Side mount tool changer - reseting tool numbers?

rbrandes · Oct 16, 2013

I had a VF0 with the carousel tool changer. Life was good. I could tell quickly between setups what tools where where.
Now with a VF2 with the side mount tool changer I find I want to reset the pocket assignments all the time so T1 is in the spindles, T2 in pocket 2, T3 in pocket 3 etc.
Is there some way to quickly reset the order of things?
Regards, Ray

wheelieking71 · Oct 16, 2013

I am not trying to be a smart ass, but, why? Its really not necessary. I don't know if you can override this or not. I never found it troublesome.

If it is simply so you know what tool number to use when you look at the carousel and want to manually call a tool. That's simple. When you go to MDI to manually call a tool use P2 (pocket), instead of T2 (tool), before you hit ATC F/R.

If you have tool-1 in the spindle, and tool-2 in pocket-2. When you call up tool-2, it puts tool-1 away in pocket-2. It saves a tremendous amount of time during production.

haastec · Oct 16, 2013

rbrandes said:
I had a VF0 with the carousel tool changer. Life was good. I could tell quickly between setups what tools where where.
Now with a VF2 with the side mount tool changer I find I want to reset the pocket assignments all the time so T1 is in the spindles, T2 in pocket 2, T3 in pocket 3 etc.
Is there some way to quickly reset the order of things?
Regards, Ray

While on the offset screen showing the tool and pocket assignments, press the ORIGIN button and it will resequence the the table, but it still will not be what you want. T1 will be in spindle, T2 will be in pocket 1, T3 will be in pocket 2, and so on. Also, remember that even if you do that, as soon as you run your program and it starts changing tools, it will become out of order again; it's a loosing battle.

My advise is to forget about them being aligned. It's not worth the energy spent disliking it and eventually you will get used to it. I would suggest having a tool list for the jobs you are running for a quick reference and just call them up as needed without looking at the carousel.

Also, keep in mind that you can call up a tool by the pocket number. So if you see a broken drill in Pocket 6, then while in MDI just type in P6 then press ATC/Fwd or ATC/Rev and it will load that particular tool in the spindle. (Just saw that Wheelieking beat me to this fact)

Hope this helps.

rbrandes · Oct 17, 2013

Guys! I didn't about the P2 call! I have been looking at the pocket, then going to the offset page to see what T# I want and then do a T# M6 in MDI.
The problem I have with looking at the tool magazine is I have to open the left side window which requires walking around the chip funnel and to top it off I forget to close the window and then need a mop!(grin)
I call my tools in order and when they are in the dial in that order the worst that can happen is they migrate one pocket each cycle. What I am trying to avoid is having pocket 1 in battery and calling a tool that is in pocket 10. When this happens it will continue every cycle.
I have used code like this to bring the next tool on deck while the current tool is cutting;

N20 (spot)
T2 M6 (c-drill)
T3
(do stuff)
(do more stuff)
M1
N30 (drill)
T3 M6 (.136 drill)
T4
(continue to do stuff)
...

I generally clear the dial between jobs so the Origin thing may be just what I am looking for.

Regards, Ray

mjk · Oct 17, 2013

I don't have a Haas but if your personal preferance is to always have T1 in the spindle, add that to the end of each program that will be the "final" of a family of parts
T1
M6
M30
done
Mike

JP Machining · Oct 17, 2013

Going to give yourself a migraine trying to keep tools in same number pockets. Just get used to it and use the P# and T# command in MDI and or the tool offset page that shows which tool is in which offset.

The only tools that stay in same pockets are large tools with adjacents empty, unless of course you have more than one then it will swap those as well if go from one large to another large.

ewlsey · Oct 17, 2013

I had the opposite problem when I bought a Haas for an umbrella. I had only used a side mount and was used to the random tools.

I wanted to put whatever tool in whatever pocket I wanted. Wouldn't you know, you can't do that.

Why would you want the tools to stay in the same pockets? What is the advantage?

rbrandes · Oct 18, 2013

Some of y'all got the wrong idea of what I want. I don't want the tools to stay in the same pockets. I just want them to stay in order so there are no long tool changes. I am going to check out the P and origin thing today.

Regards, Ray

ewlsey · Oct 18, 2013

rbrandes said:
Some of y'all got the wrong idea of what I want. I don't want the tools to stay in the same pockets. I just want them to stay in order so there are no long tool changes. I am going to check out the P and origin thing today.

Regards, Ray

I dunno on a Haas, but you should be able to stage the next tool so there is no delay.

Something like:
M6 T1
M3 S5000 T2
G43 H1
G0 Z1.0
Blah
Blah
Blah
M1

M6 T2
M3 S3000 T3

Etc.

As soon as it reads the T2 after changing to T1, it rotates the drum around. T1 will get put in the same pocket as T2 came from. That's the whole idea of a side mount.

It awesome because you can do from T1 to T16 as fast as you can go from T1 to T2 if you stage the tools in the program.

machineit2 · Oct 18, 2013

rbrandes said:
Some of y'all got the wrong idea of what I want. I don't want the tools to stay in the same pockets. I just want them to stay in order so there are no long tool changes. I am going to check out the P and origin thing today.

Regards, Ray

With the carrousel tool changer you can't change the time tool to tool. You can't stage a tool while running, so no improvement. The best you can do is keep them in order so that there is only one slot change between procedures and a return to your first tool at the end.

No pre-staging without time a penalty-----Sorry!

Mike

ewlsey · Oct 18, 2013

Looks like I was right.

