Hello, I have the Altmill 4x4 with an AutoZero touch plate. I have a question on a tapered ballnose bit. I have an Amana 46473. Which is 6.2 degrees and a 0.25 radius tip. I am hesitant to use the AutoZero for XYZ. Can it damage the tip? I have already had to replace this bit once because a dropped it. I am not trying to spend another $85.00 if I mess it up.
@tresguey Iāve asked myself that question a few times. But the AZTP is aluminum, so much softer than a carbide mill. Would love to know if someone looked at a bit with an electron microscope after zeroing.
That said, I donāt think Iād XY zero a TBN with the AZTP. I donāt know if the taper on the bit is factored in when zeroing. Iād only do Z zero. I would put in a straight bit to XY zero and then use that for the TBN.
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Agree with @Chucky_ott - Use a different bit for the XY if needed and use the TBN to set the Z only.
Thanks for the replies, I was thinking the coating was hard. I do a bunch of vcarve inlay cutting boards and have always zeroed with a paper. figured the AZTP would be more accurate.
If using the AZTP in auto mode. I donāt this the taper maters for XY since it is finding 4 sides. Unless I am mistaken.
As I understand it, the AutoZero Touch Plate, if you have not told it the diameter, will touch all four sides, some distance up from the tip and average the center for the XY location after first touching the tip to the bottom of the plate surface for the Z location. I have never tried it.
Yes, youāre probably right. Any error due to the bit geometry - especially on a small mill - is probably negligeable. But it is a tapered spiral with a cutting edge and a throat. So depending on which part of the bit hits the AZTP, it may not be perfectly centered.
I would be very surprised if the AZTP is aluminum. It has substantial mass ā¦ more than I would expect with Aluminum.
Having said that, I do not believe that under ānormalā circumstances the bit would be damaged when probing Z. The reason I say ānormalā circumstances is because of the occasional uncontrolled motion of the Z axis which will definitely damage an endmill. This doesnāt happen when the system is probing but it can most certainly happen when you are manually bringing the endmill close to the AZTP in preparation for a probe cycle.
@Jens The docs say 6061 Aluminium
I sit corrected ! spare characters to make the system happy
I have the auto zero touch plate and wow the bit barely even touches it as itās an electrical probe. As soon as the electricity flows itās done.
But for sharp pointed bits, use the ātipā setting.
I canāt imagine it damaging a bit. Iāve got bits as small as 0.4mm, very delicate. And Iāve broken a few of the very small bits, but never even scratched one with the auto zero plate. It would be a much bigger risk trying to zero the Z by hitting the button in the āpreciseā mode in gsender.
That thing goes down very slow and as soon as it gets just close to the bottom, retracts immediately. I wouldnāt hesitate to use the auto zero plate with any bit.
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