How to Setup a Touch Plate to Auto-Zero Z-Axis in Mach3

A common method of zeroing a CNC machines Z axis using Mach3 is done by using the paper friction test. While this works OK in a pinch, it is very inefficient and not really accurate.
A better way to zero our tool changes would be the use of a touch plate (conductive plate) to automatically feel our tolerances and zero our machine for us.
This video describes how to setup and use a homemade touch plate system together with Mach3 (Newfangled Solutions) by using simple materials and best of all, there is no cost associated with making it.
Link to VB Script:
drive.google.c...
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[@jimsinacola-totallywoodwor7473]

Steve, just followed your instructions on how to hookup the Z zeroing plate and it worked the first time flawlessly! Great tutorial, thank You!

[@DeadHippie62]

Finally I found the answer I was looking for. Out of all the other forums and videos I've watched and read in the last year, no one has ever mentioned that the retract height has to be greater than the plate height. Great vid ..

[@gordoncrisp3060]

I'm new to the CNC game and using Mach3. Your videos are among the most informative and to the point I've seen! Thanks for the help, and keep up the good work!

[@DesOwen]

Perfect. I've asked my CNC supplier to let me know what pin I can use in their control box, then I'll give this a go. You're right, it is not fun trying to guess Z at zero so this is an excellent solution.

[@GuruBrew]

+Des Owen Thanks and good luck with yours

[@ChrisLawley43]

+GuruBrew I'm helping a friend but we are using a plasma cutter all with Mach 3 software, is there any other way to just visually watch it to run it down to get the correct torch height for the plate we are about to cut? last night I was trying it and it either goes to far down or two far up.

[@AbeOnline66]

Thank you. The only video that explained what I needed. For those who use mm, make sure you set G1 Z1. F50 line to a high thickness, like: G1 Z30. F50 .

[@petergileshilton]

Great video with easy to follow directions to set up the Auto Tool function. I'm puzzled as to why people go to all this trouble when you can take a say, 1/4" drill bit, lay it on the table and bring the tool down until the drill just rolls under the bit and call that 0.25" above the table into Mach3? Mach3 has the Tab key to bring out the Handheld unit where you can set the rate at various steps for precision movement. No wires, no doubt about connectivity, no Visual Basic code, no damage to the bit or table if things weren't right.

[@giuliobuccini208]

1. Very slow process if you have to make many tool changes - 2. with 1-flute bit you have to be sure that you rolling the shaft precisely under the tip (when you get older your eyes will be not so good, believe me) - 3. for small areas (i.e. full of pockets) you have to eyeball the tip of bit exactly over a flat zone (time consuming process) - 4. you can go fully automatic if your tool-setter doesn't need a crocodile to be manually clamped on and it is located in a well-know position (Also, you thrust the planarity of your spoilboard as well as the thickness of your material).

[@tcsyme]

This video is still relevant. I set up a touch plate on my mill last night, and it is working flawlessly. Thanks so much!

[@frankswd]

DUDE! THAT WAS SWEET! It's 1am here and i've been fighting this issue all day. TY

[@postiemania]

Thanks Steve I made my tool probe from 10 mm plate and some single sided PCB and got it working well. I just had to edit the VB script to metric values and played with the feed rates until I was happy with the settings for my particular machine. Great video!

[@alinbcu]

+Robert Ritchie Please tell me what did you change in code for 10 mm? I try to do this 3 days

[@postiemania]

Bartos Alin There is a line in the VB script. Call SetDro (2,11.5) I changed the value to 11.5 as this is the sum of my 10mm plate and 1.5mm pc board. Good luck hope this works for you. I watch videos on KZbin how to do it. Cheers

[@scottmeer6202]

This was an awesome video. After watching it I checked the manual for my GeckoDrive 540 board. Everything in your video applies except the + wire screws down to any open spot between terminals 1 thru 4 and the - wire screws down to any open -V terminal on the 48v power supply. I'll be putting this together tomorrow. Thank you

[@maxvandertol1747]

Finally!!! A tutorial that is simple and understandable! Awesome job Guru

[@bruceburby8239]

I am working on putting my table together also. This is my first attempt at cnc and I am finding out fast that I will need all the help I can get/find. Keep up the good work.

[@ChrisORiley]

Thanks so much for putting this video and the script together. I had been manually zeroing after tool changes, and I tend to change tools pretty frequently. I just set this up on my mill this weekend and it works perfectly! This is going to save so much time and hassle.

[@ginmark]

Thanks for the clear and concise instructions! This has always intimidated me because I don't want to see a blue flash and a wisp of smoke coming out of my control box because I hooked something up wrong. I can't afford down time because of a self inflicted wound. But you have made it very clear what to do, and I'm going in confidently now! I wish I had seen this BEFORE the Christmas season when I zeroed 400-450 bits manually...

