Need suggestions, using fixtures located by pin in spindle without manual hand wheel.

This may be be a silly question, but we manufacture a bunch of parts that we've made fixtures for over the years. All of the fixtures are lined up with the table or t slot edge, clamped down, and then zeroed by dropping in a 5/8" pin in a tool holder. For the parts made on these fixtures, the accuracy is sufficient and it's a quick setup. All of the smaller machines have handles that make this easy to do, if you are not aligned with the hole and manually lower the spindle, you feel it quickly and make the proper adjustments. We have a larger Mill (no directly connected hand wheels) that I need to start running these fixtures on. I've already "broached" the alignment hole on one fixture attempting to set it up the way we have done for years. Does anyone have a suggestion on a method we can utilize without having to indicate in the edges of the fixture or utilize an axial indicator everytime? Appreciate the feedback and suggestions.
Regards,
Mike

Get a zero point system and don't look back.

Depending on how close you need to be, I would think you could chuck up your 5/8” pin, get “close” to your alignment hole, loosen your tool holder just a smidge so the 5/8” pin can slip up and down in Z (or just use a 5/8 em holder and loosen the set screw) and then you could jog the table around in X and Y until the pin falls down into the alignment hole. (Instead of just relying on gravity to pull the pin down when it’s centered over the alignment hole you might have have to kind jerk it off up and down while jogging in X and Y...in fact, that’s probably better so you don’t accidentally move in X or Y after the pin falls down and ruin something. So make X move, pull pin down to see if it goes in hole, if not, pull pin back up and make another X or Y move, repeat until pin falls down in hole...)

Do you need to pick up X and Y or just X? I use a pin in the spindle to locate a lot of stuff, especially short run parts.

Sounds like coaxial indicator time; at $65 you can't beat it, and you say you don't need super accuracy.
Shars:

SKU 303-3300A

usually pin in collet holder only hand tight. that ways it will slide in collet if it encounters resistance.
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never had problem. usually use pin .001 or .002 smaller than hole.