Re: Homebrew digitiser

Hi Paul,

I don't remember much (if anything) about the MicroScribe. URL?

You could wire a probe just to indicate contact, and "drive" the mill
yourself (Ouch!) to take tons of measurements. So you select a YZ
plane, and move the handwheels to get to several points on your part in
this plane. Move the plane over in X, and repeat! The probe is the
part you need! Later, you can add CNC to your mill, and do the same
thing (more points?) with a digitizer program.

Check for a posting of pix to the files list on the Renishaw. A few on
this list are making similar probes.

Undercut areas will be a chore for anyone digitizing! Look at the MaxNC
site, and see what they get when they digitize!

Alan KM6VV

PAbbott@... wrote:

>
> Alan,
>
> thanks for the reply - I don't have any CNC stuff, yet! I have a
> manually operated mill & lathe. I have been reading the old postings
> and I am still trying to work out what the Renishaw is. One of the
> things I forgot to mention was that I was prepared to do the
> measuring manually - cost & lack of experience reasons. I have been
> examining (online) the MicroScribe (?) digitising arm. I have come
> up with a manual system that could be refitted with steppers later
> but I'm not sure if it is operationally viable and I am unsure of the
> type of probe to use. One of the issues is trying to probe undercut
> areas. The intial use of the the digitised information is to simply
> generate a cross section in my CAD program (TurboCAD).
>
> I'm looking at getting a manual arm going first, then some sort of
> CNC 3D router/mill to work within the same envelope and then I would
> like to automate the digitising arm.
>
> Paul Abbott
>
> --- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., Alan Marconett KM6VV <KM6VV@a...> wrote:
> > Paul,
> >
> > You don't say if you have a CNC mill for that envelope! Ww were
> talking
> > about Renishaw digitizers a while back, good for a mill. If you
> don't
> > have a mill, then how about using the guts out of a plotter to move
> a
> > Renishaw type probe around in the envelope you describe.
> >
> > Don't know about any kits, but you would "drive" the plotter,
> stopping
> > an axis travel when you "sensed" a surface.
> >
> > Humm, not a bad idea! Dust off the old plotter stuff in the
> garage...
> >
> > Hope this gets you thinking!
> >
> > Alan KM6VV
> > P.S. I'm told HSM (Home Shop Machinist) did an article recently on
> a
> > digitizer.
> >
> >
> > PAbbott@w... wrote:
> > >
> > > I am trying to design/build a digitiser - there aren't many
> > > affordable options here in Australia. Has anyone got any info,
> > > designs, tips or know of kits that they would share with me. I'm
> > > working with an area of approx 500mm x 350mm x 150mm. I want to
> feed
> > > the thing into my PC, possibly via the serial port.
> > >
> > > thanks ...