Replacing Renishaw Probe Stylus, Tool Tuesday Ep.15 

When I started watching ABOM way back when. I never would have thought it would go from manual to CNC and continue on the manual showing as well. Such a great channel!

To be honest you have shone a light on the aspects of machinery I didnt think was possible, great work on these videos!

Interesting video. Thanks. "I know how to indicate a four jaw chuck" must be understatement o the year.

Thanks for this video. We are all proud of your increasing skill and comfort level, yet you are still wise enough to go slow. Generally the same idea as cutting air for practice.

A useful tip when adjusting the set screws is losen the lows and tighten the highs.... i cant recall where i first heard that :D

Adam, your lessons are as valuable to you as they are to us. Thanks for sharing.

I like that 1990s user interface. Maybe the next version will have 1980s amber monochome text 😂

Your understanding of using a CNC is coming along and now with the probe issue is solved just get herr done you explained it very well it was just like I did it myself 😊

I’m learning something new on every video that I’ll never use but it’s very interesting to hear it explained.

Would HIGHLY recommend a Renishaw break stem (I believe the A-5004-7621 would be what you need, it’s what we use). Has saved many probe styluses at work. Only $25. Probably wouldn’t have saved your ruby from cracking but radial crashes will definitely be less damaging.

Loved the video. I see that just screwing a new stylus doesn't take care of the run out. Amazing how precise that calibration is. Cool how you tighten the highs and loosen the lows, just like you've taught us on a manual lathe chuck. Hope everyone has a great evening. !!

your explanations is clear as even for a non machinist

They are made about 10 miles from where i live. Really interesting, innovative company.definitely worth reading their history if your bored of an evening.

It wasn't explicitly stated on camera, but I hope you remembered to lock the 2 locking set screws above the 4 adjustment screws. I've spent an hour dialing in a probe tip only to forget to lock it down and have to do it all over again. On super high precision production runs, we confirm that probe indication daily. I second the note about holding the gage ring down with the magnet.

Great video. I have been into CNC for about 14 years now but i remember when i first started. it was quite daunting. Yoiu will get it. After all CNC is the present and the future. Though we may be at retirement age we still need to keep our minds sharp. Keep up the great work.

Thanks Adam very interesting

I've gotten the message about not being able to find the probe on my Haas. What I discovered is that I need to close the door, and then it's reliable. I think this allows the infrared signal to bounce off the window, and therefore provides better communication between the probe and the interface.

there are three kinds of machinists: the first has broken a probe, the second is about to break a probe and the third lies about never having broken a probe.

Having worked in a multi machine CNC production environment that uses many Renishaw probes, it may be beneficial to invest in a couple "break stems". They are a section that is screwed onto the probe stem that breaks when an "unexpected contact" is done.

Whew. That calibration was tedious. Well done, Adam! ⭐🙂👍

@14:16 - 3D printing has taught me one thing - never assume a motor/controller is going to do what you think. Always be ready with the E-stop. $15 plastic probe tips for your BLTouch can get salty pretty fast.

just a word of advice Adam. When in the jog mode, for safety, and when probe is near anything that could damage if crashed into, turn the handwheel speed down to 5% to begin movement. Then once far enough away to react in time, speed up jog mode control. also do the same when running any program for the first time. this is done by all the cnc guys I know and has proven to be effective.

Considering what else can break if you crash the head, this is a fairly inexpensive lesson.

I'm sure that Adam is trying to learn more skills on very expensive equipment. I still enjoy manual machining so much more,

As a hardware and software designer i absolutely disagree with the use of touch screen buttons for selecting xyz jog axis. Those should be a rotary switch or physical buttons like the green run button, you can find them by feel and they can not be pressed by accident

If nobody ever broke them, there wouldn't be replacement parts available.... we all run into "expensive" learning experiences one time or another.

Use Saft 14250 batteries and adjust the power setting on the receiver. At 100% power the probe has a transmission distance of like 6 meters or something. Unless you have a giant machine there's no reason to have it turned up that hot. Might help your batteries live a lot longer. It has for me.

did the exact same kind of break to a carbide bit in our CNC router. our router uses pg up and pg down to operate z, and the arrow keys for x and y, went to lift the cutter, and moved it in Y instead, still in the work, and Crack! Yep, we all do it...

