Quote Originally Posted by m_c View Post
I'd guess macros are limited as to what other macros they can call, to avoid locking things up.

There is probably some page in a manual somewhere that lists what you can, or can't do, and it may never even have been translated to English.
I know the section of the manual for my lathe controller covering the polygonal turning, was a fresh translation, as there was even a note on the front page requesting what pages were to be translated from the original Chinese manual.


Lathe tool offsets can be fun.
I've only recently thought about how to do mine better, as some new parts I'll be making require a bit more accuracy between tools.

My plan is to use a 50mm height gauge (the dial type you get for setting tools on mills), to set the tools 50mm from the face of the chuck, then adjust part offsets accordingly.
Off course, if you'll be using different chucks, then that won't work very well.

If you don't need high accuracy, then you can just set tools relatively to each other by facing a bit material, then jogging onto the freshly faced surface with a new tool, which will usually get you within 0.02mm accuracy if you're careful.
Yep, on this machine I can set it to hit the home, then find the index pulse, so better repeatability. The toolsetting can be done with a probe or the 'cut and measure' method. Ironically I used the 50mm height setter too on my previous lathe, it works for some tools, not others.