The day I realized my tool offset numbers were all from memory, not practice

I was running a Haas VF-2SS at a shop in Phoenix for about two years before it hit me. I always set my offsets by feeling the tool just barely touch the part, but one day a senior guy walked by and said 'you know the Renishaw probe does that in 15 seconds, right?' I had been using the same eyeball method since trade school and never questioned it. Has anyone else stuck with a habit way too long even though the machine had a better way built in?

2 comments

2 Comments

noahcampbell2d ago

I ran a VF-2 for three years before I figured out the probe was faster too... felt kind of dumb about it.

olivia_chen352d ago

The "that's just how we've always done it" trap is real and it's deep. I caught myself finger-cranking a tool down to the part for like a full five minutes one day before my apprentice said "uh, boss, the probe is right there." Even helped program it, too. Old school pride gets in the way of just using the damn tool in front of you, don't it.