Because I use my CNC for all sorts of millings from 2d to 3d, large & small I have adopted the "start at the center of the blank" rule. We know we are going to have extra stock all around so finding the work piece center is good at plus or minus ten all day.
I took a piece of 13/32 OD brass tube and added a solid brass end to it and turned it to a point.
I mark the center of my material, place it on the cross-slide, drop the pointer down, and move things around until I get the position I like, and lastly clamp the work piece down.This alleviates a lot of effort and anguish trying to bump the axis' into position.
Note the little arrows I put on the bed, with these I can get back to the center of the travel (with a few thousandth) and again for CNC work that starts in the middle of an oversize blank
This thing works great, it would be better made of steel but the off the shelf brass tube is a home run.
Of course it's not dead center; it creates a small circle if you spin it. I will post center finder 2 ASAP.
Ultimately someone needs to invent an optical piece that drops into the hollow shaft; that would be cool!
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