Audible (CLICK) Edge Detector ?

I've used the little edge detectors from Fisher Machine for a few years now. If I take my time and bump up 5 tenths at a time on the little CNC mills I get pretty good results. Better than the machine itself. Good enough for rubber worm molds anyway. I've never used the audible ones. No, not an electronic thing, but a mechanical "click" when it breaks over. How good are they? Does the mechanism that makes it click have a negative impact on accuracy?

Also, is Fisher still making edge finders? I tried to visit what I thought was their website and got a link farm page. I could have sworn I first bought them direct thru Ebay then from their site, but I couldn't find either. Just a few from third party seller.

One more question. How does a ball on a rod type wiggler compare for accuracy to an edge finder? Seems to me that backing off and coming back in slowly to get your final result would be kind of tedious with one of those. My reason for even looking at them is because they kick so far back and up when they hit that damaging crashes would be virtually eliminated.

Reply to
Bob La Londe
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I got one of the audible ones, it seems to work, and can be heard pretty clearly even when wearing ear protectors. I'm now using an electronic probe in most circumstances, but still keep the edge finder for when the probe won't fit.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Elson

How do those audible click edge finders work? What makes the click? I've only seen them in catalogs and the pictures have never been clear enough to show what does the clicking. The edge finder I like the best is a "Super Jump" edge finder. I think Flexbar sells 'em. I have several edge finders but the Super jump gets the most use because it is the most accurate and most easily visible. Eric

Reply to
etpm

It is built just like the usual edge finder with the concentric parts with a spring to hold them together. The difference is there is a small flat ground on the side of the feeler tip. You could turn a standard edge finder into the audible type by just grinding the side of the tip.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Elson

It is built just like the usual edge finder with the concentric parts with a spring to hold them together. The difference is there is a small flat ground on the side of the feeler tip. You could turn a standard edge finder into the audible type by just grinding the side of the tip.

Jon

*******

I just bought a couple "click" edge finders. Maybe its worth a little video for others to show how they perform.

I can setup a couple on the Hurco easily enough. Makes a nice machine for it. It will turn as slow as 100 RPM the way its currently tuned, I like

1000RPM on it for edge finding. I hope they will work on the little 24K machines, since about 4K is the slowest they will turn reliably, and Fisher labels them as 1500 max. I've been using the non-click ones on the high speed spindles and the only time I have damaged one is when I looked away while jogging and tore the tip off, or hit goto zero before resetting zero. I know if you accidently hit start with the spindle set at 24K they just come apart before you can stop the spindle. Heck before it even reaches speed. Since the click type are inherently out of balance I hope I can spin them at 4K without coming apart. I'll let you guys know.
Reply to
Bob La Londe

It is built just like the usual edge finder with the concentric parts with a spring to hold them together. The difference is there is a small flat ground on the side of the feeler tip. You could turn a standard edge finder into the audible type by just grinding the side of the tip.

Jon

*******

I just bought a couple "click" edge finders. Maybe its worth a little video for others to show how they perform.

I can setup a couple on the Hurco easily enough. Makes a nice machine for it. It will turn as slow as 100 RPM the way its currently tuned, I like

1000RPM on it for edge finding. I hope they will work on the little 24K machines, since about 4K is the slowest they will turn reliably, and Fisher labels them as 1500 max. I've been using the non-click ones on the high speed spindles and the only time I have damaged one is when I looked away while jogging and tore the tip off, or hit goto zero before resetting zero. I know if you accidently hit start with the spindle set at 24K they just come apart before you can stop the spindle. Heck before it even reaches speed. Since the click type are inherently out of balance I hope I can spin them at 4K without coming apart. I'll let you guys know. ===============================================================

Could you grind a matching flat opposite the original flat to balance the tip? Might be easier to start with a normal tip and grind both flats in your own fixture so you know that they are matched, rather than trying to duplicate an existing flat. You could put the end down into an empty soda bottle to catch the pieces as you "test" :-).

Reply to
Carl Ijames

It is built just like the usual edge finder with the concentric parts with a spring to hold them together. The difference is there is a small flat ground on the side of the feeler tip. You could turn a standard edge finder into the audible type by just grinding the side of the tip.

Jon

*******

I just bought a couple "click" edge finders. Maybe its worth a little video for others to show how they perform.

I can setup a couple on the Hurco easily enough. Makes a nice machine for it. It will turn as slow as 100 RPM the way its currently tuned, I like

1000RPM on it for edge finding. I hope they will work on the little 24K machines, since about 4K is the slowest they will turn reliably, and Fisher labels them as 1500 max. I've been using the non-click ones on the high speed spindles and the only time I have damaged one is when I looked away while jogging and tore the tip off, or hit goto zero before resetting zero. I know if you accidently hit start with the spindle set at 24K they just come apart before you can stop the spindle. Heck before it even reaches speed. Since the click type are inherently out of balance I hope I can spin them at 4K without coming apart. I'll let you guys know. ===============================================================

Could you grind a matching flat opposite the original flat to balance the tip? Might be easier to start with a normal tip and grind both flats in your own fixture so you know that they are matched, rather than trying to duplicate an existing flat. You could put the end down into an empty soda bottle to catch the pieces as you "test" :-).

Reply to
Bob La Londe

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