I just bought a small cnc mill to try light production work. I have been a machinist for about 15 years and I am realizing this cnc stuff is an entirely different world. G code is currently voodoo to me. I am wondering if this little TP100 probe might help me get off of top dead center.

Aug 22, 2003 - As of this date the DeskCNC, TP-100 touch trigger probe is released. This device is a mechanical contact probe capable of scanning a.

I have prototypes I've cast out of plastic but I run into walls everywhere I turn when I take the dimensions and try to plot them on the computer. I just don't know enough about cad/cam yet. My machine is a three HP, 3 axis machine with ballscrews and reliance servo motors. My software is Bobcad version 19 and Mach 2 on a slow Windows XP machine. I realize practice makes perfect but I really can't wait 6 months to learn g code and start production. So if anyone has advice on this probe or maybe the Renishaw MP11 or similar devices, I would appreciate the help.

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While I'm thinking about it, do I need a 4th axis for a digitizer to make a complete 3D schematic of my parts? I am making parts that are roughly 6 inches by 4 inches by 2 inches or smaller out of mild steel, aluminum or plastic. Recommendations on cnc books for beginers might be nice too! Thanks for any and all help, Rick. Rick, you've bitten off quite a chunk.

I don't know what a TP100 probe is, but digitizing on your CNC mill might be more complicated than learning your CAD/CAM. Here are the issues as I understand them. If anyone has better information, please speak up. When you digitize with the CNC, you need a program to move the probe around and take the point readings.

I am not sure exactly where you would get this program. The result from the digitizing is a text file that contains X,Y,Z locations for thousands of points on the model. You can set up how small you want the point grid. A smaller (tighter) grid is more accurate, but increases your file size and time expontentially. So let's say that you are able to get the point cloud data. Now this has to be turned into a solid model or surfaced model so Bobcad can apply tool path to it. This is a difficult job in itself.

You may want to post some pictures of your models so we can respond better about the 4th axis work. If you are doing full 3D sculptures then maybe, but otherwise you can get by with some indexing fixtures. Just think about it like you would machine it manually, the CNC just replaces you cranking on the handles. If you have a 4 axis mill, then a 4 axis digitizer would be appropriate, otherwise its probably not needed.

Kind of long winded, but here's some suggestions. Work through the tutorials with Bobcad. That won't take too long. You have to build your skills up on easier projects and then work your way up to the hard stuff.

Kind of like a machine shop apprenticeship. I doubt if your first project was to make an injection mold.

Probably, just cut off some stock and square it up. You have to build up your CNC skills the same way. You are way ahead of the curve with a machining background.

The CNC part is relatively easy after that. Hi there, I don't have a probe (yet), but I've always looked at it as something to add on to my machine once I knew how to use it properly. Would you not be better off trying to learn CAD/CAM properly now, rather than trying to avoid it? I had no experince with CAD and I managed to teach myself the basics in a few days just by using the help files and some simple tutorials. After a bit more practice, I was able to do more complex objects.

BTW, if your 3hp mill is 'small', then I'm not sure what mine would be classed as. Regards Warren. I don't think a probe will really do what you want it to. The probe will only give you X, Y and Z coordinates of points you take. You would still have to creat the g-code for the part. A couple of options.

Find some online references for g-code, and study the heck out of it. I'm sure you can find something, but it may be hard to find something that explains from very basic to moderately complexity. This board is a great start though. Find someone to do your g-code for you, until you can figure it out.

After seeing a couple of parts done, you should be able to decifer it with the information you find online. Then learn from there. I happen to do such work (shameless plug). Reverse engineering, modeling from scratch, programming, etc are some of the things I have done. Find some simple programms either here, or from doing an online search, that explains line by line what the code does. Again, I'm not familiar with any such places, but this board would be a great start. I would think throwing a couple programs together to do simple stuff (squares, circles, simple parts with steps, etc) would be kind of fun for most people here.

Ask, ask, ask. Everyone here is great with helping those that need help. If you find something that you don't exactly understand, post here and you'll get more than enough help. Hell, I would've figured 'BDC' to be used like that. Thanks for the info though.;) I agree with with DAB, digitizing with a probe on a machine can be done. But to go as far as reverse engineering an entire part in full 3D will take some serious programming.