Hi everybody . Can somebody hellp me with my attendatt to instal an tool hight measuring probe somewhere on my cnc table . I want to after each tool change (for now I change tool manually , mybe in the future via an ATC) press some button or so and then  my router go to the place where my hight sensor is mounted and  measure hight of tool. After measuring , program (macro ?)  im MACH 3 calculate/adjust  the neccesery high  and go ahead/forward with new tool and adjusted tool hight (continious working/routing). Can somebody help me with that please . Mybe something simmillar is allready somewhere on internet ? Thank you in advance for all of yours help .  

Have seen lots of macros here, try a search for Auto Tool Zero and you should find some info.
Hood

I sell a screenset that has this built in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJNUcsJ6BC8

Or, you can use Big Tex's macros at CNC Zone. http://www.cnczone.com/forums/mach_wizards_macros_addons/100594-mach_3_tool_setter_big-tex.html

Hi,
You can also look at the extensive tool measurement and TLO setting support built into MachStdMill - visit
www.CalypsoVentures.com for more info.

Dave

FWIW - I *used* to do tool length setting this way, but I don't any more.  I find it MUCH quicker and easier to simply measure the tools using a height gauge.  I will use touch-offs when doing a one-off job, and not use the tool table at all, but when doing "production", where I will be re-using the table, measuring off-line is much faster, because it doesn't require mounting all the tools just to measure them.

Regards,
Ray L.

Hi guys, just been trying to understand how the Big Tex's macro works. Could someone please explain what the 'Initial Zero Setup' button does and also the 'Tool Change Zero Setup' button. I was watching Ger21's video which helps a lot but I don't get why you need a fixed and movable touch plate. Surely all you need is a movable touch plate over the top of you material work surface to zero your tool.

In the video, when Ger21 hits the 'Initial Zero Setup' button it zeros the tool to the work surface and also the fixed touch plate which I don't get.

Sorry for the stupid questions!!

There are as many different ways of measuring and managing tool length as Carter's has little liver pills.  And you'll find a lot of people who are ab*********ely adamant that their way is the only "right" way to do it.  It ain't so.  You need to figure out what works best for you.   For me, if doing one-off work, tool length comp isn't even work bothering with.  Just touch off after mounting each tool, using a small piece of PCB material wired to your probe input.  But for production work, where you're running the same program over and over, using the tool table can save a lot of time.

Regards,
Ray L.

Hi there thanks for the reply. I had some time today to have a good play with it and now I've got it figured out. I agree with what your saying. I don't think I'm going to be doing much mass production work on my mill as its only a hobby of mine. I think I will apply the KISS formula....Keep It Simple Stupid!

Hi guys, just been trying to understand how the Big Tex's macro works. Could someone please explain what the 'Initial Zero Setup' button does and also the 'Tool Change Zero Setup' button. I was watching Ger21's video which helps a lot but I don't get why you need a fixed and movable touch plate. Surely all you need is a movable touch plate over the top of you material work surface to zero your tool.

In the video, when Ger21 hits the 'Initial Zero Setup' button it zeros the tool to the work surface and also the fixed touch plate which I don't get.

The reason for the fixed plate, is so that you don't have to use the movable plate for subsequent tools. Say you have a program with 10 tool changes. You only use the movable plate once, before running the program. After each tool change, the new tool is automatically zeroed to the fixed plate. You don't have to do anything except change the tool, so it's much faster.

Another advantage to the fixed plate, is that after one or two operations, you may not have any surface to place the movable plate on. This can be very common with 3D carving. After the roughing pass, there may be no place left to zero the tool used for finishing.

But for production work, where you're running the same program over and over, using the tool table can save a lot of time.

This works fine on a mill where each tool is in a tool holder, but on a router, where you place each tool in the collet when changing tools, it's not an option.

Hi there. Nice explanation, thats much clearer. Thanks.