Pre-Staging the Side-Mount Tool Changer | Haas

JP Machining · Oct 18, 2013

Yeah just use staged tooling. IE T# call after the M6 line, then when you actually want to change do that T# M6 then a nother couple lines from that stage the next tool. Just like the bit of code you posted in reply #4

I don't recall but there may be a setting to turn on in the control to make it stage as well. They still don't have to be in order it will just read the next tool faster then if you don't stage and it has to wait till it gets in the look ahead block of code. About the only time it still waits is if the tools is on opposite side of carousel and the current tool is a quick one hole spot drill or something.

wheelieking71 · Oct 18, 2013

Yes, "pre-call". Just like JP said. T# line after the M6.

haastec · Oct 18, 2013

rbrandes said:
Some of y'all got the wrong idea of what I want. I don't want the tools to stay in the same pockets. I just want them to stay in order so there are no long tool changes. I am going to check out the P and origin thing today.

Regards, Ray

I follow what you are trying to accomplish and sounds like the ORIGIN button is indeed what you want to use.
Hope that works good for your particular style.

Good luck!

JP Machining · Oct 18, 2013

haastec said:
I follow what you are trying to accomplish and sounds like the ORIGIN button is indeed what you want to use.
Hope that works good for your particular style.

Good luck!

Wouldn't Origin button rename all current tools in the list, thus royally screwing up the tool offsets and physical tool numbers?

PBMW · Oct 22, 2013

Pre call your next tool. Like a couple people said above. Let the toolchanger turn while the machine is cutting.

haastec · Oct 22, 2013

PBMW said:
Pre call your next tool. Like a couple people said above. Let the toolchanger turn while the machine is cutting.

According to his earlier reply, he already prestages his tools.

JP Machining said:
Wouldn't Origin button rename all current tools in the list, thus royally screwing up the tool offsets and physical tool numbers?

Yes, the origin button will rename all current tools in the list, but as far as I can tell, that is what he is looking to do.
It may not be for everyone, but as long as he is comfortable with how it is used, more power to him.

RoboMiller · Nov 2, 2013

this thread is silly

GF8er · Nov 3, 2013

this should do what you want to do.

Code:

%
O08003(TOOL CHANGER RESET)
G103(DISABLE LOOK AHEAD)
#1=1
#2=15
#3=14
#4=3
#5=2
#6=4
#7=16
#8=6
#9=8
#10=5
#11=9
#12=11
#13=7
#14=12
#15=10
#16=13
#17=19
#18=21
#19=17
#20=18
#21=23
#22=22
#23=20
#24=24
#25=25
#26=0(CURRENT TOOL)
#27=0(TOOL IN CURRENT TOOLS POCKET)
#28=1(POCKET CHECK#)
N1(TOOL CHANGE LOOP)
#28=1
IF[#25EQ25]GOTO2
#26=#25
#27=#[#25]
T#27M06
#[#26]=#26(POCKET NUMBER INHERITS TOOL#)
#25=#27(SPINDLE POCKET INHERITS CURRENT TOOL#)
GOTO1
(END LOOP)
N2(T25 LOGIC)
IF[#[#28]NE#28]GOTO3
IF[#28GT24]GOTO4
#28=#28+1
GOTO2
N3(MISMATCH LOGIC)
T#[#28]M06
#25=#[#28]
#26=#25
#[#28]=25
GOTO1
N4(END OF PROGRAM)
M30
%

bradacc · Dec 17, 2015

GF8er said:

this should do what you want to do.

Code:

%
O08003(TOOL CHANGER RESET)
G103(DISABLE LOOK AHEAD)
#1=1
#2=15
#3=14
#4=3
#5=2
#6=4
#7=16
#8=6
#9=8
#10=5
#11=9
#12=11
#13=7
#14=12
#15=10
#16=13
#17=19
#18=21
#19=17
#20=18
#21=23
#22=22
#23=20
#24=24
#25=25
#26=0(CURRENT TOOL)
#27=0(TOOL IN CURRENT TOOLS POCKET)
#28=1(POCKET CHECK#)
N1(TOOL CHANGE LOOP)
#28=1
IF[#25EQ25]GOTO2
#26=#25
#27=#[#25]
T#27M06
#[#26]=#26(POCKET NUMBER INHERITS TOOL#)
#25=#27(SPINDLE POCKET INHERITS CURRENT TOOL#)
GOTO1
(END LOOP)
N2(T25 LOGIC)
IF[#[#28]NE#28]GOTO3
IF[#28GT24]GOTO4
#28=#28+1
GOTO2
N3(MISMATCH LOGIC)
T#[#28]M06
#25=#[#28]
#26=#25
#[#28]=25
GOTO1
N4(END OF PROGRAM)
M30
%

I know this thread is a couple years old now, but I was searching for a problem I am having and came across it.

I am actually the person that wrote that program to re-organize the tool changer (I have no idea how GF8er got it). The reason it came about is because I had a simple job with centerdrill/drill/tap that was using pockets 180º apart from each other. It was a quick enough cycle that the machine was waiting on the toolchanger to rotate around.
Plus I figure a couple added (small) bonuses of doing this once in a while is less wear and tear on the changer by not having to index so far to get to tools, and keeping all of the tools in the bottom on the carousel helps keep chips from getting inside the pockets.

Edit: Plus it was good practice to work with macros. I also wrote one to automatically wake the machine up 20 minutes before I showed up in the morning and run it's warmup cycle.

Side mount tool changer - reseting tool numbers?

Aluminum

Diamond

Hot Rolled

Aluminum

Titanium

Stainless

Diamond

Aluminum

Diamond

Hot Rolled

Diamond

Stainless

Diamond

Hot Rolled

Stainless

Titanium

Hot Rolled

Cast Iron

Plastic

Plastic

Similar threads