I also have to do manual tool changes and was thinking to do this with a simple subroutine in my programs. Combined with a tool-length probe which can be a simple industrial push button with stainless steel button (the ones I've seen are accurate within 0.02 mm)
1. move up and stop spindle 2. save current coordinate 3. move towards the 'convenient location' 4. present a popup box to the user telling it's time to change the tool 5. after pressing OK move down with a probe 6. Set this as the zero (with offset) Do remember that in the beginning of the progam the offset from the tool probe towards the zero of the workpiece has to be measured. So these are all automated procedures, as a user I only have to change the tool and press OK on the screen. Just make sure that the move up & towards convenient location are such that you do not hit the workpiece or vise ... Up to now I have been doing manual tool changes using separate programs for each tool. This involves manual tool allignment for each tool - something I do forget from time to time resulting in broken tools ... Rob Steve Blackmore wrote: > On Fri, 27 Feb 2009 02:49:51 +0000 (UTC), you wrote: > > > >> When running jobs in Mach I often pause or stop to clear chips, move clamps, >> look to make sure I generated the code right (love CAM but sometimes it does >> what you tell it and not what you want), grab lunch or refreshments and >> perform >> mandatory pit stops. When paused I almost always stop the spindle and >> sometimes >> manually jog the machine around. >> >> On tool changes I move the table to a convenient location, change the tool, >> manually touch off and reset the Z offset. For the kind of work I do its not >> worth it for me to preset tool lenghts. If I'm paused or on a tool change I >> just >> restart the spindle and resume. If I'm stopped I restart from the prior G0 >> or G1. >> >> Can I do this in EMC? >> > > No :( > > Steve Blackmore > -- > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Open Source Business Conference (OSBC), March 24-25, 2009, San Francisco, CA > -OSBC tackles the biggest issue in open source: Open Sourcing the Enterprise > -Strategies to boost innovation and cut costs with open source participation > -Receive a $600 discount off the registration fee with the source code: SFAD > http://p.sf.net/sfu/XcvMzF8H > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Open Source Business Conference (OSBC), March 24-25, 2009, San Francisco, CA -OSBC tackles the biggest issue in open source: Open Sourcing the Enterprise -Strategies to boost innovation and cut costs with open source participation -Receive a $600 discount off the registration fee with the source code: SFAD http://p.sf.net/sfu/XcvMzF8H _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
