I posted this last Sunday but think the Superbowl might have had some of you occupied since there were not too many views.  Here is a repost for any of you who might have missed the original.


Tool Length Offset Measuring Device

Currently we have two measuring devices for sale available on our website, with a rather large price differential. We got an inquiry from one of the forum members that we thought our reply to him would be beneficial to the understanding of anyone interested in a tool setter. For more information go to ; http://www.cncneeds.com/

The original setter was made as simply as possible, using an off-the-shelf micro switch in a simple urethane housing. As it turned out this setter is highly accurate, +/- .0005”, but only for pointed or center-cutting tools, tools that are able to hit the center of the micro switch plunger. Due to the crowned plunger of the switch, when contacted off-center it causes the plunger to ‘rock over’ and therefore actually trigger at a slightly different height, on the order of a thou or so. The original setter also was designed to be bolted to the table. Originally the price was $89 but when we decided to discontinue it we put a special price on it at $49 to sell off the handful left in stock. For tools that you can easily line up to hit the center of the switch’s plunger you can’t beat it!

We designed the TLOsetter II to address the shortcomings of the original setter. This tool maintains high accuracy regardless of where the tool contacts the shaft therefore it can be used for any tool, any size, non-center-cutting, flycutters, facemills, etc. The II also doesn’t depend on a micro switch, it has an Infrared Optical switch for superior accuracy, once again on the order of +/- .0008 regardless of the contact point, near dead zero (.0001) when contacted on center . And one of the biggest improvements is that it is free-standing, it doesn’t have to be bolted down to the table, which allows it to easily be moved around by hand to position it beneath the cutting edge of the tool. Imagine a 4” flycutter, instead of jogging the machine to get it in the exact spot of contact, all the operator does is move it by hand to the needed position. So it’s a great tool but it came at the expense of quite a bit of precision in the machining of surfaces, designing, molding, and machining a new housing, addition of a stainless steel shaft, a honed bushing, the IR switch and it’s circuitry. Put all that together and the price jumped to $359! This tool is compatible with various Automatic Tool Changer touch-off routines. We also furnish macros for both setters for the use of measuring and automatically entering the data in the Mach 3 Tool Table. Please note, our setters are designed to be used only with a Mach 3 controller.