How do I do a manual tool change?

is it one cent for me and one cent for him?

Hello guys, I'm new in the CNC world in general.

Is it worth it to try out this solution with 2.8 version or is it better to split my code? ...or any other suggestions

Thanks in advance

Can you ask a question that does not require us to watch a video to understand what you are asking?

And is your query really related to this thread?

Oops sorry, you are right!

The video was copied from a previous page of this topic.

But, by using the latest version of Freecad Path I can easily split my files. So, manual tool change is really easy now and I don't need to make any changes related to this video.

Thank you for your time!

andypugh wrote:

 The underlying difficulty is described here:
wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WhyManualWhilePausedIsHard
 

Thanks Andy, that sheds some light on things. I'm working a CNC converted little bench-top mill, and just milled my first part last week. Since I have no probe or preset tool length option at the moment, I'm running into the problem of resetting zero for a new tool too. I overcame the issue by creating a  separate setup in cam for each tool. Being new to this I'm well aware of my ignorance here. Is there an easier way?

I'm no programmer, but I had a couple thoughts after reading the article WhyManualWhilePausedIsHard.

The first was, would it be possible to look ahead for the tool changes in the G-code and have the queuing of upcoming moves paused at each tool change so there's nothing in the queue after the tool change.

The second was, if the above can't work due to previously calculated variables, could the entire program be restarted with the new z-zero for the tool, with the motion controller inhibited (so nothing actually moves) and the feed rates somehow ignored (so it runs quickly); then stop at the tool change line in the program, re-enable the feed rates and the motion controller, and continue the program with a new tool, new z-zero and updated variables?

I'm really out of my element here, but thought I'd just put that out there.

Note that the "Jog while paused" page was written in 2010. There have been changes since then including: linuxcnc.org/docs/stable/html/man/man9/moveoff.9.html
But this does not seem to be relevant to the question of manual toolchanges.
(I don't think that LinuxCNC tries to maintain the queue through a toolchange. If it does, then this seems an unecessary complication)

I generally arrange my machining as a separate G-code program for each tool anyway, as it makes re-starting jobs easier. And sometimes it is easier and quicker to swap parts than tools.

Without a tool length probe I would suggest carrying on as you are, one G-code file per tool.