Unpopular opinion: maybe we overcomplicate tool offsets

I was chatting with a retired machinist at a diner in Dayton, and he said 'If you're chasing a tenth all day, check your vise jaw before you blame the tool.' I spent an hour cleaning and re-tramming my Kurt vise... and the chatter on that 4140 part vanished. Anyone else have a simple check they do first when a job goes weird?

3 comments

3 Comments

leom7421h ago

That's a great point. Sometimes the simplest fix is just checking your workholding before you even touch the offsets.

phoenix_singh2517h ago

Wait, people actually skip checking the workholding first?

wade_west5614h ago

I once scrapped a whole batch because I forgot to tighten the vise. Spent an hour messing with tool offsets before I saw the part wiggle. Felt like a real genius that day.