TIL a dial indicator holder beats a test indicator for rough setups

I spent 3 hours last Tuesday fighting a test indicator to tram my vise on our Haas VF-2. It kept flexing so I switched to a Noga holder with a cheap dial indicator and got it within 0.0005 in like 15 minutes. Turns out the extra rigidity makes a huge difference when you just need a rough square. Has anyone else found a tool that made their setup way faster?

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gavinwood4d ago

Wait, three hours? On a VF-2? That's wild. I've seen those machines for years and a test indicator should not flex that bad unless you had it hanging out a mile or something. Honestly, I'm more surprised you didn't just throw a speed square on the spindle and eyeball it in 10 minutes for a rough tram. But yeah, a solid holder with a cheap dial is way more forgiving when you're just trying to get square enough to not mess up a part. Good on you for switching instead of fighting it all day.