Making A Micro CNC Touch Probe on the PocketNC?!

Episode 066: Ever wish you could probe non-conductive parts on your desktop cnc? if so, stick around, in this episode we're making a micro-digital touch-probe... from scratch! using the PocketNC v2-10!
JLCPCB:
jlcpcb.com/
Pocket NC 5-axis mill:
pocketnc.com/
My Video on Polishing:
• Milling an Arcade Hand...
My Video On 5-axis PocketNC:
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Products Used in this video:
Brass Rod:
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Aluminum Rod:
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Ruby Tip Stylus:
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Micro-100 thread mill:
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Lets Be Social:
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Music:
Joakim Karud - intro

[@campbellmorrison8540]

OMG for an old coot like me with an ordinary mill and lathe this is just out of this world. Im past learning this new stuff but it is amazing, if I were younger I would be right into it. Wonderful to watch thank you

[@chatbear69]

Brilliant. That tease at the end was great too. :) Good luck to whomever wins. You are getting a high quality home grown product. David, as always, you are the man.

[@ryanrudi]

I will say, the things you are able to accomplish are currently only in my dreams. Thank you for putting together such great content and showing us what’s possible from a “small shop” keep it up!

[@DIYEngineering]

Thank you

[@DimensionMachine]

This channel is seriously under rated. How do you not have subscriber numbers 10 or 100x what you have!

[@Verificador119]

Very nice and well done proyect. Congratulations and thank you for shearing!

[@sparkyy0007]

Just a suggestion...drive the pizzo at a few khz (10mw or so) with a 555 or an op amp through a 1k ohm or so, and use the ac voltage drop across the resistor to trigger. Displacement of the tip will be a few hundred nm or so. This will change the system from one time only impulse (which could possibly be missed) to constant monitoring of probe load.

[@DIYEngineering]

Thanks for the feedback, I did that in my “more robust” circuit design but then had to remove it to meet the size constraints... I’m still planning on implementing it if i get the precision and accuracy I’m hoping for.

[@sparkyy0007]

@@DIYEngineering Awesome, good luck.

[@rikilshah]

@@DIYEngineering Well, you can stack PCBs which will add few mms to total height which shouldn't be a big issue.

[@stephenlindsey9233]

That is a an amazing design and the machine is the work of a genius. I would love to buy one directly

[@nickrooney893]

As an engineering student, it's really cool seeing your work flow going through everything and what constraints you've set for yourself before going into to project. And man do I need to get one of those, cant wait to see it in action. Awesome work, keep it up!

[@DIYEngineering]

Thanks Nick, I appreciate it! Well, I will have 25 boards to share... ;)

[@nickrooney893]

@@DIYEngineering You can bet that I'll be on that train...hopefully lol

[@HM-Projects]

@@DIYEngineering nice! any plans to publish the 3d models for others to try building this ?

[@MakeTechPtyLtd]

Wow that's awesome!

[@dilshanchrishantha6548]

excellent craftsmanship.

[@TomasSab3D]

The quality of these videos is industrial grade... The number of views doesn't do it justice. wow.

[@DIYEngineering]

thanks, I go back and forth whether to continue to effort... these comments help ! ;)

[@AndreeewP]

As an engineering student I find your videos to be creative and informative. Please keep up your efforts!

[@PattysLab]

Really cool that you made this yourself! I'm probably gonna make something like this when I decide to get to Shapeoko 4 pro or the HDM

[@RoboCNCnl]

Amazingly cool project !

[@tinniesnturbos]

Love your work, i have a PNC v2-10 but am just learning to mill. I hope to be able to make projects like you can! awesome to watch thanks for showing us what is possible from home.

[@DIYEngineering]

thanks! lots of fun using a PNC the only thing I haven't solved is software that can produce reliable 5-axis toolpaths (and doesn't cost 10k) ;)

[@BedroomMachinist]

​@DIYEngineering have you tried deskproto?

[@gizmoguyar]

The machining is amazing here. And I'm super impressed by how small this thing is. But one thing I don't understand is how the tip is constrained. Without a kinematic coupling, it seems like every time it touches something, it will shift position. I'd expect either to have a three point coupling, or epoxy the piezo element in. Maybe I'm missing something. Either way, the craftsmanship is outstanding.

[@Andre-pe9mm]

Well enjoyed your video👍

[@airborne0x0]

Nice job. A strain gauge / load cell sensor could also be a reliable way of implementing this (piezos have some failure modes).

[@saschakalweit7843]

Amazing work again!! I think there is a market in the maker community for that. I would buy it directly!

[@DIYEngineering]

Thanks! and I'll save one for you! ;)

[@JonathanRansom]

This is impressive.

