Saturday, May 31, 2025
Probe Tip Variance And Invariance
I've been making a few new probe tips. Keep 'em all safe in a little box like this:
You can't tell with the naked eye what the tip looks like. I thought I'd try making a couple consecutively and see how different they are. I've experimented with just running the electrolysis on the probe wire until the tip just falls off, as in this picture:
And letting it run for a just bit longer like this:
Both of these are 0.29mm 306 stainless wire from the same batch, etched in 5% salt solution with 3xAAA batteries in the same jig, and the photographs have been taken at the same magnification with the same microscope and lighting. While the first one has a much longer thinned shank, it is interesting to note that the tips end up coming to much the same size and sharpness.
Frankly I was amazed at the difference in profile from much the same process. I do not yet know how this will affect the probes' resin-carrying ability, but I suspect the thicker probe would deflect less when used to mechanically interact with items on the print bed.
Better make some new print beds and test them out...
