The one thing I see people mess up with their tool length offsets

For years, I watched folks just touch off a tool and call it good, but that leaves you open to a big crash if the tool holder isn't seated perfectly. I learned this the hard way after a crash on a VF-2 that cost about $800 in parts and downtime. Now, I always touch off the tool, pull it out, re-seat it in the spindle, and touch it off a second time to check. If the numbers are more than 0.0005" apart, something is wrong. How do you guys double-check your offsets to stay safe?

2 comments

2 Comments

jade61813d ago

Wait, you can just pull the tool out and put it back in to check? That seems so obvious now that you say it, but I never thought of doing that. Eight hundred bucks for a crash is a huge hit, way more than the few minutes it takes to double check. I'm going to start doing this on my next shift, because getting a tool holder seated wrong is such an easy mistake to make when you're tired. Your method of checking for that tiny difference makes total sense.

brown.susan13d ago

Tell me about it, @jade618... I learned that trick the hard way after a crash that still makes me cringe.