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Wtf didn't I do? Smtc no Tool pocket menu in controller???

Stirling

Hot Rolled
Joined
Dec 11, 2013
Location
Alberta canada
Wtf did I do? Smtc no Tool pocket menu in controller???

My controller seems to have lost its tool/pocket menu. OR im totally stupid. Pick one!
2008 vf2 w/ 24smtc

Fire up machine. Hit current command button. Page up
Through all the menus. It's not there!!
I've seen the menu before. But
Cannot find it anymore.(don't know how I got there the first time)

In current command and page up I get
Current program
Tool group
Tool max % limit%
Tool life
Maintenance macros
Power on time
Current commands


So I bought this machine and removed the changer. Stuffed it into a garage. Took me a while to re install the changer. I've have changed the tool changer setting between 5(smtc) and 8 (manual) change a few times to get a job or 2 through before install-alignment was complete.

I've gotten it all up and running now and went to finally load up the tool changer for a program and cannot find the menu!!!

Tool changer settingnis back at 5. What am I doing wrong!?!?!??
I cannot imagine I screwed or up by switching to manual change.

If I hit atc back/forward it goes through the motions and says whatever tool it thinks it loaded (it's empty right now)

Ideas??
 
Last edited:
Maybe so, maybe no, but at least you let us know the cure, so many forget to let us know.
thanks

I'm just glad someone said something (still feeling dumb)
Wasted an evening reading manuals, watching u tube vids of all kinds to see what people hit. Some days, haha

Thanks again!
And thank you all forum members, this place is a wealth of info and viewpoints!!!!
 
There is a lot to remember when working with these machines, I likely use only about 20% of the features on my machines as I have setteled into comfort zone that gets everything I need made. I am still looking in my books at least once a month for some lost bit of information and I have been using these CNC machines since I was 18 and they used paper tapes to load programs.

"Wasted an evening reading manuals, watching u tube vids of all kinds to see what people hit. Some days, haha"

It wasn't wasted as you did learn something, there are people willing to help, right here on PM, a good bunch for the most part.

How is it you use the tool pocket menu, I have never used it.
 
Even very fancy CNC controls (heidenhain itnc530) can have what I call "UI traps" - things that just do no work right, until your fingers/subconcious learn the trick, and then you can never ever again demonstrate the problem.

In this example, I wonder if the OP had a shift key stuck down, or some other "mode" state set somewhere that he wasn't aware of. Later, perhaps having gained some tacit knowlege, the shift or lock-alpha or whatever key isn't pressed, and so now the expected sequence does the right thing.

And OP is left wondering (as I often am) - "why didn't this work yesterday"? The other one being "I did this yesterday, where in this menu tree did I find that function...????"

This is, sadly, normal on CNC machines.
 
Haas has a decent vid on how to use it (but his way of accessing it is different, haha)
It's a menus that says what tool#is in what pocket. They get randomly places in the drum as the program runs and it updates itself. Allows tool staging unlike the umbrella. Pretty neat.
You can also set lathe or heavy tools to always go back to the same pocket as to about impacting other large tools.
Sometimes this will force a double tool change in the program to get it all right.
Does it automatically tho.

I'm still learning it. Been lots of fun!
Good upgrade over my tm machine, just need some more work to push through it now!

Kinda sad I just sold my tm. Was my first machine I bought
 








 
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