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Posted by Seymour Swarf on October 8, 2006, 4:58 pm
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>I became very disillusioned today after what I thought would be my pride and
>joy, a laser edge finder.
>Setting my CNC mill was a nightmare to say the least, the laser dot over the
>edge of the workpiece is highly inaccurate. Any feedback on the electronic
>edge finders available from MATTOOLS or indeed, any other suppliers, would
>be welcome, age is getting the better of my eyesight, so figured electronic
>or something with lights on is the way to go...........
>Bob
>
I agree, or rather, would have done at first but after quite a lot of
buggeration I'm finding it more useful now.
I purchased the American one from Chronos. Initially, it was difficult
to see a precise spot. Then they had the nerve to send a follow-up
advert suggesting you need the polarising filter. I thought about
making one but in the end sent off for their matched one. This did
produce a big improvement and when (as suggested) using it on marking
blue - the spot was very clear & precise.
I have two remaining complaints about this bit of kit:-
(1) When changing over from say mill to drilling machine, you have to
go through the tedious ritual of adjusting the 3 side screws to centre
the spot as you turn the mandrel by hand. This then has to be repeated
whenever you change machine. This is a deal more irritating than using
the precision wobbler.
(2) The device is housed within a soft alloy case. Even just gently
hand-closing a chuck on it can mark the shaft. I have bored out a
blank 2MT arbour to hold the thing by a friction fit from which it is
now seldom removed. This has improved it's usability quite a lot and
has reduced - tho' not eliminated - the need to keep adjusting the 3
screws to centre the laser spot as you swop it between machines.
So by now, its reproducibility is quite good as I mainly use it with
the digital read-out on the mill's table.
I also use it for setting tool height on the lathe (2MT arbour in tail
stock). This application alone almost makes me think it was worth the
large amount of money it cost !
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>joy, a laser edge finder.
>Setting my CNC mill was a nightmare to say the least, the laser dot over the
>edge of the workpiece is highly inaccurate. Any feedback on the electronic
>edge finders available from MATTOOLS or indeed, any other suppliers, would
>be welcome, age is getting the better of my eyesight, so figured electronic
>or something with lights on is the way to go...........
>Bob
>