Wrote off quick change tool holders as a gimmick, then cut my changeover from 40 min to 9
I ran the same 3 jobs on one VF-2 for two years and figured pulling a Cat40 holder and touching off every tool was just part of the deal. Last week a guy on second shift in our Kentwood shop talked me into trying a set of quick change holders he had in his box, and my first setup after lunch dropped to 9 minutes from around 40. Am I crazy for thinking about spending $600 to tool up the whole machine, or does the repeatability drift on you after a few hundred swaps?
40 minutes down to 9 on a VF-2 sounds like you were touching off every tool in the carousel and now you're not. That's not a gimmick, that's just math. But $600 for the whole machine and you're asking if the repeatability drifts after a few hundred swaps, so you already know the answer is probably yeah, a little. Question is whether a couple tenths matters on the parts you're running, and if it doesn't, why are you even asking us? Buy the holders, check one with an indicator every month, and move on.