Why does nobody talk about backlash in the Z axis after a tool change

I was cutting a batch of aluminum brackets on my Haas TM-1 and kept getting a .003 inch step on the finish pass right after every tool change. I blamed the tool holders, then the pull studs, then the spindle, and spent about $200 on new collets before a guy at my local supplier in Dayton asked if I was re-zeroing Z after the machine warmed up. I ran a warm-up cycle for 15 minutes and touched off again, and the step dropped to almost nothing. Now I do a quick Z touch-off after the spindle has been running a while instead of trusting the cold number. Anyone else fought this on a machine that's been sitting overnight?

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barbara_taylor834d ago

Boy, thermal growth bites everybody eventually.

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