I don’t think so. You need a locating feature either way.
For any work I do I have not seen a reason for XYZ probing.
1 Like
That would be nice!
I agree with this as well
Not a lot bigger but a little larger would be nice. At least a little longer. Sometimes with short bits its tough getting the fingers in there to hold it nice and flat
That’s exactly what I do
Yeah, I too wedge my plate into rando gaps around the router, it works, but…
Also, I don’t trust magnet sorcery enough to let the touch plate be ‘stowed’ on the body of the X stepper. So…
Maybe intentional mounting to existing 3D part (x stepper mount?) with an intentionally proud M3/M5 button head bolt or 2 sticking out… Maybe include 1 or 2 Key Hole cutout , a variant of your logo, cut out of the touch plate would be neat…
Design the touch plate and mounting point right, and maybe you end up with this being an opportunity to have the touch plate look like a sweet grill/feature… If you go down this path, please consider leaving room for drag pen/knife/diamond-bit mounts. Cheers!
2 Likes
I keep seeing this topic and I went on a little gcode adventure (later finding someone else did something similar on the forum). I used the touch plate to probe X, Y, and Z separately which ultimately ended with 0,0,0 such that the bit was exactly outside the corner of the workpiece. I agree that for most situations, this is more work than necessary. I feel like this would be useful for vertical milling of dovetails, or anything where you need accuracy on a piece of already dimensioned stock. If it’s quick and automated, why not? Am I missing something here? I do realize that this requires the workpiece to be square on the table, but that doesn’t seem too hard to deal with.
I still think this simple touchplate is sufficient for most usage.
1 Like
I also support a magnet for attachment. I’d like a slightly larger touch plate, with a slightly longer handle. Meh on the curly wire for me (more flexible is great though). I don’t mind it if most people think it’s worth it.
I’d really love a not-so-tiny-touchplate option. Because I already need to start the probe, I see value in something I could just chuck on top of the workpiece without holding it in place. I may eventually try to mill one for myself. It’s just the question of how to stow it on the core.
2 Likes
It would be cool to have a magnetic breakaway connector like this: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805255244289.html
Similar to my mono jack setup (The Second LR3 Build - #8 by SlowRider)
1 Like
The whole point of the XYZ would be to touch one of the sides twice in two spots, calculate the amount it is out of square (never perfect by hand), and then actually adjust teh gcode to account for it, basically skew correction. It is possible, and I think most of the code is already there for most firmware. I just don’t think it is something that a home gamer might use very often. I big machines you often rework large expensive parts so things like this are critical. For us, remaking the whole part is probably quicker that accurately trying to position a part to rework it, if you ever did want to rework it.
For this, I could only feasibly add a couple MM’s with the current process. It would be better to just design a handle, 3D printed or milled out.
That is why I didn’t go thicker / bigger. I actually want to go smaller for the surface. When doing tool changes if you are not ion a good spot sometimes that plate catches a already cut piece that is not super flat.
If you want a thick one it would need to be pluggable so you just take it off.
DUDE!!! that is slick. There are all sorts of those. That is awesome. I like it. Just really need to make sure the debris can not accumulate on it so that fine point one will not work but I bet there are some bigger ones.
1 Like
Can also just be a simple plug like the ones you use for guitars etc.
1 Like
Someone did that in one of these build posts, but I can’t find it.
1 Like
I did. But with another plug: Der Froschkönig - Lowrider 3 in Oldenburg, Germany - #419 by Tokoloshe. 
2 Likes
The one I was thinking of is a 1/4" audio plug and they remixed the SKR case
2 Likes
I like that one!
3 Likes
Dirt cheap, can be crimped with different jaws.
2 Likes
I linked above to one of my builds. Was it that one?
3 Likes
Yes! I swear I read what other people post… usually
3 Likes
Is there a way to permanently mount the wire instead of using a magnet? I was thinking of adding a fork lug to the wire that normally has the clip and place it under one of the cap screws on the Makita router. I wasn’t sure if that screw however would touch metal or just plastic. It would just be nice to only deal with the one wire and plate and never worry about connecting the other side.
Ok, so I confirmed that the metal housing is isolated from the shaft. I think it can still work if I attached a copper leaf to the core and have it just ride against the upper part of the shaft.
I am not excited about connecting the router and control board in any way while it is running. Routers can be extremely electrically noisy, you do not want a kill your board or have random job issues.
4 Likes
I’d say why not go with a magnetic breakaway connection on the plate and a separate magnetic connection to the core?
Personally I would love a thicker touch plate with some weight to it so you can put it down instead of one you have to hold in place. Doesn’t have to be to big a 2.5cm/1” in diameter would be more than enough.
I was already thinking about making my probe disconnect-able by using a mono mini jack plug. And gluing the female part to the core
And on the male part a magnetic connector to the shaft and the plate of course.