I just received my new tool setter today. So far I am impressed with the service. All pre-purchase questions I had answered quickly either through online chat or email, ordered last Friday arrived today from Great Britain to Toronto, ON, Canada, and excellent packaging and frequent shipping updates.
I will post my testing results, most likely after the holidays. I am not affiliated with the company, but mentioned there may be interest on the forums I frequent. It is on sale now until Christmas.
I chose this one for its accuracy (TBD), small form factor, overtravel safety circuit, and cost compared to other products I have seen. It is solid metal and looks to be of very good build quality.
When I spoke to (the owner?) I told him there may be interest in the forum(s) I am a member of. He said that if people let him know you learned about it from me that he may be able to offer some kind of purchase incentive - not to me.
I am looking forward to the testing, and will definitely share my results with the forum.
I am saving for a spindle and VFD. I am also considering getting one with an ATC, so besides the tool setter being a great addition regardless, it will definitely prove its worth with an ATC spindle.
No, but maybe 1F can add it in some way to future updates. That way it would be more accessible to users, especially those who want it to work from the start without having to add macros, etcâŚ
A few days ago I finished testing the wiring of the tool setter, and I now have the sensor and over travel circuits fully connected within my enclosure. Happily everything worked as expected when I turned the power back on. The configuration of the auto tool zero routine was extremely easy with the Masso G3, and I now have some preliminary test results to share for those interested.
Jump to the two attached tables if you want the results without reading about the procedure
My testing methodology was to keep the same tool in the router for all trials, and see what kind of repeatability was possible - my assumption was that the z axis tool offset variations recorded by the controller would be a measure of the tool setterâs repeatability.
I ran a small z axis backlash gcode routine prior to starting, and the dial indicator returned to zero in the 4 trials I performed.
The results of the two tests, A and B, are presented in two tables, see attached. Although I used 2 different v bits for each of the tests, the main difference between the two is that in test B I greatly reduced the Max Feed Rates and Accelerations of all 4 axes. The tool setting speed was kept at a very low 20mm/min.
I had recently lowered the Z axis mount for the recipe vcarves. This did not allow enough clearance for me to use my dial indicator to test how well the bit returns to zero on the work piece. I did a few âproperâ tool changes zroing onto a wooden block, and the âpaper methodâ showed each bit was zeroing on the work piece at the correct height. I would need to get a dial test indicator (finger dial) to truly know the precision - I may purchase one in the future.
I can certainly provide videos highlighting the functionality of the setup. Is there a particular process or component you are interested in seeing in action?
No macros needed, as I am using a Masso G3 controller - made setting up the auto tool change extremely easy. I will look to create some short videos in the next few days.
I found this within an article on the CNC Cookbook siteâŚhelps put things in perspective as I go chasing zerosâŚwhich is in my nature to doâŚbut totally unnecessary for most projects I will tackle:
Here are some rough guidelines where accuracy is concerned:
0.020â: Beginnings of âhobby classâ machining accuracy. Cheap CNC Routers can do this. 0.010â: Most hobby work is doable except for engines and complex parts. 0.005â: Some engine work is now doable and parts are beginning to have a fairly finished appearance. 0.001â: You can build about any model engine or complex tool with the exception of turbines and other very high rpm close tolerance work. For me, this is an ideal target and I find I can hold work to 0.001â in my manual machine work if Iâm careful and think about what Iâm doing. You will probably have to do some careful adjustment on your Asian tools as well as have the right measuring instruments and good techniques to achieve this goal. <0.001â: Now you are into the serious stuff. If you can tread in the tenths of a thousandth, you arenât afraid of much. If your machines can do this reliably, they are well set up and in good condition.
I am providing a video which shows the functioning of the tool setter, as well as the Masso G3 controller UI.
Please note the following (skip to video if you are not interested in set up details):
I created a simple F360 file with 2 operations (adaptive clearing and trace) using 2 different tools
I show a manual tool change (T3) just to highlight the operation and generate a Z offset to compare later
I am using the âParking Locationâ as a quick imaginary stock X/Y zero location, and a quick MDI G0 z-30 as its Z zero (a probe or touch off block would normally be used)
I have slowed my rapids/accelerations down for testing - they were working over twice as fast earlier
The tool setter is at a fixed location of my choosing, and the tool change location I chose is 10 cm in front of it
I set the tool setter routine to rapid down to within about 1 cm, and am using a very slow rate for touch-off - I will experiment to see how increasing this impacts repeatability and precision of tool changes
I am not physically doing tool changes when prompted, I am leaving a steel blank in the collet as I am still collecting data on my new tool setterâs precision and repeatability. You can see this by comparing the Z offsets for T1-T3 at the end of the video - I am happy to see they are very close (0.00124mm, 0.0025mm, and a max of 0.00374mm - well within its 0.005mm spec)
