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General Mach Discussion / Machanical Automatic Tool Changer
« on: October 07, 2013, 05:32:44 PM »
I recently saved a pair of Pratt & Whitney Drill Mates from the scrap heap hoping that they would be good candidates for a retrofit project. The biggest obstacle I see with these machines is retaining use of the ATC, which is quite a unique design-very similar to a Fanuc Robodrill (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkQZclaOSz8 first 0.07 shows tool change) or the Brother tapping machines, only completely mechanical-I am on here to ask if anyone has any advice on how to program this ATC.
The tools are held on a turret that rides on the front of the spindle, and rotate around the Y-Axis. The tool never leaves the turret on these machines, but is held loosely in its slot by a C-Clip and a bearing.
When it is time to perform a tool change the machine rises to its max working Z height, then it uses some sort of cam actuated by an additional Z-Axis movement upwards to swing the turret forward/away from the spindle, as it does this the cam releases the tool holder shank from the spindle, and the holder rests in the turret. With the turret positioned out away from the spindle it can rotate to the next tool. As Z lowers the turrent swings backwards/towards the spindle and the cam engages the holder, then it drops back down to the working Z height and off it goes.
I have never done an ATC in Mach3 so starting from the beginning my questions are:
Do I need to run the turret as my A-Axis?
Do I need to set soft limits to control where the Z-Axis goes to begin the tool change?
How the heck do I program all of that automatically into Mach3?!
I have seen some of the tutorial but I'm kind of intimidated...
Any help would be MUCH appreciated!
The tools are held on a turret that rides on the front of the spindle, and rotate around the Y-Axis. The tool never leaves the turret on these machines, but is held loosely in its slot by a C-Clip and a bearing.
When it is time to perform a tool change the machine rises to its max working Z height, then it uses some sort of cam actuated by an additional Z-Axis movement upwards to swing the turret forward/away from the spindle, as it does this the cam releases the tool holder shank from the spindle, and the holder rests in the turret. With the turret positioned out away from the spindle it can rotate to the next tool. As Z lowers the turrent swings backwards/towards the spindle and the cam engages the holder, then it drops back down to the working Z height and off it goes.
I have never done an ATC in Mach3 so starting from the beginning my questions are:
Do I need to run the turret as my A-Axis?
Do I need to set soft limits to control where the Z-Axis goes to begin the tool change?
How the heck do I program all of that automatically into Mach3?!
I have seen some of the tutorial but I'm kind of intimidated...
Any help would be MUCH appreciated!