Bit setter yes or no

Okay I’m looking at the purchase of the bit setter. But first have a question. What is the advantage of it. I have the probe which I use to re probe the z when I change bits. If I understand what the bit setter does, it’s the same thing basically probes the z. So what is the advantage of it over the regular probe.

the big thing it allows you, which is awesome, is to not have to re-do a Z measurement on tool changes, which makes it 1) easier and 2) less fragile to do cuts with multiple tools…

this is different from a probe, which is for setting the initial Z

I will say I love my bitsetter. Before the bitsetter I was always afraid to make designs with different bits within the design, size each change was both a hassle and a risk to get a Z offset between them which would be visible. Now those chains of constraint are gone, and I end up doing much more interesting designs

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And…

If you have a series of cuts where your X,Y,Z=0 origin is going to get milled away partway through the op sequence, the bitsetter means you can do that and still change bit, without having the “doh!” moment where you realise that you’ve turned the zero point into sawdust :wink:

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It has been my favorite addition. To add to what others have said I find it to be more consistent on tool changes. It seems to do better with measuring the length of flat and vbits better.

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I would say it’s the best accessory Carbide3D make - absolutely brilliant if you use multiple bits on a job. And to repeat what others have said, sometimes you machine away your original Z datum - so it can be impossible to probe. Plus just the hassle of getting out the probe every time - the Bit Setter takes care of it.

So don’t think about it much - if it’s within your means, get one, you’ll have no regrets.

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I’m also unsure about the Bitsetter. Wouldn’t putting stop collars on your frequently used bits, (accurately, of course,) work as well?

That would mean you’d need to have unnccessary stickout of your shorter, and potentially more fragile end mills. That would lead to increased deflection and possible breakage.

In my opinion, the BitSetter, is a much a more valuable tool than the corner probes. And I’m all about probing.

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Also,

I’m not sure those stop collars are particularly well balanced for running at high RPM, many of them seem to be an aluminium ring with a steel bolt in one side. This isn’t the best thing for runout, accuracy, bearing life in your router etc.

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If you don’t have the BitSetter option turned on, does CM stop to tell you to change bits if there’s more than one in the .nc file? For me, I only started consolidating multiple bits into the .nc file when I got my BitSetter, so I’m unaware if the option exists without it. I used to have to keep separate .nc files for each bit.

It does stop but then leaves you with no option for jogging/adjusting Z zero, so it’s a dead end. In other words, it does not work. Without the BitSetter, one should save separate nc files, one per tool, indeed.

Thanks @Julien…to me, that’s a big reason I like my bitsetter. Make it easier to control the ordering of the bits used and simplifies outputting the GCode. All the other stuff - like getting the bits to align perfectly - is up there as well. I’ve purchase a few add-ons for my Shapeoko and the BitSetter is my (like the others above) favorite.

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I’m sold. As a lot of what I’m doing starts from the same X and Y, the Bitsetter makes more and more sense to me the more I think about it.
:+1:

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