Hi all,
I replaced my BitProbe with a BitSetter and for someone who wants to mess with it, it can be theirs for the price of shipping.
It worked great 95% of the time, but that 5% was too much of a problem for me. I recommend the next owner figure out how to wire it to the controller board directly and replace the small gauge wire that comes with it.
The BitProbe is intended to work in concert with the BitZero or Dog River probe. The manufacturer sells a holder for the probe, through which you are intended to feed a wire to connect to one lead on the button. The other lead on the BitProbe is then connected to ground. When the button is pressed, the connection from the probe to ground is made.
I had several areas of trouble with it. First, the wires are tough to strip and the small gauge introduces potential for error in the connection within the holder. I soldered in a piece of solid hookup wire and fed that through the holder along the side, offering a larger contact patch. Secondly, the wires vibrated loose in the button. An easy fix, once you dismantle it, find it and throw a little thead locker on, but farewell to the bit that crashed into it. Lastly, I had another crash this week with no apparent reason, breaking a $40 bit. This is likely due to the probe not being against the hookup wire in the holder, but it’s really odd - I hadn’t moved it since the prior tool change. Regardless, it was the final straw.
Having now used both, the BitSetter is a supremely (over?) engineering part. The large machined case is quite satisfying in weight, making the cost almost seem less painful. The big advantages to it are the LED (confirming the device is connected, which is nice after my history) and the button connects before it bottoms out, which feels like a good idea for needle sharp bits I’m running.
The larger button on the BitProbe feels like a nice touch for those that might be running larger bits and the 3D printed extrusion is well designed. The manufacturer is also great about communication and can be found on Etsy.
Please send me a private message if you would like to try your hand at the BitProbe.
