CNC - Positive Quadrant

["Bob La Londe" <none@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I have noticed that quite a lot of people position parts in CAM in the
positive quadrant of the Cartesian plane.  It makes a lot of calculation and
planning easy so it makes sense.

When you place a vise square on the table the moving jaw to accommodate
different size stock is in the negative direction usually.  This requires
touching off and relocating ZERO for Y a requirement for every single job or
part of a job after rotating a part.  Even those that don't require a huge
amount of precision.

The obvious solution is to design a vise with the screw drive on the other
end positioning the moveable jaw in the positive direction.

The less obvious but much easier solution, is to work in the X+ Y- quadrant
or move your work to X+ Y- quadrant after you have done all your
calculations, layout, and planning.

(FYI:  I tend to work with XY ZERO in the center of my stock because I do a
lot of rotations around an axis and/or symmetrical work, then I move my work
to the positive quadrant so I can just touch off rather than touch off and
calculate.)

I was trying to develop some work processes that allow me to do certain
types of jobs and setups faster, but then after typing all this it occurred
to me that for most of you guys its probably all mind numbingly obvious.
LOL.