New to me Haas Mini mill with old control

So I just recently got this older haas mini mill I think its around 2000 it has the older haas control on it. I am coming from a protrak control and the processes to get tools and wcs positions setup are quite different. I was able to stumble through getting a couple long run jobs setup but I know there is a better way. What I would like to do is be able to use my analog 3d probe to set work coordinate systems and be able to measure tools offline. I think that I kinda know what I want to do but I'm having a hard time finding info on how to do it on an older control.

So my first question is how do I call a tool that is not in the umbrella? I would not want to keep my probe in the machine at all times there has to be a way to call a manual tool change to a tool number greater than 10.

Second I have a "master" tool that came with the Protrak machine its basically just a gauge tool. All other tools are referenced to that tool so length offsets are either positive for a tool that would be longer or negative for a shorter tool.

So my thoughts on how to setup what I want is call the master tool t99 and the 3d probe t98. I can then use t99 to set the absolute table zero. This would stay the same basically forever or until for some reason I got a new "master" tool or crashed something real good.

Then in a regular daily setup I can call t98 and probe to my work to set g54 55 56 ect and it should be a positive z value on my work coordinate system tab.

Is that sounding right so far or am I way off?

You can’t use a T number higher than what your carousel will hold but you can use a higher H number. So you would call T1 H99

Then do your setup. Whether you G54 etc is + or - depends on how you set your master tool length.

I'm not in front of the machine right now but but if I call t1 h99 is that going to call tool 1 from the umbrella and just use h offset 99? Then I have to manually unload t1 from the spindle and load my gauge tool does that sound right?

Also on the wcs offset page I see some g locations I am not familiar with I have always started programing using g54 as my first location. I see on the wcs page there are g52 and g53 locations listed. Are these special on some way or do they act like regular work coordinate systems (g54 +)

Correct on your first question.

G52 is a universal work shift. Whatever is in there is applied to all WCS. I've never had a need to use it.

G53 Non-Modal Machine Coordinate Selection (Group 00). This code temporarily cancels work coordinate offsets and uses the machine coordinate system.

ie: I use G91 G28 Z0 to home the spindle. You could also use G53 Z0.
The only everyday use I have for it is to center the table at the end of a cycle for loading/unloading.

Booze Daily said:

Correct on your first question.

G52 is a universal work shift. Whatever is in there is applied to all WCS. I've never had a need to use it.

G53 Non-Modal Machine Coordinate Selection (Group 00). This code temporarily cancels work coordinate offsets and uses the machine coordinate system.

ie: I use G91 G28 Z0 to home the spindle. You could also use G53 Z0.
The only everyday use I have for it is to center the table at the end of a cycle for loading/unloading.

Click to expand...

Got it so probably nothing I'll be using for now.

BGL said:

Transitioned from a ProtoTRAK myself many snows ago. I found this very helpful and still use as reference.

https://www.engr.psu.edu/cim/mllwrkb.pdf

Click to expand...

I have not read the whole thing yet but looks pretty comprehensive. From a brief skim it looks like a lot of stuff I probably already know (general gcode stuff and axis directions) but I'm sure there are some gems in there that I have not even thought about asking yet. Thanks

If I may suggest something here ....
Since you're stepping into more of the real world of CNC, do yourself a big favor and forget EVERYTHING you know about Prototrak and
learn as much as you can about your Haas control as it is damn near the same for all other mainstream controls.

Straight outta the gate, There is no master tool!
G52 is awesome once you figure out how to use it. If you fingerCAM some of your stuff, then it can be indispensable!

i am about to dive into this myself.

i found this url: search for "Older Haas DIY cheap Probe - Guide with pics and video"

the mouser part numbers for the 3 pin molex "skip" connector are below

538-79758-0007
538-22-01-1032
538-08-56-0110
538-08-70-0049

wtf???????????

SeymourDumore said:

wtf???????????

Click to expand...

this forum doesn't allow urls from a certain other forum. so you have to find it with the search phrase in quotes.

SeymourDumore said:

If I may suggest something here ....
Since you're stepping into more of the real world of CNC, do yourself a big favor and forget EVERYTHING you know about Prototrak and
learn as much as you can about your Haas control as it is damn near the same for all other mainstream controls.

Straight outta the gate, There is no master tool!
G52 is awesome once you figure out how to use it. If you fingerCAM some of your stuff, then it can be indispensable!

Click to expand...

For sure working on it. I tried doing some finger cam the other day to make my first set of step jaws but the control did not like my attempt at user defined variables in the program. I have used some other machines that shall not be named and while they are a bit less heavy than most the control is pretty dang nice. I do a lot of finger cam for simple 4 axis work on the mill and modify a lot of the "conversational" code spit out of my lathe to make production ready programs.

So question then if I want to do offline tool setting I need to set some tool as the reference for all other tools correct?