Hi again Bob, We may be passing one another in the doorway here.
If you have a tool holder with an MT or R8 taper what height will you measure, from the tool tip to where? The Tormach system fits spindle shoulder to tool holder shoulder so you measure from tool tip to the tool holder shoulder. It's not a fixed height it's a known height. This gives repeatable height location to a very high degree when used with tool offsets.
Regards
Phil
Originally Posted by BobWarfield  Tormach ships a height gage and small surface plate together with their toolholders. If you have mill holders, a height gage, and a surface plate, what is to keep you from setting them yourself to a fixed height? Yes, you lose their quickchange aspect, but at least all the tools are at the same height, or perhaps one of a very small set of heights easily remembered or labeled on the tool rack.
In fact, you can buy commercial systems that do exactly this called tool pre-setters that are intended for use in the tool crib. When you go check out a tool, it's in the holder and you get a slip of paper telling you what height and tool table entry to select.
So given your own height gage, and a bit of ingenuity, you can duplicate the fixed tool height function of the Tormach system by presetting your tools to a known height with your gage.
Best,
BW |