On 07/11/2014 10:32 AM, Andy Pugh wrote: > But, you seem to be saying that lathes don't use the > tool-table pocket number? Typically, lathes have tool turrets, with various tools installed on the turret. Since the way the turret is made is not exactly perfect, swapping a tool to a different position on the turret might cause the offsets to change slightly. A mill with some sort of tool chain or carousel puts the tool holder into the same spindle taper, which is highly repeatable. Some machines always put the tool back into the same place on the carousel, but machines with a swap arm put the last-used tool into the place the new tool came out of, thus the random tool changer function. And, in that case, the CNC control has to remember where it put the tool in the carousel so it can be found again.
The lathe rotates the tool turret, so the tool is always in the same position on the turret, and the offsets are made so that they combine turret, tool holder and tool position into one number. I'm speaking in generalities, but I think this is true for most CNC lathes. Jon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Emc-developers mailing list Emc-developers@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-developers
