"Touch-less" touch off (probing)

Abrasive Machine · Mar 16, 2017

Hello,
I had a question. my boss came up to me to setup of look at options to setup one of our grinders(specifically an Okamoto ACC-12-24 DX)with a more presice way of toucing off a part.
I have tought about a way to put in a small camera to get a closer view of the touch off, but this is still based on "visual" touch off.
I recently was thinking about how to setup a type of touch off based on electricity so that as soon as the wheel touches the part, a light would come on to indicate the wheel is touching.
I have looked for something like this but haven't found it.
Does anyone know of some setup like this?
is there one available?
or am I just way off with this idea?

thanks for the help.

swatkins · Mar 16, 2017

Abrasive Machine said:
Hello,
I had a question. my boss came up to me to setup of look at options to setup one of our grinders(specifically an Okamoto ACC-12-24 DX)with a more presice way of toucing off a part.
I have tought about a way to put in a small camera to get a closer view of the touch off, but this is still based on "visual" touch off.
I recently was thinking about how to setup a type of touch off based on electricity so that as soon as the wheel touches the part, a light would come on to indicate the wheel is touching.
I have looked for something like this but haven't found it.
Does anyone know of some setup like this?
is there one available?
or am I just way off with this idea?

thanks for the help.

I've seen it done with a touch pad on a cnc router table.. but both the touch pad and the tool were metal. Going to be hard to do with a grinding wheel as it is non conductive unless wet. Even then I don't think I would want any electricity going through grinder bearings.. Might not hurt but lets try it on your machine first

cash · Mar 16, 2017

We had a Reform grinder with this feature. I know somewhere along the line I have come across other grinders with this feature as well.

As long as the shop is not too loud you can always listen for the wheel to touch.

You can put some crayon or a sharpie on your parts to watch for the wheel to spark.

This type of feature I could see being a benefit on a high production machine.

Paolo_MD · Mar 17, 2017

What about sensing the particles thrown by the wheel, instead?
I remember a video, probably from Don Bailey where he placed his hand downstream to feel the particles thrown by the wheel, in order to sense when it was touching.
While I don't recommend putting anybody's hand in such a risky place, I believe one could make use of the same concept: a "microphone" which would sense the impact of the particles thrown by the wheel and turns on a light as soon as the frequency of the impacts reaches a certain threshold.
I'm not an expert in electronics, but I believe this is a rather simple circuit to design.

Paolo

Mike1974 · Mar 17, 2017

Question. Is this for a production environment? Is this for less experienced operators? I've always just "sparked off" on the part, noted the number on the handwheel and backed up a thou or two. Assuming you have a few thousandths to play with...

CarbideBob · Mar 17, 2017

Electrical contact ones need a conductive wheel.
Acoustic ones are much more popular. If you place a screwdriver on the workhead and place your ear against the end it is quite easy to hear the first grains hit.
A microphone can be attached to the work head to do the same thing.
Google "grinder gap control".

jonathan2jones · Mar 17, 2017

I agree with the grinder gap control. Elaso and Marposs are two I have used. You mount an ultrasonic sensor near the wheel or preferably near the end of the spindle. A module mounted near your control or on top of it will be needed. May I ask why? I have ran that surface grinder and I am not sure why you would want it in this application?

plastikdreams · Mar 17, 2017

Go to harbor freight and get one of the stethoscopes with the extended tip on it...done

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