I’d take it - Lee’s parts are tiny and tight, so my routine on a fresh setup is single-block the prove-out, Sharpie a witness line to confirm Z0, then do first-article under a 10x loupe with go/no-go gauges. If you’re comfy with basic GD&T and keep a 0-1" mic and 6" caliper on you, you’ll be fine.
I’d take it — full-time in Westbrook with the focus on computerized controls and precision measurement tools is right up my alley. I’m used to reading prints and checking to tenths on first articles, so the attention-to-detail requirement fits. What’s the typical material mix and shift — lots of tiny stainless/brass like Lee’s reputation?
On valve work like Lee’s, I leave 0.0002–0.0005 on tight bores, zero a small-bore gage on a ring, then walk in size with wear offsets so the first piece doesn’t get tossed. If the print’s got tight true position, re-pick your datums with the probe between ops so a tiny soft jaw shift doesn’t wreck location.
And on tiny bores and pins, I wait for the spindle and coolant to warm up — 10–15 minutes of a warm‑up cycle keeps tenths from wandering. Building on @robert_eva49’s walk‑in, I ‘zero the gage, cut air, then kiss the bore,’ nudging wear only after coolant temp stabilizes (machine needs its coffee). Small caveat: if there’s no probing, plan extra time for manual first‑article and a quick gage R&R.
I’m into it; when the print’s tight, I run a quick probe hit before the finish pass and jot the result next to the tool in the control — keeps “read blueprints” tied to what cuts. If there’s no probe, , I pin-check and add a light spring pass; Renishaw has a quick primer: Standard-accuracy machine tool touch probes.
I’d take it; on tight bores I keep the small‑bore gage and its ring married in a labeled bag, so whoever follows me hits the same reference. Building on @hscott77, that keeps second shift from ‘chasing ghosts’ on size. If there’s no tool‑life tracking, I add a counter and retire micro drills after a set hole count before they chip.
For first articles, I drop an M00 right before the finish cuts and put the key dims from the drawing in the M00 message, so ‘read blueprints’ becomes a quick on‑screen checklist for whoever’s at the control. If the control’s message field is tiny, I slap a QR to a one‑page check sheet instead.
Building on @thompson30, I engrave the print rev and datum letters right on the soft jaws so the setup itself tells the story; small caveat — keep a spare set so you’re not stuck when the rev rolls.
I keep a torque wrench on the vise and put the exact torque on the setup so the next run matches clamping and we don’t chase taper after breaks… When restarting, I quickly touch a gauge pin and nudge wear if thermal drift shows; if you’ve got a probe, a 1–2-3 block check is even faster. @hscott77 your ‘married gage’ idea plus this combo has made my reruns boringly consistent.