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tool table
« on: April 03, 2020, 04:23:06 PM »
where can i find help in setting up a tool table in mach 4? i am new to mach 4; in the past i used linux cnc where there was a sample tool table that could be modified to the desired settings.
what i have found in mach 4 going to "view"-> "tool table", is a table named "tool offsets". that's as far as i get.

jacques

Offline Graham Waterworth

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Re: tool table
« Reply #1 on: April 03, 2020, 08:13:01 PM »
Without engineers the world stops
Re: tool table
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2020, 11:15:53 AM »
i looked at the video, that is for offsets. i am still at the stage of needing to enter all of my tools into the table before i can do offsets. perhaps if someone gave me a screenshot of the table so i can use it as a guide.....

Offline Graham Waterworth

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Re: tool table
« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2020, 11:36:46 AM »
There is no tool table as such, the tool table is normally in your CAM system, Mach only needs the tool length and diameter setting in the offset page.
Without engineers the world stops
Re: tool table
« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2020, 01:59:54 PM »
now why couldn't anyone (i posted in many places) tell me that in the first place? THANK YOU!!!!!
can i ask another question?
i have looked at assorted videos regarding the offset procedures. all very well explained in terms of "how to do it", but nothing as to "why to do it".
do you have a simple explanation like you did for my first question?
jacques
p.s. i explain woodworking techniques to my clients (www.bois-exotique.com). i have come to understand that giving instructions or how to "do" things is fairly useless. instead, i explain the "why's" of things--from that point on, most people don't need "instruction interpretation"; they can figure things out.
thanks again.

jacques

Offline Graham Waterworth

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Re: tool table
« Reply #5 on: April 06, 2020, 04:06:22 PM »
All your tools will be of different lengths, Mach needs to know what the difference is between your reference tool (usually tool 1) and the rest of the tools, offsets do this, your reference tool has an offset of zero, each tool then has an offset that is the difference in length to the reference tool.

Without engineers the world stops
Re: tool table
« Reply #6 on: April 06, 2020, 06:21:30 PM »
hi
i hate to impose on your generosity and patience, but i am desperate to learn and understand.
i saw the video showing how to use a reference tool, ie calibrate it. but i am not certain as to the reason for it.
when i used my cnc in the linux world, i would indicate a tool for a given tool path. when i ran the gcode, it would ask me to insert that given tool. i would then i let it run (i never did anything more fancy than vcarving or nameplates). so perhaps that is the reason that referencing to a tool or offsetting never was an issue.
it would certainly be nice if the folks at newfangled offered assistance by providing literature with information explaining the theories and concepts of cnc use with their software (reminds me of the first kawasaki motorcycle i purchased back in the early 80's--the salesman said "here's the keys, this is the clutch, this is the throttle, this is the brakes, and this is the gears. goodbye, good luck, enjoy!). it was a LONG ride home....  :-)

jacques
Re: tool table
« Reply #7 on: April 27, 2020, 01:00:28 PM »
I bet in LinuxCNC you were also managing tool offsets (even if you didn't know you were). In a simple machine you might clamp a tool in a collet and touch off the part, zero your Z axis - perhaps with a slip of paper, then run your part. You never opened up a tool table to do this. Mach 4 can be used the same way, and for many years that is what I did in Mach 3.

The beauty of the tool table comes when you start mounting your tools in interchangeable tool holders. Now you can switch tools and repeatably have each tool end up at the same position in the spindle. Not all of these tools are going to be the exact same length, so you need a way to tell Mach 4 what that length is. You enter the length of each tool in the tool table so when you ask Mach 4 to take you to Z0.0, the tip of every tool ends up in the same position, regardless of how long it is.

The tool table also tracks the tool diameter and wear offsets. If you program with cutter compensation, the value here determines how the compensation is calculated. If you find you tool path cut a bit shallow, rather than adjusting your entire program, you would adjust the length wear offset.

This doesn't really have a lot to do with Mach 4 specifically, rather it is the way in which the entire CNC industry interprets G-code commands.