Question about the shift from manual tool touch-offs to probes

About three years back, our shop floor had maybe two machines with tool setting probes. Now, every new Haas we get has one as a standard thing. The change really hit me last week when I had to run a job on an older VF2 without a probe. I spent over 15 minutes just touching off tools by hand, something I hadn't done in ages. It made me realize how much faster setups are now. Has anyone else had to go back to an old machine and feel like you lost a superpower?

2 comments

2 Comments

anderson.mia14d ago

Man, that's like going back to the stone age.

xena_west4314d ago

Remember when you had to write down all those tool lengths on a sticky note? I tried that on an old machine last month and kept second guessing my own handwriting. It's not just the time, it's the mental load of keeping track of everything manually again. You start to trust the probe to catch your mistakes, so going back feels like you're working without a safety net. The worst part is the tiny bit of doubt on every first part now.