Відео

I wonder how about the concentrity of the electronic one. Can you use it while spinning at very low rpms?

I use both types constantly, however I do rotate the electronic also, seems as accurate as the mechanical ones.

I have been using edge finders for about 50 years now and about 10 years ago I purchased and have used extensively the electronic edge finder. The repeatability and accuracy of the electronic is unsurpassed. they do have their faults but I have purchased three different sizes of them and all work extremely well. Well worth the money. Cheers.

The electronic edge finder is designed to be spun. As you approached the workpiece you will see it blinking and hear it beeping intermittently. When the light/beep goes steady, you came too far. You should split the difference between “blinking started” and “light steady” and back off that distance (which is your TIR). If you do not rotate the edge finder, the TIR of the spindle+holder introduces the error. Give it a try :-)

Next question is why not make an adapter to hold taps?????

Nice straightforward and useful thank you. I've just been given an electronic finder and I love it! Mechanical one out less often these days.

I've used electronic edge finders, and have noticed that you should also spin up the digital edge finder at around 60rpm, (Not all are like this however a majority I have seen are) you shall notice when touching onto the part, that only one side will touch first, showing the light only on in certain places. -Edit, (Will still be super accurate without spinning but this is just for the extra bit)

Disatvatages of the electronic one: Sometimes I mill non conductive materials, then it does not work. The longer edge finder adds an error when the spindle is not exactly trammed. The 0.01mm under size of the mechanical one is a good compensation for spindle run out. very few spindles and adapters will have less. 12V batteries are difficult to get and quite expensive.

just too bulky

I haven’t seen one led model with 10mm shank.

Nice video and presentation. Test the led edge finder again only this time with spindle running and make a second video on that.

You left out the big DISadvantage of the electronic one; it does not rotate! So if your collet or spindle etc has 1 thou of runout then your electronic tool will have 0 to 1thou of error, randomly, because you dont know the rotational position. To compensate that you need to rotate it and test in multiple positions and find the "high spot". Or, use a tool that rotates... 😎

The spinning mechanical edge finger has greater accessibility than the electronic one as you're restricted with its ball diameter. Good mechanical ones are rated to 5 microns accuracy. The overshooting issue is a problem of manual machines only so if it's a big deal then you need an edge probe with built in either dial or digital gauge to catch the exact contact position.

You're missing the point on this completely. I prefer the ball type wobbler. A cylindrical edge finder won't repeat as well as that. I think you're condeming a mechanical arrangement for the wrong reason. Electronic edge finder not turning is a disadvantage, because you're assuming that the tip is being held true to the axis of rotation of the spindle. If you put a dial clock on the ball and turn the spindle, you'll be surprised at how far out that will be, especially since it sticks out so far. Repeatability without it rotating is irrelevent if it's not on the centre line. Finally, you can't use calipers to give an accurate reading of the cylinder diameter, you have to use a micrometer.

mechanical edge finder is more than good enough for most jobs.

Remember, the entire setting accuracy will depend on machine alignments and head squareness as this will be tested with any variation on the X axis with height differences ?

try it on non conductive material

It seems to me that a fella who knows both machining and electronics, a clever fella, could make a better version of this (and have the fuel tanks of his v8 Interceptor booby-trapped).

Now you know the downsides and errors raised in the comments below isn't this the cue to make a homemade electronic edge finder with a much shorter body and less stick out? Also to mention that an electronic edge finder rotated at slow rpm in the collet will give a more precise reading of where the true spindle centre axis is.

I love my electronic edge finder, and I got it for like 20$ on amazon. My only complaints are that it uses lr44 batteries and has a 3/4 inch shank, , and I would prefer it used AA‘s and had a half inch shank. I would like to be able to hold it in my drill chuck, for quick checking as needed, which only goes up to a half inch. My drill chuck sticks out quite a ways from the spindle, and whatever the length of the drill it is,. And the furthest I can stick the finder out of an r8 collet is 3 inches. So it means a lot of cranking of the z axis hand wheel to switch between edge finding and drilling. Not the end of the world though!

If you're measuring your results with a mitutoya then you probably need, and can justify the electronic edge finder 😂

I just bought one of the electronic ones from China, which was considerably cheaper, and still works just fine. Nice video btw.

My concern is if you spin the electronic one/rotate it 90 or 180 degrees, does your edge move? This would indicate that something is off with the setup or machine, however how do you know this? Would the electronic edge finder always be centred to the spindle axis?

Zed not zee - you're not a yank

What is the name of the solution you used to oxidize and give the final color?

Another great video. Did I see that the drawings are in both imperial and metric. Is it common to mix the two and does it cause any problems?

You could have bought a Kurt vice and flipped the jaws to the outside position and milled the top and two sides without ever having to make these independent moving jaws but nice work. And now you’ve got a new workholding fixture for your shop!

Edge brrr will throw off even an electronic edge finder

If you have a shaper you could do he horizontal groves with a rotary table

Actually I've never used edge finders in mills. I've always started with an oversized piece of stock. Squared it up and then milled it down to size. Then again, I've never done really complicated shapes.