[@oxiroxt]

You still need to measure the voltage at the bit and plate ends to account for the voltage drop and then calculate the air ionization gap covered by that voltage given the current humidity level and add that to the plate thickness for an effective zero. I'm obviously just kidding. That was an awesome and helpful tutorial. Thanks a million!

[@theyachtshop]

this video is awsome. if you pay attention to all that is being said your installation will be easy and painless and should work flawlessly. I should have done this two years ago. thankyou so much.

[@jimweist1708]

Very good dude! Its been hard to find well documented clear concised video tutorials on CNC stuff I jut got mine built yesterday and set all my limits and home switches, Im now ready to cut this is the last Zero I need to set. I appreciate it. Im going to browse some other videos of yours now.

[@GuruBrew]

Glad you are getting use out of the video. Thanks for checking out my other vids. Steve

[@3073Sean]

Yours is the best Zero vid I have found, and I have been looking for some time. Wired my machine right up and works like a charm. the only thing I would add is some break out boards you have to jump the 5V pin. I ended up looking up from the manufacture how to do this. I used a 2.2K resistor. Any way, great vid and thank you for taking the time. Sean

[@rdouthwaite]

Been planning to get round to this for years, finally bit the bullet and it works flawlessly. Nice one.

[@mirchamiksha3415]

Ovo je najbolji vido za setovanje auto zero tool mach 3 . Jasno i jednostavno. Hvala!

[@visualitep4911]

I've been wanting to do this for quite some time, I didn't realize how simple it was, thought I had to buy a special touch plate. Thanks for such great information.

[@asifbaba3432]

Sir you are the best instructor in the world=From Pakistan

[@AppleHater2012]

I just added my auto Z to my machine. Spot on instructions and it worked perfectly. Thanks for the brew and VB code! Thanks Steve!

[@Rocky5738]

You explain things so well I'm a learner and you have showed me what to do thank you

[@minasianjohn]

Very good and clear explanation of how to connect the machine and how to take precautions. Thank you.

[@Bandit.Designs.Videos]

Your setup was by far the best I have found Anywhere. keep up the awesome work buddy. You make this CnC business much easier.

[@winkworks]

Thanks a lot for this! It's getting into this field, recently CNC'd a G0704 and find your videos VERY helpful. I'm not making chips yet, but hope to in the near future. Keep up the good work!

[@iamwonder9300]

Excellent examples and explanations. Got a lot out of this. I am currently trying to setup my auto Zero button. I hope you have more like this on MACH3 setup. I'll be looking

[@stefrafr]

thanks a lot for the accurate detrails.I did all the changes foe metric native units and work perfect .Go on for more

[@phillipcrowe979]

Hey Steve watched a few of your tutorials and you make it simple to understand I've not started yet with mine just watching and learning Great Job

[@sammkader8014]

Thanks Steve I fallowed your instructions and it's done many thanks from Iraq

[@julesandmel]

Loved it! Built it! Using it! Thank you for clear concise method. Loved that little holster. Jules

[@JimTaylor42]

Just what I needed to set up a touch plate on my own home brew CNC machine. Thanks for the info.

[@codymiller2940]

Great video. I'll hopefully be setting up my machine soon.

[@budmoore7971]

Hey Steve! Thanks so much for all the information. I followed your instructions and it works just like you show in the video! THANK YOU SO MUCH! This is THE BEST ENHANCEMENT I have ever done to my cnc router! Totally worth it. I wish I had done this years ago! BRILIANT!

[@richardfarwell6759]

Thanks so much for this; especially the annotated code! Took me a bit to figure out which pins to use, but I think I have it working now.

[@johndavis415]

Just exactly what I needed. I'm switching over from ShopBot to Mach3 and fine your help very thoughtful.

[@jimnastic464]

Wow, I have been struggling with my Syil X4 forever, your videos helped me and I am looking forward to setting this up!

[@Vic-lf5kw]

Thanks Steve!! Another great video with hard to find information. You have been so helpful to me in my CNC journey...

[@normanbenjamin5580]

I have been looking for something like this for over a year. Thanks for the complete description it really helps. Will have mine set up tomorrow :-)

[@wa7vgn]

Couldn't explain it any better thanks Rich

[@matthewclara1]

This is amazing, I've wanted one for years but hesitated because I didn't know how to hook one up, but finally said just look it up and see what you find, which brought me here. Now I have a home-built touch plate that really works! Hey, one problem, though, when I remove the plate and tell the z to go to zero, it leaves just a little over a paper's thickness between the bit and the material. I tried adjusting the plate thickness on line 15 in the vb script from between .059 and .064, because I'm using a piece of 1/16" thick aluminum angle iron, too, which measures .062 on my calipers, but even though I restart Mach3 each time, when I tell it to go to zero, there's still just barely room to slip a piece of paper under there. Anyone else encounter this?

