I’m thinking about ordering the Triquetra 3 Axis Touch Plate and would like to plug it in to the socket on my X-Carriage. Can anyone tell me if it comes with that connector, or otherwise tell me the specs on the connector that would be needed? Giving me reasons why I shouldn’t want to do this is also a possibility.
I ordered on of these as soon as TriQuetra CNC make them work with Easel…about a year ago. It does indeed plug into the jack on the X-Carriage as long as you order the correct version.
I can’t say enough about the excellent customer service provided by Charlie Thomas…he’s helped me out twice when I had a couple of hangups. He’s a great guy to deal with!!!
There is NO WAY you would not want one of these for the price. The only caution is that the touch plate is probably thicker than the Z-probe touch plate supplied by Inventables, so you have to adjust your Machine Setup accordingly and be aware that thereafter they are not interchangeable. But you can easily use the TriQ touch plate as just a Z-probe by flipping it onto its face side, if you have no need to reset the XY zero points.
Until now I’ve been using the Inventables touch probe to set Z and a “bump stop” to set XY and it’s actually working just fine for me, though I occasionally need to replace the bump stop pieces and recalibrate. I’ve been using Easel mostly as a gcode sender for Fusion 360 generated gcode. I’m about to upgrade from belts to lead screws on my X-Carve and rethinking my workflow and a switch to UGS for gcode sending. The Easel requirement to hit Carve just to move the machine has annoyed me for quite a while and that doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon. So while my entire workflow is up in the air I figured I might as well try out the TriQuetra touch plate for 3 axis calibration. And if @LukeWilson keeps up the pace of upgrades he’s offering I may have to set up direct deposit of my paycheck…
If you check Charley Thomas’ YouTube channel, you’ll see some good videos regarding calibration of the touch plate and using gcode senders other than Easel. Most of these videos are included if you order the whole package from TrQuetra CNC.
I too have been using a bump stop to maintain a “fixed” XY zero, and use the TriQuetra touch plate for Z zero. But if you need to adjust your setup/workflow, the TriQuetra touch plate is invaluable in setting and re-setting all three axis.
And rather than use a fluted or carbide-tipped router bit to set XY zero with the touch plate, I use a 1/4" CR steel (or brass) pin for the probing operation and setting of XY zero. I can then switch over to just about any bit with confidence that my XY zero is very accurate.