HAAS VF1 retrofit

Just throwing this out there....

Is it possible to jump in and out of classic ladder?

For example,
tool change is called,

Z axis moves to tool change height.

Here we jump into classic ladder.. shuttle moves in and releases draw bar.

Back out of classic ladder, Z moves to tool change safe height.

Back into classic ladder, carousel finds new tool position.

Out of classic ladder, Z moves back to tool change height.

Back into classic ladder and clamp draw bar and shuttle out. Tool change completed.

ok, i know how i am going to do the carousel
Going to do it with grey code, then I dont have to worry about homing it.

20 positions of grey code ,and bit driven by the carousel drive pin
This way it stops in the correct place and doesnt overshoot.
The switch on the drive pin will be the last to trip and will have a wiper to compensate for motor coast down.

I found a component for a lathe turret with grey code and it should work for me with some modifications.

I'm still here.

I built the panel for the 7i77 this past weekend. Mounted some din rail and about a dozen relays.
The servo amp and power panel is almost ready, bought some inrush limiters to put on the caps.
The computer panel seems to be stable.
Replaced the original 30 amp three phase breaker with a 60 amp single phase breaker and reused the operator mechanism.
Bought some shielded wire.
5v 24v logic power supply
And got a great deal on a new VFD

So I should be ready to wire this thing up this weekend.

And I am looking forward to seeing what Tkamsker came up with.

I've been following your thread. Really looking forward to seeing your progress.

Almost lost all of my photos, my SD card fell out of my phone , but I was lucky to find it.

Hi,

During clamping of the tool on the original Haas machine, the drawbar will end up pulling the tool up in to the spindle. To compensate for this upward motion of the tool, the Z axis moves down a small amount during the clamping process (I think the reverse is also true during unclamping). This is parameter 71 and 72 IIRC. If you don't include something like this you might be putting extra stress on the carousel and holding fingers. Not sure if it is enough to really worry about, but it was there in the original Haas machine configuration.

When you get things going, do a manual tool change/release. You will be able to see how much motion there will be in the tool as it gets drawn in to the spindle.

Jeff