Tool offset numbers kept drifting on a 3-day run, here is what stopped it

We had a big batch of 316 stainless parts and the tool offsets kept drifting every few hours, scrapped 12 pieces before I caught it. Someone told me to use a thermal compensation cycle that rereads the spindle load and nudges the offsets automatically, tried it yesterday and the next shift ran clean for 16 hours straight. Has anyone else had to build a custom macro for this, or is there a simpler way to keep the numbers from walking?

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cameronf888d ago

Three years ago I would've said just tighten your drawbar and check your flex, but then we ran a 72-hour job in Inconel and watched a 0.003" drift happen right in front of the probe. Your macro idea sounds way smarter than what I did, I ended up just adding a manual re-zero every 4 hours and that killed our cycle time. The load-monitor compensation is something I've heard a few guys swear by for longer runs, seems like it catches the thermal growth before it becomes a problem. What are you using to trigger the reread, a time interval or a part count?