Hallmark ITTP Probe
Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2021 12:16 am
I am a newbie with CNC and working on a CNC conversion of a Precision Matthews PM-833TV milling machine. This will be used in my home shop for hobbyist work. I am almost finished with wiring and bench testing of my Acorn control panel. So far, everything has gone very well!
I was just pre-wiring for a probe and stumbled on a few videos regarding the Hallmark ITTP probe. The two things that I found appealing is it's impact tolerant feature as well as the fact that it can be ordered with a TTS 12mm shank. Does anybody have any thoughts on this probe? Is there any reason it may not be fully compatible with Acorn?
The Acorn schematic illustrates the KP-3 probe using two inputs (the probe signal & probe detect). I emailed Cliff at Hallmark Designs for a schematic on the ITTP probe and he emailed me indicating that the Hallmark probe operates by breaking a simple N/C circuit. Please let me know your thoughts. Here is the note I rec'd from Cliff at Hallmark Designs:
The ITTP is of simple electro mechanical operation suitable for switching around 5v. It consists of a simple NC circuit (normally closed), using two connector wires (normally pins 4/5 of a 5 pin DIN plug either side of the centre pin), the circuit is broken on a touch event when the probe stylus tip contacts the work. To date it has only been fully in house tested on Tormach machines with PathPilot software and since February 2017 scores have been shipped to these users, with nil significant issues to date . An increasing number of non Tormach owners have also purchased since 2017, installing on different types of machine and control software, and so far nil problems reported. A US based electrical technician has been for a while now testing on a home built PM conversion running Mach3 and all is well. Here is a link to one of his videos showing the electrical details. CNC4XR Electrics
I have sold several to Centroid Acorn owners, feedback example: Hi Cliff. I can report that the Hallmark ITTP is a good fit with the Centroid Acorn controller. I found your probe to be very well made, robust, simple and accurate. The price was also good resulting in a sound investment. Attached to Acorn’s IN7 block the Hallmark ITTP is a straightforward solution to adding touch probe capability to any machine with an Acorn controller. Highly recommended! - Wayne M USA
Thanks... Richard
I was just pre-wiring for a probe and stumbled on a few videos regarding the Hallmark ITTP probe. The two things that I found appealing is it's impact tolerant feature as well as the fact that it can be ordered with a TTS 12mm shank. Does anybody have any thoughts on this probe? Is there any reason it may not be fully compatible with Acorn?
The Acorn schematic illustrates the KP-3 probe using two inputs (the probe signal & probe detect). I emailed Cliff at Hallmark Designs for a schematic on the ITTP probe and he emailed me indicating that the Hallmark probe operates by breaking a simple N/C circuit. Please let me know your thoughts. Here is the note I rec'd from Cliff at Hallmark Designs:
The ITTP is of simple electro mechanical operation suitable for switching around 5v. It consists of a simple NC circuit (normally closed), using two connector wires (normally pins 4/5 of a 5 pin DIN plug either side of the centre pin), the circuit is broken on a touch event when the probe stylus tip contacts the work. To date it has only been fully in house tested on Tormach machines with PathPilot software and since February 2017 scores have been shipped to these users, with nil significant issues to date . An increasing number of non Tormach owners have also purchased since 2017, installing on different types of machine and control software, and so far nil problems reported. A US based electrical technician has been for a while now testing on a home built PM conversion running Mach3 and all is well. Here is a link to one of his videos showing the electrical details. CNC4XR Electrics
I have sold several to Centroid Acorn owners, feedback example: Hi Cliff. I can report that the Hallmark ITTP is a good fit with the Centroid Acorn controller. I found your probe to be very well made, robust, simple and accurate. The price was also good resulting in a sound investment. Attached to Acorn’s IN7 block the Hallmark ITTP is a straightforward solution to adding touch probe capability to any machine with an Acorn controller. Highly recommended! - Wayne M USA
Thanks... Richard