Chick foundation plate on SMM2 - keep it or not?

Just got a new-to-me 2010 Super Mini Mill 2. The machine came with a Chick foundation plate with an array of 21 x 8 mounting holes. I’m still somewhat new to CNC, and this is my first Haas. I’m wondering if it’s worth keeping this plate or not. I’ll be doing just prototyping on this machine, no production. Parts will generally be one-offs. I have a Pierson mini pallet system and plan to get an Orange vise, both of which I’d like to keep permanently mounted to the table. Is there any value or benefit to the Chick plate for my situation? I don’t plan to get any Chick vises and I don’t love losing 1” of Z clearance to the plate. Any thoughts? And any ideas what something like this worth on the open market? Thanks for any input.

I'd find a way to make it useful. That's an expensive item that can help make setups faster. Especially prototyping, if you potentially need to move things around often, that will speed things up. If you really don't need it you might get some good coin for it. I would not worry about the 1" of height lost unless you know you need that height. It has the potential to save you a lot of time.

DethloffMfg said:

I'd find a way to make it useful. That's an expensive item that can help make setups faster. Especially prototyping, if you potentially need to move things around often, that will speed things up. If you really don't need it you might get some good coin for it. I would not worry about the 1" of height lost unless you know you need that height. It has the potential to save you a lot of time.

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Thanks for the thoughts. Seems reasonable to try and it out and see if it's useful, or if the Z loss becomes an issue (one of the reasons I moved up from a hobby mill to the SMM2 was to get more Z).

I would keep that puppy on there those things can really give you some versatility of pulling/moving things around without having to dial everything back in. just make some thin adapter plates for your kurt vices or whatever you are using for workholding. As you get busier its a thing of beauty to be able to pull things on and off the table in the matter of a few minutes. And once you get into repeat jobs keep track of your setup and where they are at and build a program around that plate and plop everything back in the same spot. It can really save A LOT of time in the prototype / short run side of things. That is a nice score to have at your disposal.