On Sunday 07 July 2013 22:20:01 Eric Keller did opine:

> On Sun, Jul 7, 2013 at 4:08 PM, Charles Steinkuehler
> 
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Is this sort of probing possible with LinuxCNC?
> 
> Didn't we have a discussion in the last year or so about someone that
> was probing the surface of a circuit board using LCNC?

That may have been me.  I add to the output of pcb2gcode, probeing to 
establish the jig location which fixes the board location, then probe the 
surface to establish 0.0000.  The idea is to remove enough copper without 
also removing .005" of glass which isn't too healthy for the bits even if 
they are carbide.  I got tired of the pallet holder not being square and 
milled it for a ridge on the back that just fits the table slot, so its 
always square to the table.  I can run the drill files .035 thou deep from 
both sides of the board and they are within .001" or so of perfect, meet in 
the middle of the boards thickness registration if I pay attention.

To establish location xy, I have a small bit of 3/32 diameter brass tubeing 
set into the pallet .2" to the left of the edge of the cavity the board 
sits in, also .1" in front of the edge of the board, and a probing bit of 
1/8" brass pipe telescoped down to 1/16 ID, and a sewing machine needle 
threader spring loop soldered into the end of that.  I fire up the spindle 
at about 200 rpms, and have a .1 capacitor on the probe line so that any 
contact discharges the cap long enough the g38.2 can sense it.  The code 
searches both directions in each axis for contact, then puts that axis at 
the center, then repeats for the other axis and centers it too, then 
applies the found offsets to the G56 map and switches the rest of the 
program to use it.  Repeatability is about .0015 or better, usually better.

The reason the spindle is running is so that the spring used as a probe is 
effectively cone shaped and perfectly circular in terms of its contact 
surface.  As long as the tip stays within the confines of the 3/32" tubes 
mouth, and bends and wobbles the wire does as its spinning are moot.  The 
pallet is melamine, so the probe wire, grounded by the spindle touches the 
tubing and the pcb surface.  Works a treat for the xy, then I switch to the 
engraving bit and probe again to set the 0.0000 z reference.

Cheers, Gene
-- 
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