[Gilmax]

The superfly. I bought it because of all the hype. I used it several times before I setup My lovejoy Facemill with TTS. I never use the superfly anymore.

[GLCarlson]

I see what you're getting at with this concern but that is not the case here.

MetalShavings

There's a very good idea there. Deal with stickout by altering the length of the holder to get tools that are the same length. If one had some TTS-style adjustable shaft collars it would be pretty easy to make that work across a range of tool holders.

[popspipes]

There's a very good idea there. Deal with stickout by altering the length of the holder to get tools that are the same length. If one had some TTS-style adjustable shaft collars it would be pretty easy to make that work across a range of tool holders.

I have 2 drills,2 reamers, each set (close to) identical length, for the same part but with different sized drilled and reamed holes, using the same program.

More things I bought and wont use:

One gallon of Premier coolant that I will never use.
2 of the skimmer pillows.

[LeeWay]

Here is the list of potential boat anchors in my shop...

4. Modular Ball End Mill.

What is a modular ball end mill?
I might have an interest.

[RussMachine]

I can tell you what I DIDN'T buy, and have absolutely NEVER needed:
Toolsetter, Probe, Jog Pendant, Coolant Kit (I made my own)

[tbev]

I'd never buy the coolant system either, I've replaced every part of mine as well, works much better now, much cheaper too.

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[popspipes]

I can tell you what I DIDN'T buy, and have absolutely NEVER needed:
Toolsetter, Probe, Jog Pendant, Coolant Kit (I made my own)

My toolsetter is a cheapo dial indicator mounted in a tts holder to set Z height, when I screw up its 10 to 15 bucks to replace it.

my probe is a dial indicator that mounts in the spindle, in a crash its inexpensive to replace.

At my age I need the cheapest route as I screw up often!!

[RussMachine]

HA!!
My "Toolsetter" (The debate rages on a different thread), is me jogging the tool down to the top of my part, and shimming it on a piece of paper.
Then entering the number in my tool offset page.
Real hard. *sarcasm*.
For the life of me, I don't understand why anyone would need a height gage, indicator, tool pad, stylus, or any other gadget just to set their tool length.
????

[GLCarlson]

HA!!
My "Toolsetter" (The debate rages on a different thread), is me jogging the tool down to the top of my part, and shimming it on a piece of paper.
Then entering the number in my tool offset page.
Real hard. *sarcasm*.
For the life of me, I don't understand why anyone would need a height gage, indicator, tool pad, stylus, or any other gadget just to set their tool length.
????

Yep. Rizla forever. Though it's getting harder and harder to find cigarette paper.

[LeeWay]

We use the Yellow pages that come to the house every so often. Drill a hole in the corner and hang them up.

[MetalShavings]

HA!!
My "Toolsetter" (The debate rages on a different thread), is me jogging the tool down to the top of my part, and shimming it on a piece of paper.
Then entering the number in my tool offset page.
Real hard. *sarcasm*.
For the life of me, I don't understand why anyone would need a height gage, indicator, tool pad, stylus, or any other gadget just to set their tool length.
????

I did it this way too for the longest time but, because I had to do this every time I made a tool change I realized there had to be a better way. Actually the ToolSetter, when used as designed will eliminate this procedure because the offsets for each tool is already in the memory of the programing. It all boils down on where you want your time to be wasted; during the time you're setting your tool offsets with your piece of paper or, during the time you take to set up your ToolSetter and set the offsets for all your tools.

In my case, I tried the paper thing and it worked well enough but, eventually I came across a little sliding gadget made by Starret. I can't remember what it's called but, it allows me to just jog down to anywhere from about 3/8" to 3/4" from the top of my part. I can then slide that little sliding gadget in between the top of my part and the tip of my tool. This little gadget slides up and down at an angle so you slide it up or down to fill the space between the tool and the top of the part/stock. Then I measure that space using my caliper and enter that info as the tool offset.

Because all of my tool lengths have been set to the exact same length in the tool holders beforehand, I can quickly do the tool changes and keep machining. All it takes is the initial tool offset check and from then on it's just an easy, uncomplicated tool change. It's like the "Analog" way of doing what the Tormach ToolSetter is doing digitally.

The ToolSetter is supposed to be a time saver; and in a production scenario I can see the benefit of it but, as a hobbyist I think it's needless overkill as well.