[@DIYEngineering]

using a pocket nc in lieu of a lathe... ;)

[@TimDonaworth]

Oh with the tease at the end!!!!

[@DIYEngineering]

2/24/21

[@Totalis1989]

Absolutely brilliant implementation of a rather complex tool. I have tried and failed to make a working piezo touch probe several times, but I lacked the ability to produce components with the required precision. In my experience (and as mentioned by others) the one-shot nature of the piezo is quite a disadvantage, meaning that the piezo may trigger reliably at high probing speeds, but may not trigger when probing at low speeds. @ sparkyy0007 already mentioned about dynamically driving the piezo, although I have yet to test this myself. Anyway, thank you for showing your design process and keep up the good work. Definitely looking forward to the next video.

[@DIYEngineering]

Yep, i have a more robust circuit that was part of the original design will i plan to do but I’ll need to drop component sizes down to 0402 to make it fit in the dome size probe...

[@hackshack6244]

Found your channel today; subscribed and am binge watching. Great stuff! In this vid, you mention thread milling metric threads with what appears to be a UN thread mill. I've always wondered whether my single form UN thread mills could do metric threads--they're both 60 degree thread forms, so why not? Would be nice to find a UN to Metric conversion chart for UN thread mills (e.g. "a UN single form thread mill designed for 18 to 56 TPI can cover metric sizes from M6 to M18"), but I've never seen one. I guess if you roughly match the cutting diameters, you'd be good to go. PS: My go to for single form thread mills is onlinecarbide . Cheaper than the one you linked to and high quality. Back to binging!!! :)

[@DIYEngineering]

Thanks I’ll have to check that supplier out!

[@danielsmullen3223]

Fantastic work. This looks like a product with great commercial potential. I bet you'd be able to crank them out a lot faster if you had one of those compact CNC lathes. The pocket NC is tough to beat but all of the parts were bar stock. Got room in your shop for one?

[@DIYEngineering]

Thanks, Someday I’ll get a cnc lathe

[@davers1610]

I'd love to buy the designs or plans for this if that's available? I'd be keen to make a larger one with a taper for my desktop mill.

[@alo1236546]

Any idea to attach strain gauge to probe tip

[@SatTracker]

I'm curious if you considered a hall effect device in lieu of the piezo transducer? Excellent job on this !

[@jacquesomersavard7257]

iinteressting but can you elabirated i bit more on howto use hall effect

[@tomahawkcnc5583]

Great idea using a piezoelectric crystal

[@hi1172]

Have you shared the design files any where?

[@joecnc3341]

Liked-Subscribed-Notified. Very nice project. Is it possible to purchase PCB's from you? Do you have a component list? I would love to build one of these..

[@joecnc3341]

Nice video - could you please post a print or the F3D file? or both? :)

[@DPTech_workroom]

👍

[@mistr_clean7557]

i would be willing to pay for this aswell as a tutorial on how to add the code to utlilize such tool

[@epeleg]

me too

[@jacquesomersavard7257]

I see some saystem like this one 3 D but how you can comparason whit 3 D camera sompared cost precision usable whirch one is the best or we need bolt system also why do not use optic detector all used electric contact ?

[@ersdds1]

I don't have a lathe or a pocket CNC. I do have a Formlabs 3b. Do you think the housing could be printed from Formlabs 10k material?

[@DIYEngineering]

Sure, why not?!

[@chrismolloy131]

Are you sharing the fusion design?

[@DIYEngineering]

probably at some point once I complete the project.

[@bradselph6463]

I defiantly need to make one of these for my custom CNC mill. I checked your website and still don't see any project files. Any updates??? I also sent you a PM on your FaceBook page since the email you have listed doesn't work.

[@DIYEngineering]

Hi, design files are shared with patrons for now.

[@bradselph6463]

@@DIYEngineering I will check it out, I would toss a link to your patron page in the description for anyone interested in the project. Thanks for the reply!!!

[@naushilb]

Hi, are you selling the designs for this ?

[@poubelle8030]

nice but not too easy for me. what is the name of the song plz?

[@misterbigchip9501]

So what software would a hobbiest with a Chinese 6040 mill likely use to encode an object once he has a probe? Forgive my ignorance.

[@ArcAiN6]

Are the design files available for this probe? I would like to build one for my CNC machine

[@ArcAiN6]

i guess this project was abandoned, nothing on the github, or the website. :(

[@chrismolloy131]

Can I make it on a 3axis machine?

[@DIYEngineering]

Yes, it could be done the same way with threaded fixtures.

[@stephenlindsey9233]

Would you be interested in selling a completed unit? I'm really interested in purchasing one unfortunately i don't have the capability to machine the parts to manufacture one my self.