Do away with manual alignments - use Readpoint

I have basically no fixturing (a machinist's vice, and some screwjacks, and that's it). We mostly don't have CAD files and I really don't know how to program with CAD.

What I typically do is to try to get the part on the table as level and square as I can. I pick two holes with the same centerline. These don't necessarily have to be datums, they are just whatever is convenient, and I can use them to "find" the datum features for the main alignment.

So, I park the probe 1/4 inch or so out from the hole (or corner, or whatever), and insert a readpoint. I set an origin on that readpoint. I usually have prehit and check jacked up a bit so I have a nice zone where the probe can look for a hit. Usually there is a machined plane of some sort (though I suppose this would work with a cast surface). I have the probe take three hits for a plane. I set a new alignment with that plane as an origin for whatever axis the probe is parallel to, and with the readpoint still the origin for the other two axes. Having the plane set up this way, I can control how deep in the hole the probe will go (since my idea of what 1/4 inch out from a hole is and somebody else's idea might be two different things). I use an autocircle to take four hits in the hole, and four hits in the other hole on the centerline. Now I have a plane and two holes for another alignment. From there, I either go looking for the datums (if the part is complex and the datums are hard to get to), or, if the features I am using are actual datums, I just repeat everything, but with more hits. Takes a few seconds longer, depending on the part, but it works, and I don't have to spend a buncha time driving around taking hits for a manual alignment.

I have basically no fixturing (a machinist's vice, and some screwjacks, and that's it). We mostly don't have CAD files and I really don't know how to program with CAD.

What I typically do is to try to get the part on the table as level and square as I can. I pick two holes with the same centerline. These don't necessarily have to be datums, they are just whatever is convenient, and I can use them to "find" the datum features for the main alignment.

So, I park the probe 1/4 inch or so out from the hole (or corner, or whatever), and insert a readpoint. I set an origin on that readpoint. I usually have prehit and check jacked up a bit so I have a nice zone where the probe can look for a hit. Usually there is a machined plane of some sort (though I suppose this would work with a cast surface). I have the probe take three hits for a plane. I set a new alignment with that plane as an origin for whatever axis the probe is parallel to, and with the readpoint still the origin for the other two axes. Having the plane set up this way, I can control how deep in the hole the probe will go (since my idea of what 1/4 inch out from a hole is and somebody else's idea might be two different things). I use an autocircle to take four hits in the hole, and four hits in the other hole on the centerline. Now I have a plane and two holes for another alignment. From there, I either go looking for the datums (if the part is complex and the datums are hard to get to), or, if the features I am using are actual datums, I just repeat everything, but with more hits. Takes a few seconds longer, depending on the part, but it works, and I don't have to spend a buncha time driving around taking hits for a manual alignment.