I am just finishing off retrofitting my Boxford TCL125 . The turret I had originally taken off is now back on the machine . When I start up Mach3 , all the screens show only two axis as you would expect . I intend to drive the turret using the "Y" or even the "A" axis but alas there is no DRO , no homing button , and also I do not know how to drive it from the keyboard . I have turned the turret using MDI without a problem . I am also toying with the idea of using degrees instead of the normal linear coordinate system .

Can anyone advise on how to add a DRO and homing buttons etc and also tell me how to configure Mach3 so that I can drive the turret with the keyboard and maybe swap the linear units to angular . Please bear in mind that the explanation needs to be as simple to follow as possible please .

Many thanks for looking .

You can use one of the screen designers to add DROs, buttons etc to a screenset, I like Screen4 but others prefer Machscreen.

How does your turret actually work as you should be able to configure Mach to change the tools automatically instead of having to press a button.

Hood

Hi Hood ,

thanks for the rapid reply once again . Do the screen designers show you how to configure the keyboard ? The only reason to use the keyboard for the turret is just for setting up etc . Using the turret under program , I was going to write a small sub program and and every time I need to change tool I would call up the sub program . If you look at this thread you will get the idea . The only difference I would wish to do is change the linear programming to angular .

http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,4162.20.html

The turret has 8 positions and rotates in only one direction to advance to the next tool position . It then backs up on itself so that it locks up against a pawl .

I would dearly love to be able to use the turret using a macro so that the tool N° is always known . That way the programming will be easier because you wont have to remember where the last tool was . You could just say you want tool 3 for instance and it go straight to it . Unfortunately my knowledge of writing VB scripts is non-existent . I would need one written for me and then told how to place it in to Mach3 and use it .

Hope this helps .

The screen design programmes are fairly easy to work out after you look at them for a while. Not really messed much with Mach Screen as I use Screen4 and it does all I need. It does have a few quirks that seem to catch the unwary off guard but doesnt bother me

I will look at that thread you linked to  in a minute but a macro should be easy enough to write, Do you have a home switch on the turret?
Hood

Good morning Hood ,

no the turret does not have a homing switch , but if I can jog it to position 1 then I reference it then .

I looked at that thread you linked to but seems the macro is no longer there for looking at.
However writing the macro shouldnt be too hard even for a VB thicko like me.
For your turret how exactly does it work,
Is it stepper driven?
Does the stepper stay energised all the time holding it against a pall?
Hood

Oh another question, if a stepper how many microsteps does your drive have and is the motor 1:1 with the turret or is there gearing between?
Hood

Here is the wording in the link .


Posts: 122


View Profile Email Personal Message (Offline)
   
   
Re: ATC for lathe
« Reply #22 on: September 11, 2007, 04:20:24 PM »
   Reply with quote
My Boxford TCL 125 has a ratchet type, stepper driven, 8 position turret. I used a simple G code subroutine to get it to index. Y axis was left as linear, (Mach doesn't care) and worked out the number of steps to get the 45 degrees. So the subroutine indexes the turret, say 50 degrees, then reverses the turret to stall the stepper against the ratchet (no problems the driver limits the current)
G code call is:-
M98 Ln P123 (Where n is the number of times I want to index and P123 is the subroutine.
Subroutine is:-
O123
G91 (Incremental distance mode)
G00 y-10 (Index more than 45 degrees)
G00 y2 (Back up to stall on ratchet)
G90 (Back to absolute distance mode)

M99 (Return from subroutine)

The Boxford turret has no means of telling Mach which tool it is using and because of the ratchet, it is strictly sequential.

I have not worked out the steps per degree yet and yes I believe it is geared . It is stepper driven with a microstepper . Yes the stepper remains energised although only on half power(switchable to full power if need be) . Again , if I can drive it manually through the keyboard it would be easier to figure out . The cursor keys are used for the x and z axis , but I'm still stumped as to what to use for the y axis .

Many thanks

Ok here are the steps to try, I am assuming 2000 steps per rotation so you will need to adjust accordingly for your setup but basically its however many steps it takes to do one rev divided by 60.

1.   Enable the A axis and set it to the pins you have the turret connected to for Step and Direction
2.   In Motor Tuning select the A Axis and put  33.33333333 in the steps per unit box and 360 in Velocity (can go higher for this later) Not sure what you will need for accel, you will just have to mess with it to find whats best for your setup. Press save and exit motor tuning
3.   Go to Config menu and then System Hotkeys and click on  A++  and when the box appears press the key you wish to use for jogging. I would think maybe best to use PgUp as that should not be used by any other axis on a Lathe. Do the same for A—but use PgDn
4.   Go to Config menu then General Config and make sure A is set as rotational axis. Also choose the “Rot 360 Rollover” and uncheck the “Ang Short Rot on G0” and  “Rotational Softlimits”
5.   Rename the attached macro to M6Start.m1s and place   into your macro folder for the profile you are using, for example if you are using the standard Turn profile the folder to place it is C:\Mach3\Macros\Mach3Turn
6.   You should now be able to jog the axis with the PgUp button to get to tool 1 then reverse with PgDn to lock against the pall.
7.   Press Ref All button and your axis will home and A should be set to zero. Your other axis will also set to zero or if you have home switches fitted they will move to the switches and set zero (machine coords) so be aware of that.
8.   You should now be able to call T0202 from MDI and the turret will rotate to tool 2 and set the tool DRO to 2.

Get ready with the E-Stop for initial testing just in case things go wrong

Hood

Actually thinking about it that might not work with the reversing in the macro for tool 1 so be careful, I will do some testing later.
Hood