Nice!! Just wondering. You never talk about the property you bought to build your house. Any updates? 🙂

WOW! I had no idea replacing the ruby would be so complicated

Took me 5 years to break a Renishaw probe, but I've done it once. Also had a colleague crash the probe body itself that was...expensive ^_^

I'm working on a drilling mill with a Heidenhain ITnc 530 control. We also have this measuring probe. Once it is clamped, it is impossible to break it with the machine, thanks to the machine control. I still broke it once when loading it manually. 😅

Well, that was very instructive. Thank you! There should be a general program for "move by hand wheel, but stop on any touch". I know that won't solve every problem, but it should reduce breakages greatly. Think of standing in complete darkness in a room and wanting to find the light switch. Point your finger in front of you and move it forward until you touch something, probably the wall. You can't see the touch but your fingertip feels it. Along the way, be making sure you don't touch something to the side, like a lamp or a side wall. In any case, each touch tells you something useful about where you are in the room and what obstacles you need to avoid. I'm pretty certain that the Renishaw probe is more sensitive and has faster reflexes than your fingertip. I don't know if this program exists, but I am pretty certain that programs like this are common.

Really cool, Adam. I always wondered how the tool that calibrates everything else is calibrated itself. Neat!

As much as it sucks, it happens. sometimes it's the entire probe tool body... ouch $$$$

Great info,Adam.Thank you.

Thanks for the show Adam 🍻

Hi Adam and thanks again for your great vids. You cannot imagine how relieving it is to see that a pro like you sometimes make boo-boos and, well, no need to get mad at it, the bill's for you, and next time you'll sure remember to check twice .such a valuable lesson from one of the best guys on the subject ! Made my day, thanks ! Edit : maybe you got mad at it and by the magic of video editing, we didn't catch the foul language and flying tools at the very moment ! 😁

Always move Z + no matter what you do to confirm the Z direction. Its a good practice and good muscle memory. Also use a magnet under the ring gage. Faster and keeps yhe top clear of anything away from the probe. The probe doesnt take much to register so this is the easiest and quickest way to get the probe back up and running. Also indicate the ruby atleast once every week or two.

According to Murphy's Law if you have a spare probe you'll never break another one...

Go forth, Adam, and smite thy rubies never more.

interesting stuff Adam... good attitude ;) Thanks for sharing!

9:15 THAT is how the Ruby should be set up .. practically ZERO movement on the Starrett "Last Word" indicator The Ruby is perfectly concentric, and perfectly spherical, as far as a Machinist goes .. More accurate than Gauge Blocks :) Adam is setting it up correctly ... to the accuracy it should be set to ...

IT happens to the very best of us, and it's usually when we're in a rush... It's smart to buy an extra, I think i'll do the same just in case...

Maybe it would be a good idea to suggest to Milltronics add a selectable option to generate a tone when hitting the axis button. Something like 1 tone for X, a different or double of the same tone for Y, and three tones for Z so people don't make mistakes like this, or others. Tones like this could be an option for many functions just to make sure if the operator is trying to do something else, as you were, to know what's going on. It's easy to make a mistake, but unconsciously things like this in things like cars, aid all the time.

Expensive task. Renishaw is expensive but really good stuff.

If you break enough of them, you could do like John saunders did with his fleet of Haimers and make a pencil lead probe replacement system... not as accurate as stock but a lot cheaper for low-precision operations. But that's more for multi-operator many-machine shops...

I can say I have NEVER broken a Renishaw probe tip. Now, if someone wants to donate a Renishaw probe to my shop, so I have an opportunity to break a Renishaw probe tip, that would probably change.

I think you can write a "test" program to make this process much more efficient, with on-screen notes to guide you through the process as well and ditch the clipboard :) . Down time is $$$

Interesting stuff man. Thanks for sharing

Don’t feel bad, Adam, other machinists have crashed CNC machines much worse than this! 😊

Thanks Adam..... Old F-4 II Pilot Shoe🇺🇸

Sorry too here Adam glad you were able to fix it your watching friend jb. Would enjoy a machinest hand book God bless.

Its great not to be ashamed of your mistakes

Fancy CNC hes going slow, "oh 4 jaw chuck" now we are cooking!

G28 (or alternatively something like G91 G1 Z1) is your friend here. The probe calibration is reflective of using the screw thread to locate the probe. Calibration compensates for any mislocation of the probe as installed, as well as any misalignment between the center of the probe ball and the center of the thread. If the ball is on center, it doesn't matter how crooked the probe is.

You need to put a halo on that probe. It will eventually save you a lot of money

It’s good to make sure your probe is tight once in a while too !

Good video

Good job Adam. We all make those mistakes and have to learn the hard way. LOL. Hey how about some more grilling Videos?

Accidents happen, and sometimes they're a bit pricey. On the positive side, nobody got hurt and we all learned something.

