"Karl Townsend" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 17 Feb 2013 20:34:51 -0800, "PrecisionmachinisT"
wrote:


"Karl Townsend" wrote in message
. ..

A simple CAT 40 Vise might suffice?

There are several brands and types for holding CAT taper tooling when
off
the machine.

They are used to tighten tools in CAT 40 holders. I have a cast iron one
that I mounted on a bench near the mill.

This was my first trial. I'm getting +/- .003 this way. I need more
accuracy.

Karl

Karl, I use one of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ERICKSON-30-...em53f4 42b15f

Which gets me pretty close...

But when I need to be closer, I touch the spindle NOSE to a 3in block
that's
sitting on the workpiece or in the vise jaws and then after subtracting
3in,
the resultant z axis negative reading becomes my Z axis fixture
offset--then, touch the block once again, with the tool installed and
enter
the difference as (positive value) tool length offset.


The eBay item is what I'm doing. I'll watch eBay for one. Had NO IDEA
they could go that cheap.

My current unit does +/- 0.003". Doesn't meet my needs. How accurate
is yours?


Accurate enough for my needs...would be better if it had a digital readout
instead of a mike head.

But like I say, I can always do a test cut or use the machine irself. if
need be.


My son has a multi thousand dollar presetter on his 1/2 million dollar
CNC machine. He says normally a couple tenths accuracy, but he'll do a
touch off check before building dies.

I use a tombstone that's set dead center on one of the pallets.