Stumbled on a faster way to set work offsets after 4 years in the shop

I kept getting frustrated re-zeroing every part on the mill until I tried using a dial test indicator to set my G54 from a known edge finder position. Cuts my setup time from 15 minutes to maybe 5. Has anyone else dropped the edge finder for this?

3 comments

3 Comments

parkerbrown14d ago

Yeah, the "still gotta sweep the DTI in" part is what I kept getting hung up on too until I realized you don't really have to. I set mine so the indicator barely moves from the edge finder position, then just jog over and touch. It's basically the same motion as using an edge finder but with less guesswork on the final bump. I've been doing this for about six months and it shaved a good chunk off my setup time too, not quite ten minutes but definitely noticeable. The real win was for parts where I had to pick up multiple offsets on the same vise, the DTI made it way less tedious.

nathan90113d ago

Hang on, nobody's mentioned how this trick saves your back. Bending over to squint at an edge finder bump on a big vise all day kills my lower back. Doing it with a DTI on a stand lets me sit up straight and just read the dial. That alone is worth the switch for me.

the_linda14d ago

Oh man, I gotta push back a little here. 15 minutes down to 5 just from switching to a dial test indicator from a regular edge finder? That seems like a stretch. I mean, yeah, the DTI is accurate but so is a good edge finder if you know what you're doing. I bet most of that time savings is just you getting faster over 4 years, not the tool itself. Plus you still gotta sweep the DTI in, which takes time and patience. And if you bump that indicator even a hair, your whole reference is off. Not trying to be a downer, but I'd call this more of a minor tweak than some big setup revolution.