Can you find and buy a “tool setter” for your router ? SURE. The flat plate and clip-on-the-tool version are all over and they are really cheap! As you would expect they trade some things to be cheap PRO’s
Really cheap so when they break you can afford a spare .
Really low profile and can be used to find the top of materials
CON’s
They are battery operated and use “ohmic” sensing.
They have no over-travel sensor/detection
You have to slide the touch plate under the spindle and clip an alligator leado the tool (router motors and spindle shave no way to connect tot he tool / chuck side from the body)
You need to carefully jog down and make the touch in case it misses to not damage the sensor plate or (worse) break your tool.bit)
It’s not possible to use this in any type of automated or semi-automated tool change .
What about the “real Tool Setters you see advertised on EBAY for 40 to 80 bucks? They work. Most have over-travel sensors (although its not listed in the description) . They are pretty well made and are water resistant and even come with a little air blower thign to blow the dust off the top (if you have shop air and a regulator) . The primary problems are they are made in China , have poor instruction manuals and they are 75mm tall! Right at 3 inches!. That can create problems with a longer bit and routers with limited Z travel.
Enter the LPTS form CandCNC.
Its designed to used with routers and rotary tools . its just a little over 1 3/8″ tall . Plastic case is water resistant and has a rather large touch area for its size. it uses highly sensitive piezo touch technology for the primary sensor that trips with a few grams of down force .One shot pulse prevents bounce rejiggers and missed triggers . Solid mechanical Over-travel hooks to ESTOP input and prevents breaking the sensor , the tool and you wallet
Ships with 20 ft cable setup with color coded crimp ferrules . Hookup instructions and and a human that speaks fluent english (although with the Texas accent) will answer a call
Want a better Deal? Order it with our ISS-05 No-Stall Spindle Speed or any of the Router Controller bundles and save BIG!
NO PHONE SUPPORT FOR NON-CANDCNC applications.; NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CNC MILLS . REQUIRES SOURCE OF 12V
Additional information
Weight
.5 lbs
Dimensions
6 × 6 × 5 in
How it Works: Setup
The LPTS lets you setup and do a SEMI-AUTOMATED TOOL CHANGE in SheetCAM or in Vectric Products (VCarve Pro, Aspire, Cut 3d, etc)
Here is how you do that:
Mount the LPTS to the spoil board of you router table . Typically some location like lower right side of the table is good
Open a ROUTER Config in CommandCNC that has a Spindle . Its a LOT faster if you have a spindle with a collet system like the ER series. (note: If you COPY any CONFUG and rename it it copies al the settings from its Parent CONFIG
Put a small bit or a blank rod in the spindle chuck Tighten it
Raise the Z above the spoil board surface about 2″ or more.
HOME your XY and ZERO the XY DRO’s Zero the Z on the spoil board or some place above it
Jog over to the center of the LPTS touch button . Write down the X and Y positions .
Move X and Y back to Homes and make sure they read zero . If not repeat steps 5 and 6.
With he Z still at least 2″ above the spoil board, open the MDI button and type in “G0 X[you x postion for LPTS} space Y {you Y potion for LPTS}. hit enter key to run the code . iIt sould center back over the LPTS and aboove it.
Once you have confirmed the XY Absolute position of the LPTS in realtion to Xhome and YHoime (Machine zero. Then use those number sin the TOOL SETTER POSITION IN CommandCNC™ For Z use a spot that is at least 1.5 inches higher thatnt he Spoil Board .
Now determine a good spot to move the router and chuck to to be able the easily change the tool/bit Put those numbers including the Z potion in the TOOL CHANGE POSITION digital readouts.
Touch off the tool to the top of ou test material and ZERO Z . You can set the WORK Zeros for X and Y if you want
Run the INITIAL TOOL SET and make sure the tool goes over and touches off as it should
There are custom POSTS available for using SATC in SheetCAM and for Vectric. Each application needs to ahve them loaded to make them available during processing. Refer to the specific instructions from the maufacturere or int he CAM section of the LPTS Manual. These settings stay with the specific CONFIG you have for using your Router/Spindle. If you have more than one you will need to add the positions to each Router CONFIG you have
Low Profile Tool Setter (LPTS)
$75.00
LOW PROFILE TOOL SETTER
Description
PRO’s
CON’s
What about the “real Tool Setters you see advertised on EBAY for 40 to 80 bucks? They work. Most have over-travel sensors (although its not listed in the description) . They are pretty well made and are water resistant and even come with a little air blower thign to blow the dust off the top (if you have shop air and a regulator) . The primary problems are they are made in China , have poor instruction manuals and they are 75mm tall! Right at 3 inches!. That can create problems with a longer bit and routers with limited Z travel.
Enter the LPTS form CandCNC.
Its designed to used with routers and rotary tools . its just a little over 1 3/8″ tall . Plastic case is water resistant and has a rather large touch area for its size. it uses highly sensitive piezo touch technology for the primary sensor that trips with a few grams of down force .One shot pulse prevents bounce rejiggers and missed triggers . Solid mechanical Over-travel hooks to ESTOP input and prevents breaking the sensor , the tool and you wallet
Ships with 20 ft cable setup with color coded crimp ferrules . Hookup instructions and and a human that speaks fluent english (although with the Texas accent) will answer a call
Want a better Deal? Order it with our ISS-05 No-Stall Spindle Speed or any of the Router Controller bundles and save BIG!
NO PHONE SUPPORT FOR NON-CANDCNC applications.; NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CNC MILLS . REQUIRES SOURCE OF 12V
Additional information
How it Works: Setup
The LPTS lets you setup and do a SEMI-AUTOMATED TOOL CHANGE in SheetCAM or in Vectric Products (VCarve Pro, Aspire, Cut 3d, etc)
Here is how you do that:
There are custom POSTS available for using SATC in SheetCAM and for Vectric. Each application needs to ahve them loaded to make them available during processing. Refer to the specific instructions from the maufacturere or int he CAM section of the LPTS Manual.
These settings stay with the specific CONFIG you have for using your Router/Spindle. If you have more than one you will need to add the positions to each Router CONFIG you have
Using LPTS in Semi Auto Tool Setter Setup (Video)