I'm new to this cnc world and don't really understand the wiring in the 0 touch plate. I've read tons of threads here and youtube also. my table and electronics are up and running and i have marked the x and y out with a pencil for now. i did a couple test cuts of just a letter cutout. then as i was going to load a g-code of a carving i realized hey, how will my finishing toolpath bit know where the Z-0 is. so i found the treads about the z touch plate and that's how i got here.

my question is, if you hook up a wire to a pin on the lpt1 port, how do you do it if i use that port to connect to the controller? do any of you know if there's a picture of one around here or how it's done?

do i need another port omn my pc or just not understanding what people are talking about? again, thanks fo putting up with my lame thread.

Not really sure what you are asking but I am thinking you have a breakout board connected to your parallel port on the computer. If that is the case then if you have a free input on that breakout board you can set that up as the probe.
Hood

Yes, assuming that a controller and a breakout board are the same thing. I see what your saying now......it gets wired to the controller not the lpt1?

this is my controller , TB6560-T4 CNC Driver.... wiil it work?

There are 5 Inputs noted on that diagram, assuming there is at least one spare for you to use, then yes.
Hood

Now i see, and no i'm not using any of them at this time. do i just use one of them out to the touch plate then ground the bit to earth?

It will depend how your Inputs work, likely they are sourcing inputs which means if you connect one to the Gnd terminal on your board it will activate that input. If that is the case then your touch plate would have a wire to the Input and the tool would be clipped with a wire to the Gnd terminal on the board.

Hood

Ok, so if i'm thinking right.......the bit is used to complete the signal as it is sent to ground and mach3 knows right when it happens?

This thread may help.

http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,10088.msg62024.html#msg62024


Brett

Thank you fellas for the information. i know way more now and think i can do it .....thanks for your time again.

No problem. 

Brett