Most Minimalistic Z-Probe

thingiverse

Inspired by Zaggo's excellent probe designs (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4226), the user attempted making both of them at different times. However, they faced a problem with mounting the minimalist probe on their third bot due to its lack of the acrylic 'U' cutout found in newer versions. The user then thought about why probes were put on servos and decided that as long as the lowest point on the Z-axis was the nozzle by a few millimeters, it would work fine. To solve the issue, they mounted a microswitch under the Z-plate, homing it when the platform reached its maximum Y+ position. This setup has proven to be highly repeatable, allowing them to run prints from a single button click and using only a switch and hot melt glue, making it a minimalistic Z-probe design. Another advantage of this approach is that it doesn't require custom firmware; everything is handled by G-code. To implement this design, the user added specific code to their start.txt file for auto homing Y&Z routine. However, they noted that there's no feedback to the motherboard when an axis hits its home, which can cause delays during Z moves. To address this, they set a -50mm move and reminded themselves to only press print when the tip is close to the build platform.