before, but it still was doing Performance tasks in the background.... not anymore.

[wmgeorge]

I did get it working thanks Gerry and others. The Mach3 MachCloud program does work and I was able to create a STL file and take into VCarve Pro. I also found another program CloudCompare - Open Source project and after fiddling with it a bit learned enough to turn a point cloud into a STL and I will upload that file If I can find it again. The Cloudcompare program has a lot of support and potential, MachCloud is simpler to use but zero docs again. the other has a lot of documentation and video instruction.

The wood colored image is from the MachCloud file yesterday, the blue is from today. The actual object was about 3 inches long and 1.5 inches high, 1/2 inch thick. The bump out on the one side is the wire sticking out.

[ChucksWood]

Art also wrote a converter program to convert the points cloud.

MachCloud point viewer program

Near the bottom of the page.

IF you are probing at that speed of course it is going to be slow going. (;-)

The real beauty of CNC is you do not have to stand there and watch it work.

Here I have never seen it NOT work. It is by nature a slow process IF you are using a fine resolution.

Just a thought , (;-) TP

Im using machcloud but when I save it just saved as a "file" and not a STL. What am I doing wrong?