1. First, make sure that the machine head is in a perfect vertical orientation by touching the machine s table with a dial indicator, then rotating the indicator. The indicator should read zero around the whole circle as shown in Figure 2-35.

   
   Figure 2-35: Indicating vertical position.

2. Place a 1.000 diameter dowel pin into the master tool holder with a known Gage Length (GL).

3. Touch the dial indicator plunger as shown in Figure 2-36. A flat attachment helps here. Set the indicator to zero and record the Z value on the controller s screen. Let s call this value Z maximum.

   
   Figure 2-36: Touching the dial indicator plunger is eased by having a wide, flat top on the plunger.

   • Do not move the machine on the X axis. Move only on the Y and Z axes. Move to a safe point on the Z axis, and rotate the A axis through 90 degrees into a horizontal orientation. Next, move on the Y axis in the plus and on the Z axis in the minus directions until you get to the position shown in Figure 2-37.

     
     Figure 2-37: Z minimum position.

Record this Z value on your controller s screen and let s call this Z minimum.

You should have the following values handy:

• Z maximum

• Z minimum

• GL - Gage Length

• R - Dowel pin radius = .5000

Formula to calculate Pivot Distance:

• PD = Z max Z min GL + R

This...