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I was sure my old way of setting up a 3-axis job was faster, but a guy in our shop in Dayton showed me something better.
I always used to just pick a corner as my work zero and go, thinking it saved time. He had me watch him set his zero to the center of the part for a run of 50 aluminum brackets. The tool paths were way cleaner and the machine didn't have to move as far between cuts, shaving almost 12 minutes off the cycle. Has anyone else switched to center-zero for similar parts and seen a big time save?
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evan_campbell2d ago
My stubbornness probably cost me a whole season of coffee breaks over the years. I fought the center-zero thing forever, insisting my corner method was fastest. Finally tried it on some repeated plate work and the difference was stupid. The machine just moves in shorter, more direct lines. It adds up way more than you'd guess before you see it happen.
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the_piper1d ago
Tell me more about the tool paths being cleaner. Were you seeing less rapid travel or just smoother cutting moves that reduced machine shake?
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