Carveco says Onefinity with BB doesn't support tool change

[aero23 (Chris Pellegrino)]

Yes, I know there is no ATC, but it’s ridiculous if I can’t change tools manually. How do I get Carveco to save the toolpath out? I’m only using one roughing path and a finishing path. Do I need to do this as separate files for each toolpath?
In either case, how do I zero the second tool after I lose that upper corner of the material? I can figure out a way to manually match the tool extensions when changing tools so I can forgo any zeroing, but is this the way to do it?

[Aiph5u (Aiph5u (not affiliated with Onefinity))]

Hey Chris,

the buildbotics-derived Onefinity Controller DOES support tool change, however the code in the stock configuration does not work. You may use the Aiph5u’s tool change routine. You CAN have all tools in one g-code file.

Note that some CAM softwares like Carbide Create produce invalidated M6 Tx calls in their exported g-code files in order to make using another CNC control software difficult, but with a script you can change every instance of M6 commented out by a valid M6 Tx command.

See here for the g-code supported by the buildbotics-derived Onefinity Controller. It even supports a tool table.

[aero23 (Chris Pellegrino)]

Thanks, I will get around to trying your code, but my big issue is that Carveco won’t write out a file with more than tool because it thinks the BB controller won’t accept tool change commands. I could output two separate files for the two different tools, but then I need to manually combine it together. Is this how people do it or is there a way to get Carveco to output multiple tool files for this machine?

[aero23 (Chris Pellegrino)]

OK, Carveco emailed me and said that they have been told by Onefinity that their BB controller does not support tool changes. I have been pointed to the CAMotics G-code list by Onefinity for the G/M codes that the BB controller uses and the M6 tool change code is listed, so I’m stuck in confused land.

[Aiph5u (Aiph5u (not affiliated with Onefinity))]

Hey Chris,

@aero23

OK, Carveco emailed me and said that they have been told by Onefinity that their BB controller does not support tool changes.

that’s what Onefinity tells you, because they don’t want to deal with the tool-change code, but you can clearly see on the Buildbotics Home Page that Buildbotics tells you how to use the tool change function.

So what Onefinity tells is wrong. It’s just that the code in the ‘tool-change’ field of Onefinity stock configuration is unusable.

@Aiph5u

@Aiph5u

Regarding the other way, i.e. splitting the g-code file to one file per tool, of course there are advantages and disadvantages:

@WaywardWoodworker

@Machinist

@Aiph5u

@Mike01

can you think of any pros/cons of running a single gcode file with multiple manual tool changes vs running them as separate files, one for each tool change?

usually you would say, if your program is well-tested and mature for production, one g-code program with all the tools saves time.

Many forum members here say the advantages of one g-code program per tool is that you can change the program for a certain tool easier or re-run a pass easier. They put the name of the tool into the file name, and the pass that it is for.

Yes to this. I used to be in the camp where I wanted to keep all tools in the same program. But because I don’t have an ATC and am not running production on anything, I find it more convenient and flexible to actually program for separate tools. So even though I can program for tool changes, I prefer not to.

I was in the “one program per tool” camp until I implemented the tool setter then I found it was easier to and more accurate put them all in one program and use the tool change to measure T1 Z height, switch to tool 2, then measure T2 Z height and automatically reset the Z offset accordingly. This also works well if your Z axis zero point no longer exists after running the first tool path.

[aero23 (Chris Pellegrino)]

Understood, thanks. In the end it doesn’t matter since Carveco won’t save out a multi-tool file for the 1F BB controller anyway. As it turns out, I think I’d rather just run separate programs than combine them manually. The parts I plan on making are large enough or detailed enough that I’ll need a break in between tools anyway. (I’m only using Carveco for one type of project so far.)
Thanks again.

[otter (Mike Phillips)]

What’s frustrating is that before I did the BB software upgrade (I had been running on 1.0.8 since I bought it), Carveco would let me save a toolpath and identify multiple bits when saving. Then while carving, it would pause, prompt me to insert the new bit, run the z-probing function then resume the carve.