Ok, there’s something I’m not understanding with this thing. I need somebody to dumb it down for me.
From the beginning…
I insert my first tool and use the tool setter to set length, then wiggle a pc of paper on the workpiece to set my work Z zero…in which case the tool setter was pointless.
If I set my work Z zero first, then use tool setter, when I change tools, I still have to set my work Z zero again anyway. At some point, I have to tell the machine the distance from the top of the workpiece to the tool setter…in which case, again pointless.
What am I missing? Where do you enter the tool setter height from the workpiece in the masso?
The tool setter is used to measure the length of the bit, relative to the tool setter. Setting the initial workpiece z-zero is required, whether or not you’re using the tool setter.
When you change bits, the length of the new bit will be measured by the tool setter. Since you identified the z-zero for your workpiece with the last bit, you do not need to use the touchplate again. The Masso controller calculates this, as it’s related to the difference in length between your current and previous bits, as measured by the tool setter.
Sounds like the tool setter wasn’t working. You should be able to manually depress the tool setter and see the status change on the F1 page to verify that the controller is seeing it. Not much use if the tool setter was destroyed, obviously.
I remember something about a similar issue being caused by the touch probe being wired backwards. If you have a volt meter, you can measure the potential difference between the magnet and touch plate. The magnet should be the ground reference, 24v on the plate.
The height of the setter doesn’t matter, as long as it’s installed in a fixed position. The z-axis travel from the homing sensor to the actuation point of the tool setter is all that is actually being measured. Tool lengths and workpiece height are basically just offsets from the max z height that can be back calculated from the change in the tool setter actuation point when the bit is changed.
The tool setter is most useful when running a job with multiple tools, if you are only doing programs with one tool then you have to go through the Z zero for each different thickness of material.
Hey Dan,
I’ve got my tool setter installed, but haven’t tapped into it’s usefulness yet either.
Can you tell me when changing bits and it goes over to the toolsetter and does it’s thing does the actual Z zero value on the controller change by the difference in the tool lengths?
I’m not at home at the moment or I would run a test, but I thought maybe you would know.
Yes, the z-zero value will change, so it’s always set relative to the bottom of the bit.
I’ve found the tool setter to be a necessity for rotary jobs, since the x-, y-, and z-zero points are in the middle of a piece of wood. It’d also be required if using an ATC, which I don’t have.
If you use the machine bed as Z0 you don’t have to probe for Z ever again. The 1F remembers the Z height even after you switched it off.
It is important to let the Masso know when you change a bit without being prompted during a cut, otherwise it assumes there was no tool change and bad things can happen. Never unload the tool when the machine is switched off!
After manual tool change you should enter the MDI command M6 (tool change) followed by TXX (XX being the tool number). The Masso will then proceed and measure the new offset
I believe the correct command has the Tool number followed by M6.
The other way around is interpreted differently by the controller and the results are not what you intend.
From Masso documentation …
WARNING: The T value must precede the M06 or unpredictable results may occur. Please see the video below for additional information
The tool is not changed until an M6 is programmed.
[…]
On some machines, the carousel will move when a T word is programmed, at the same time machining is occurring. On such machines, programming the T word several lines before a tool change will save time. A common programming practice for such machines is to put the T word for the next tool to be used on the line after a tool change. This maximizes the time available for the carousel to move.
I don’t know if someone in this forum has a cnc mill with tool carousel in their workshop, but I think some already worked on machines with one.
This tripped me up about a year ago. I had been away from my machine for a long time, and going by memory typed Txx M06 in MDI - the result was not as expected
I asked in the Masso forum and the difference you highlight was explained to me. I see in their documentation that this distinction has been made very clear now - they have a very diverse user base with many different tool change mechanics/logic being used.