MetalShavings

[tbev]

That's pretty slick

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[LeeWay]

We zero the mill on the corner of one of the fixed vises. We use a mill drill with a point. Easy to get it fairly precise on that corner. All of our parts have that X and Y zero point. Set once a day. Then we use a 3/16" flat endmill to set Z zero with the yellow pages. That has to be set off the top of the part and varies depending on the part. That is our master tool. It is our shortest tool and never does any machining. Tool holder painted red. All our other tools (28 so far) are either the same height or longer. Our digital height gauge is set to zero for our master tool. Then each other tool gets set using it in the tool table. All our tools offsets are offset from the master tool. That works out great for us. Quick and easy.

[GLCarlson]

Is that "little sliding gadget made by Starrett" a planer gage? Hadn't thought about using one that way, but it'd surely work. They come in all sizes. Multiple makers.

https://www.subtool.com/st/pg_planer_gage.html

[Gilmax]

HA!!
My "Toolsetter" (The debate rages on a different thread), is me jogging the tool down to the top of my part, and shimming it on a piece of paper.
Then entering the number in my tool offset page.
Real hard. *sarcasm*.
For the life of me, I don't understand why anyone would need a height gage, indicator, tool pad, stylus, or any other gadget just to set their tool length.
????

The paper method may not be hard but very annoying for me, and risks chipping the tool. I use a height gage to measure my tools and the convenience and speed is worth the price for me. I have other uses for the height gage as well so I might as well. For setting Z zero I use the Tormach dial touch tool.

[chuckorlando]

I did it this way too for the longest time but, because I had to do this every time I made a tool change I realized there had to be a better way. Actually the ToolSetter, when used as designed will eliminate this procedure because the offsets for each tool is already in the memory of the programing. It all boils down on where you want your time to be wasted; during the time you're setting your tool offsets with your piece of paper or, during the time you take to set up your ToolSetter and set the offsets for all your tools.

In my case, I tried the paper thing and it worked well enough but, eventually I came across a little sliding gadget made by Starret. I can't remember what it's called but, it allows me to just jog down to anywhere from about 3/8" to 3/4" from the top of my part. I can then slide that little sliding gadget in between the top of my part and the tip of my tool. This little gadget slides up and down at an angle so you slide it up or down to fill the space between the tool and the top of the part/stock. Then I measure that space using my caliper and enter that info as the tool offset.

Because all of my tool lengths have been set to the exact same length in the tool holders beforehand, I can quickly do the tool changes and keep machining. All it takes is the initial tool offset check and from then on it's just an easy, uncomplicated tool change. It's like the "Analog" way of doing what the Tormach ToolSetter is doing digitally.

The ToolSetter is supposed to be a time saver; and in a production scenario I can see the benefit of it but, as a hobbyist I think it's needless overkill as well.

MetalShavings

Are you saying the control will only save tool length if done with a probe? If thats true, man that sucks.

I never use the renshaw or tool setter in the haas. The hurco has none. I touch every tool off the table. That is their zero. I then touch one tool off the top of the work, that is work zero. I use a .4 gage pin layed against the tool. Raise the tool till the pin falls under. Lower it one click. Go down to the next increment, repeat.... Hitting tangent on a pin at .0001 has to be kinda close.

Once I set up my tools, they are set untill I change that setting. If it calls T1 it knows H1 from the table. So regardless of the part, it only needs one tool off the top with a gage pin.

[tbev]

Holy siht that thing cost as much as the heimer!!!

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[MFchief]

Planner gauges, both Starrett and knock offs, are all over eBay for well under $100, they used to be very common in machine shops, but not much used these days.

Chuckorlando, the tool table in the controller can be filled in manually, that's how most folks do it. They determine the tool length by their favorite method, as discussed above, the type it in by hand.

Terry

[LeeWay]

Right.
I manually input them.
I also have a notebook with the tools and offsets listed. When we change a tool usually due to breakage or worn out, we log it in the tool table and change it on the written copy as well. That is what you call a hard copy backup.

[chuckorlando]

Planner gauges, both Starrett and knock offs, are all over eBay for well under $100, they used to be very common in machine shops, but not much used these days.

Chuckorlando, the tool table in the controller can be filled in manually, that's how most folks do it. They determine the tool length by their favorite method, as discussed above, the type it in by hand.

Terry

Thats what I thought would be the case. I thought he was saying he had to touch every tool for every job unless he probed it. Thanks man