Don’t own a Bit Zero or a Bit Setter yet. Looking now to save time/effort on multiple jobs.
On a multi-cutter job if I choose a v-bit first and jog over to work with a Bit Zero, are you folks having to spin the bit so the very tip of the cutting edge then touches the probe? or does it matter where in the circumference of the bit it touches the probe?
For those here who were manually eyeballing x/y and using a sheet of paper for z for quite some time and moved into a Bit Setter and Bit Zero did it make enough of a difference you wouldn’t go back?
If definitely does matter. I would not try to use a BitZero to zero X-Y using a V Bit. I would instead probe first using a regular endmill (or a plain dowel), then change to the V Bit and do a Z-Only probe.
The BitSetter and the BitZero really enable two different kinds of things. The BitZero is really a convenience feature - there are many ways to set zeros, I use the BitZero because a) I was new at it, and b) because it is convenient.
The BitSetter enables new, more efficient workflows. Without a BitSetter, multi-bit files usually end up being multiple files, one for each bit. You can do things with collars (so every bit ends up being exactly the same length), but that has limitations when your bits are much different in length. A BitZero doesn’t help you with multi-bit files.
With the BitSetter, you just run all the toolpaths at one time. Carbide Motion will tell you when to change bits, then it will automatically measure the length of the new bit and compensate for the difference between it and the previous one. If you don’t have a BitSetter, you do not get a chance to use the BitZero when you change bits!
I agree with @mhotchin and @daveyJ because on the BitZero V2 a vee bit will give a false reading. The V2 BitZero is designed for a flat sided bit. The vee bit would work for doing only Z because it just touches the top of the BitZero.
I started out with my SO3 XXL in the stone age of C3D. There was no BitSetter. I got the BitZero and that was a big plus for using the machine. I later got a BitSetter and that makes using multiple tool jobs a breeze. I would highly recommend both to increase accuracy and productivity. Without the BitSetter you cannot run advanced vcarve jobs. Not sure if it still exists the user fenrus had a github application that would take an advanced vcarve tool path and turn it into two tool paths.
The BitSetter is not that expensive and simplifies your life tremendously. Spring for it and you wont be sorry.