I was taught you never use an edge finder or drill bits in endmill holders. You should use your edge finder and drills in collets to ensure keeping them on the centerline of the spindle. Solid endmill holders are off a very small amount.

Really? No one is going to mention working plastic parts? Also I've found "dead" spots in my mill that somehow don't make contact. I never could explain it but to scrapped the part. Cheap mechanical ones are not worth your time. Starrett is the way to go.

Edgefinders are not deliberately ground undersize, they are lapped to a very close tolerance. Use a micrometer to measure them, they can wear but only by a couple of tenths over years.. If you are concerned with the end marking the part, there are mechanical edgefinders with a ball end. Huffam have been around for ages and kick out much less than the wigglers. One thing that can cause errors is the edgefinder, part and vise jaws need to be regularly demagnetizsd. Could you set up a part using a lever indicator to accurately find the edge and then see how the others perform in comparison. Lock the knee, Y axis and keep the spindle locked in the same position.

Do you think the mechanical ones are deliberately made undersize to compensate for the inevitable overshoot in use ?

The fact that an electronic edgefinder does not spin may reveal errors because of possible runout in the spindle/chuck/collet combination. Something that is automatically overcome with a turning edgefinder.

Good discussion. I bumped my electronic edge finder a little too hard (OK, WAY too hard) and wanted to get a more bullet proof replacement. I bought one of those small electronic probes that are probably more intended for CNC use and I fitted it to my DRO for about the cost of a good electronic edge finder (with some difficulty). In addition to edge finding now in three axes, the DRO has a number of other functions that use the probe for finding the center of a circle with three random points, distance between features inside and out, angles, etc. I think the jury is still out on accuracy and repeatability. It’s in the range of 0.03mm but seems good enough for what I do. I couldn’t honestly say that I was doing any better with the other units. A bonus is that the probe will withstand at least 4mm of deflection so I will have to work harder to destroy it.

Totally agree with you. The electric edge finders are fantastic. I've had my one for a year now, and it works perfectly. Very accurate and repeatable. Wish someone would make a shorter one, as I have a mini mill with not a lot of Z height. I only paid £12 for my one, but notice they are available from £10 now. I wouldn't be without one now. Cheers Nobby

As for the mechanical edge finders being "undersized", that would be deliberate. In order for the edge finder to actually kick to the side, it has to have gone "too far". When it's just touching the surface, then it will be exactly in line with the rotating surface and not wobbling at all. Go a smidge further, then the friction of the rotating surface rubbing against the part will cause it to kick to the side.

I use the Inatool flex edge finder. Works great has many advantages. My other edge finders just collet dust.

Hey Nick! Great video as always - concise and to the point. Here's my two pence worth on this - I bought a couple of these for the bridgeports at work, and they're really good. Got them from Chronos engineering, and if memory serves they were about £45 each. With that said, my experience with them is somewhat soured, as it seems they're not all made equal. My mill at home has an MT2 taper, so I naturally had to go for the smaller variant(which, to absolutely no one's surprise costs about the same, if not more. Go figure), however, I bought it from one of those chinese import websites, and quite frankly - it's crap. First of all, it doesn't have a buzzer, so you're relying on a very dim LED, but more annoyingly than that, it only works when it feels like it, so my advice for anyone with a small mill would be to either stick to a standard edge finder, or at the very least buy from a reputable source. Edit: I just went on chronos website, and it seems like they now do an MT2 version of the same tool. Might have to give it a go, since the price is actually rather reasonable.

These are way to long for my warco wmt 300/2 , have tried the cheap chinese edge finders as you show here but at slower speeds they done like kicking out. The best edge finder I have found and use are the Huffam edge finders they are a wiggler type but really kickout well at slower speeds and work from 400 up.

I dont trust anything with a battery.

I bought a cheaper electronic one ($25 on eBay) and noticed the ball is not perfectly centered and it’s just under 10mm. So the cheaper ones are definitely not great quality. But for the kind of work I do, it’s been close enough.

I see you bought the John Holmes model....

Now rotate the electric probe 180 deg and see the error .

You need to make a new video about runout and edge finders.

I use a cheap electronic one in my lathe. It works decently but I wish the ball bearing was hardened. Essentially I chuck it up in the lathe then it allows me to work out my tool offsets. I wonder if its worth me getting this cutwel one, it looks better quality.

Hoping for reliable electrical contact at effectively zero force and no wiping action is a big ask. The tiniest bit of contamination and it simply won't work.

Very nice video. I have one for a while now, but never used it yet. Glad I brought it now

I use both types of edge finder but I favour the electronic one. When edge finding the inside of a hole there is a tendency for the mechanical types to not kick out on contact due to the curvature of the hole and the need for the contacting part of the finder to try and climb the surface. The smaller the hole the greater the problem. I find the electronic type to be more accurate nd more repeatable. Cheers SteveO