XD Reminded of an episode from CEE a few years back. to paraphrase "You may be wondering why I'm using a piece of paper rather then my edge finder, Turns out, edge finders do not like being run at thousands of RPM in reverse." Just that type of error every machinist makes at least once I figure. XD

I think the haas probe is the OMP-40 and haas tooling has those for around $50. I’ve broken two now, it’s the jog rate that gets me 🤦🏻‍♂️

When learning curve is steep...wash, rinse, repeat.

he feeeds it like a bridgeport with a 1" HSS 2 Flute cutter ;)

great work memory. you are catching on fast

for the Z the best method is with a 50MM Caliper that you put on your table and just probe on it ... cause a part can always move , i've learned that way

0:54 I would have thought?? That these stylus probes would be standardized! .. But NOPE not even close .. I looked them up and there's got to be 20 pcs, JUST in the Renshaw - Ruby A5000 series, every one different and priced different .. some are quite a bit more than $100 too!! Plus there's a HOST of other series, hundreds of probes available for other machines, in all different materials too .. if your scanning a lot of Aluminum you should use Silicon Nitride probes, and Cast Iron prefers Zirconia, you can get carbide and some other types. At east they don;t have an Diamond probes yet!! :)

Everyone I taught to run or program a CMM eventually broke at least one probe. Me included.

Great demonstration video Adam. Q. Can you send the probe stem that you removed/replaced and get a new ruby replaced on it? Just curious, seems like a waste if the ruby is the only broken part on the stem. Thanks for sharing.

I think you may be able to just use the tool probe on the table to set the length of the spindle probe. I think the procedure that you printed out may be if you do not have the tool probe on the table.

I retired six years ago and enjoyed watching this video. I’ve broken a ruby, recalibrated, etc and trained others…..your attention to verification is what it’s all about. It was like watching me at the the Mori…..

its not an if, its a how long till i smack it! Happy chips brother!

I repair some times. They are three machines it haves this measuring tool. But is easy to do. You be have patience.

0:35 yep, done that. there is a mechanical endstop that protects the probe itself.

Adam, for setting the Z axis, why could not the system use the tool setting probe in the far right corner of the work area, as surely that is a known height.

Renshaw engineer: "It would be easy to program it not to break itself, costing the customer a hundred bucks. Why don't we do that?" Renshaw manager: "Cause it costs the customer a hundred bucks."

03:48 the most expensive match you probably ever held 😂

❤ This was interesting because I remember when you were doing something on that CNC machine the measurements were off on one of you projects by 0.0002 and I wonder now if the stylus was off just enough for that pesky problem? I will wait to see if you find out if there's any difference or not.

I always thought the tip was a small metal ball so that when it contacted the surface of the workpiece, it’d complete a circuit, thus letting the controller know to stop the feed on that axis, and to set a zero on the DRO (or, in this case, the CNC machine’s GUI.) 😊

ouch those are EXPENSIVE !😧

Been there done that. Replacing the probe tip is going to happen.

I think Schrodinger was somehow involved with the making of those stylii. That even brand new, in box, it exists in both the broken and unbroken state until observed.

Just a quick tip for next time - don't toe clamp the ring gauge down, it can distort the ring gauge slightly and affect your accuracy in both diameter and positioning. Use a magnet 🧲

If you are in a rush job and break a stylus, what would stop you from making an emergency replacement out of stainless? As you have to do all the calibration, I would think that even just an emergency replacement probe would work. It would, of course, be more recommended to have a real spare on hand...but poop does happen.

You do realize that if you only have one of something (probe tip, end mill....) that they get lonely and commit suicide right? If you have a spare, they seem to last forever :)

Two point oh four seven six, well said as it should be, no tens or hundreds to the right of decimal point. Please Abom keep up this higher standard. That 1 use of the Correct numbering system made you sound so much more professionally educated. Good lesson for others to learn.

I build everything. I specialize in fancy wood work. When I make a mistake. I just laugh. Been doing this too long to get upset.

Adam, do you need to calibrate the probe on the calibration station mounted on the upper right corner of your work surface?

love it

You should make it abom tight for old times sake

This guy's troll levels hit the spot 😂

24:34 First you break a sapphire, and then you break a 👉RUBY!?👈

I was just wondering if there was a reason why your renishaw probe doesn't "beep" when it makes contact?? Every renishaw probe system i have ever used "beeps" with any contact. Just curious why your's doesn't.....anyone else have a probe that doesn't beep???

Step 1, Time and experience. S2, builds confidence. S3, Mistakes. S4, Humility. S5, See Step 1.

Frame the broken probe tip in a nice shadow-box and hang it in the office.

Lotta down time changing and recalibrating, programming etc., kinda counter to the idea of a CNC as a time saver.

I broke 3 in the first month. None since.

A ruby ball is probably overkill for most general CNC. A steel ball would be fine I bet, and you could drill a new one yourself. I mean, how often do you worry about your 9.2" edge finders wearing out?

Don't you have a "tool check" command/button ? It would go to the Z-home position and keeps the x-y position, so you don't have to crank the Z axis yourself. Cranking the axis is always a problem on a CNC. What I do: set it on a high speed, give it first one click on the dial and see where it is going, and then make the move.