[@Ammothief41]

Thanks for the guide! Can't wait to get a touch plate going.

[@djbillyde]

super informative, our machine is coming today as a backup to our Dahlgren ! !

[@WildmanTech]

I did this and it totally works! Going to check out your limit switch setup because that is NOT working on mine.

[@hamrx8]

Thanks, the best explanation and video on this subject I have watched to date. About to implement it on my machine. :) I did find that I had to edit the script slightly. Took a bit of doing but now a few weeks later it works perfectly.

[@MrBoostedhyundai]

Hi there, I implemented your script for tool height setting. It worked awesome. Thank you I have a 6040 CNC Router, I would like to be able to do one program and use multiple tools. So say once tool one has done its thing, it stop, waits until i change tool, press a button and it remeasure the tool then continue. If you could help that would be awesome! I have no idea how to program script, but after modifying yours I can see its very in depth. Great work on your channel. Cheers Ryan

[@GuruBrew]

What you describe is how I use mine now. I just put a tool change in the g-code so it stops, i then do a bit change, rerun the z height program (here) and continue on my way. Unless I am not understanding your question, this setup already does all that. Just put a pause in the g-code for the tool change and it will wait.

[@toddbuhmiller]

Thanks for the video. Looking forward to implement this when I get my CNC machine up and running.

[@johndakin8113]

Excellent video, very easy to understand, mine is working fine except when its supposed to retract to z height its going down instead

[@Sonic_Shroom]

I like how you make everything so neat

[@paulolson4073]

I've been doing this so wrong for so long...thank you! Great video in both content and video quality. This is too easy now. And you give us a ready made script file. I hoist a beer to your excellence.

[@georgepilch8396]

Super and very clear, now do it Mach4 please. Thanks

[@jkat9871]

Beautifully explained. One of the best methods of training I have seen. Thanks for putting this vid together.

[@williamhardin5254]

Great Video, great explanation. Can't wait to set mine up.

[@saxonwolf7361]

Thanks Steve. Followed the instructions but must have got something wrong. Everything works fine to the point where it touches the plate and instead of moving up it moves down into the plate. Any pointers would be great! Thanks for taking the time to put these videos together! Jono

[@AbuArabz]

in case you have a 10 mm plate, do the following: 1. make sure that you are using the same measuring units like the one you configured Mach3 2. change the line have the command SetDro (2, 10) 10mm is the total thickness of the plate from top to bottom regardless how it is look like, 3. set the line: Code "G1 Z25. F50" 25mm is enough to retract because you need more than the thickness of the plate. this is what I understood from Steve.

[@saxonwolf7361]

Many thanks for getting back to me. Your patience is greatly appreciated. So I have done just what you said and it now works great :) Best, Jono

[@jjsinacola]

Great video. Just what I needed. Thankyou! I suspect with a little work one could also have it do the x & y axis too. Please keep the CNC tutorial video's coming. Your a good instructor.

[@nedkelly22]

I love this idea, I will be setting this up first thing tomorrow

[@Clackvalve2]

Great Video, thanks, it makes it just that bit more easier to set up mach3.

[@LtGrandpoobah]

That's brilliant... I knew there was an easier way that purchasing a zero tool.

[@minhtruong9408]

Thank you so much to show me you have my 5 stars

[@parmar1579]

Sir pls make a video with details how to do tool setting and programming for automatic tools

[@arjundas708]

Thank you sir, your detailed teaching is excellent

[@lyndonlondon]

Great video with clear explanation. Thanks a lot. Using information here I managed to set my StepCraft Tool Length Sensor up perfectly...

[@stevekincheloe8679]

FANTASTIC! Works like a charm

[@dlbard1]

Thanks for taking the time for making the video...very helpful!

[@BuildBreakFix]

What a nice video! god i wish i saw this video 3 years ago when i couldn't figure all that out lol You know what I still can't figure out! How to set a location in x and y for the probe to be mounted and machine move to it touch the plate go to next task in middle of a project. Mind you i have a auto tool changer set up now lol

[@mtabernig]

Do you can explain how to set the x and y auto zero also... That will be supper I was looking around and found nothing on youtube. It will be very time save and neet.

[@500Driver]

Thank you GuruBrew! Worked perfectly.

