Bought a $300 3D touch probe, took 2 days to justify it on one job

So I finally caved and bought a Renishaw style probe off eBay for $300 after manually indicating every part for 5 years. Last week I had a run of 40 castings with totally inconsistent datum features, and that thing paid for itself in one shift. Setup went from 20 minutes per part to about 5, and I didn't scrap a single one. But now I'm wondering if I should have just spent that cash on better vises or a new tool holder rack, since my old method never really failed me, just ate up time. Anyone else dropped serious money on a setup tool and then second-guessed it later? What's the best bang for buck upgrade you've bought under $500? I might tell my buddy to do the same, but only if it's worth the hit to his wallet.

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jennifer_west14d ago

Man, that $300 probe is the best kind of splurge because it made you feel like a genius for two whole days. I bought a digital height gauge once, swore it would change my life, and then spent an hour trying to figure out why it kept beeping at me before realizing I had it upside down. The real bang for buck under $500 is probably a good set of parallels or a decent edge finder that doesn't wobble like my first one did, but honestly, time saved is money saved, and you can't put a price on not wanting to throw a casting across the shop. Your buddy should do it, but only if he's cool with spending his lunch break reading the manual like I did, twice.

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