setting a tool indexer on a mach 3 lathe

[Flipdop]

Hi Group

I have a mach 3 controller running on a small lathe. it is not currently set up with limit switches on the auto indexer, and sometimes when switched on the indexer is in the wrong position.

is there a way to simply tell Mach 3 which tool is currently set at the indexer?
i.e if tool 8 is at the right position, but mach 3 thinks it is tool 2, then how do i update it in the software so mach 3 knows what tool is where?

Currently the only way i can change this is to hold the indexer back while it is rotating, fortunately it is on a small stepper motor so it just slips position, but i don't like doing this and there should be a way to do this in the software..

[JohnHaine]

Not sure of your question, but don't you just type the current tool number into the appropriate DRO?

[Flipdop]

Hi John

no, if the indexer is in the wrong position, then when I type in the tool number, it goes to the tool it thinks is the one you enter...

I would have thought there was a simple page where you can type in the number the station is currently at, and this would over ride any tool the controller thinks is in the indexer..
After all, if you use manual tool changing, then surely this is how it works?

unless I am doing something silly.. ?
perhaps i am and i am over thinking it :-)

[Neale]

The right answer is obviously to fit the tool changer with a home switch so that Mach3 can properly initialise it when you first start - the only way to avoid a manual operation. Not necessarily an easy task!

My own workaround would be to write a little macro that updates the internal tool number record and attach it to a button that is added to an appropriate screen, or just a check box that tells the M6 tool changer macro whether or not to move the tool changer when a tool is selected. Then you could tick the box, issue an M6T?? command to set the tool number to match the changer position, then untick the box and carry on.

This all assumes that you cannot just change the tool number by typing it into the box on screen, like a work coordinate, but I'm sure that you have tried this! I moved off Mach3 a few years ago so can't help with macros and so on but I have done exactly this kind of thing in the past so know that it is doable.