[@roddychisholm552]

thank you from Bulgaria

[@IH1940HAY]

Thanks so much this is the First time I have seen the Entire auto Zero setup done all at once by one person and you really get the entire picture of how the different parts function. Your dust collection system do you have a video on it, it looks quite interesting. I use a dust shoe but you cannot see it cutting with a shoe and it looks like you could with this setup. Thanks HH

[@hankus253]

I agree with HH regarding showing the entire picture. I know Steve's primary focus is the PC, but he does an excellent job of sharing things about his own CNC experiences that really helps the newbie get a handle on how things work.

[@paulosoarescarvalho6219]

Amazing! Realy good and helpfull tutorial.Thanks! Good job with clear process explanation.

[@paulhunt1375]

Great video, solved my issue. Thanks

[@janus737]

That's what I wanted to know, thanks a lot! Cheers from Poland!

[@paulscarrestorations5466]

Just what I needed. Thanks!!

[@TheShakazulu02]

Thanks for this. Very clear instructions and demonstration. Keep-up the good work!

[@timglanzman5148]

I can't seem to find the text file you reference in the video. Great video by the way. Excellent info and very well explained. I appreciate you showing all of the steps and setup in Mach 3.

[@AbuArabz]

it is in the video description section, just click on "show more" and you'll find the link

[@Edge202]

Thank you, Steve. Worked first time

[@viateksoftwaresolutions5729]

Wow!! That was super easy, thank you so much, no more dodgy paper!

[@dimonfallout101]

Great video! Helped me a lot during translation of some tech manuals. By the way, very interesting content, subscribed) Respects from Kazakhstan!)

[@IH1940HAY]

Cant get Z auto zero to turn Digitize on and off when wires are touched together. Pin 15 is not used by any other function. DESCRIPTION OF ACTIONS: PROBE, wire one to pin 15 input, wire two to GROUND. Ports and pins. PROBE Port 2 (BOB on top of ESS smooth stepper board) pin 15, active low checked. SAVED AND EXIT RESTART. CHECK DIGITIZE LIGHT always lit if the two wires are touched together or not. Unable to have DIGITIZE light on and off when two wires are touched together. What am I doing wrong? Thanks

[@waterdropmusic]

I like your videos man.! I'm finally sitting down and setting up my chinese 6040 cnc 4 axis .. got everything working except the spindle..its a 2.2Kv water cooled and still trying to figure out how to use the gcode to turn that on.. Thanks for making these videos!! :)

[@bakers2581]

Great video, easy to understand and very helpful

[@revmusical]

Awesome tutorial Guru!

[@KennethHall]

Would love to get some information on programming like you did for the z axis in this video.. Great job and thanks.

[@123dagar]

Excellent video...Great explanation, I got my Touch pad working right off. thanks !

[@geordie331]

what could be the cause if my led does not light up when i touch the contacts

[@joecnc3341]

Great Video on this, Steve!

[@hankus253]

Great timing Steve. I appreciate your showing the mechanics of this project. The wiring is the easy part for me but I find I always get hung up in the physical hardware because of all the variables involved. I'm doing my probe and limit switches now, but if you could also show your limit switch hardware I would really like to see that. I'm planning on putting a barrier style terminal strip on the CNC for terminating my wiring prior to the shielded cabling to the controller. Is this acceptable or will I have issues with noise etc. These are the unknowns that I'd like to get right the first time without having to fight issues that would otherwise come up from not knowing the proper way to do something.

[@EagleAD1]

Great work on the video! I Just set up my CNC, and your tutorial was very easy to follow. I have a bit of an issue that the contact plate doesn't always work. In Diagnostic mode I get the light everytime I touch the frame of the machine, or the outer casing of the water cooled spindle. When I touch the bit with the contact plate sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't and It seems to have to do with the rotation of the spindle. If I spin it a bit the light will come on or off. Anyone have a clue as to what is causing this?

[@MrRenoman2011]

Great video Steve

[@KlendorChannel]

Help me. I use a thick 1 milimeter plate pcb probe ... but when working the knife does not touch the workpiece

[@frankhorn1071]

I was trying to install one and the digitize light is already on. Why? It will not work the way it is..

[@MohamadJamilKayali]

thank you. the explaining was clear but my machine stopped and didn't went up again!

[@IliasTsipas_plus]

Very very nice job!!Just did mine! Thanks for the info!

[@nigelbrown5516]

Why when I run the program does my board cut in steps

[@MrCoffeypaul]

Nicely done, have to figure it can be expanded to referencing X,Y and digitizing metal surfaces?

[@tomlee7512]

Very good instructional video. I learned and what I want，thanks

[@Andy-qt2wh]

I Loaded the script and tried it and it broke the bit and was going to drive through further until I stopped it. My setup on this machine is NOT going well...

[@jamesazotea9458]

Solid information. Very helpful. Thanks.

[@TheFarleyGordon]

Good stuff is always Steve appreciate your videos