Hi All,
Just got back home after a week away in Cornwall where I only had infrequent access to a computer so my appologies for not really contributing to the thread I started.
I will most likely be using a CAM program as I have one available so all my tools will be set up within this with lengths, offsets, speeds etc. As I have not yet used the CAM program I am just having a play with it to see how it presents the information about the tools used as, if I am using the DRO as suggested by cncalex, I will need to see which tools are being called for on each program, hopefully, without having to read through several hundred lines of Gcode.
When you guys start taking about 'modulus commands' I am out of my depth and I have never written VB or any other type of code.
With the Denford toolchanger I have figured out that it requires strings of code sent from the PC to the toolchanger, via 9pin serial, to initiate the tooll change cycle. Even though there are various return strings, to PC, during the change cycle these have no effect on the cycle completeing sucessfully. The toolchanger also has a couple of relays installed; one is only actauated if a faulty code is recieved, whilst the othere opens and closes at various points during the cycle. I am sure these will be useful to integrate at somepoint with my Mach3 inputs.
The other thing is that at the start of the tool change cycle the spindle drive dogs have to be pretty much aligned with the position of the matching slots in the tools held in the carousel. I do have a spindle speed monitoring proximity switch which works perfectly and I would like to use the input from this to switch off the spindle drive as it passes. That way at the beginning of the change I can instruct a very slow speed, say, S60 and as the spindle passes the proximity switch stop the spindle without too much run-on from inertia. I may need to adjust the position switch to trim theh stop position but that would be easy enough.
I have attached a copy of the logic that relates to the tool change. The Gn & Y is the action of the relays but as I did this logic before I stripped out the old Denford motherboard it is showing the voltage, not the open/closed I see now. There is another set of logic that applies to machine set up, to datum the carousel and decide which tool is installed at start up, but this is something that should probably be added to the machine datum sequence.
I will have a play with the CAM and let you know how it instructs the operator which tools to load.
thanks ...Sweep