Boxford 240 TCL lathe turret - Index / position sensors

[yngndrw]

I have a Boxford 240 TCL lathe (The slightly newer version with the membrane keys, axis limit switches and AC spindle motor) but the tool turret doesn't appear to have any sensors or switches on it - Just a stepper motor.

I can only presume that the procedure when using the original software is to initially tell it which tool it is currently using, can anybody confirm this?

Has anybody added any sensors to tell a retrofit control when it can reverse, when a tool is indexed in position and/or which tool is currently selected? The Emco lathe turrets have sensors like this, so I was wondering if anybody had made the modifications and, if so, if they had documented their changes?

[m_c]

I've never personally owned one of these types of turrets, but they're usually a basic ratchet setup.

You tell the controller what the initial position is. It then moves a set number of steps to go slightly past the required tool position to ensure the ratchet drops over the required pawl, then reverses so the turret tightens against the pawl. Some will then keep running in reverse at reduced power to ensure the turret remains located, while some will stop running and rely on cutting forces to remain tight against the pawl.

[yngndrw]

Ah okay thank you, I thought that they must have either relied on remembering which tool was used when it was last used, you required you to tell them which tool it had started on but didn't know which as they are both a bit weird - It's a bit weird that they didn't add an index or tool number sensor as others have.

[m_c]

The controller might have remembered the last position, but I've never used any of the original Boxford software, so can't say either way.

These turrets follows the KISS principle.
A sensor would be an additional expense that would provide little benefit, while providing something else to potentially go wrong.