Gscreen - a GTK / Glade / Python based screen

andypugh wrote:

cmorley wrote: AXIS uses touch-off and you pre-select whether its for origin setting or tool setting.

And I forget to pre-select so often that I am probably going to edit Axis on my lathe to have two separate buttons.
(Because if you get it wrong, the whole tool table ends up wrong)

Ya I thought that may be a problem so looks like we will do it with separate buttons on the tool page.

Chris M

karlkec wrote:

cmorley wrote: at the moment I know that tool setting to a common point is missing, I'm just not sure how best to do it.
AXIS uses touch-off and you pre-select whether its for origin setting or tool setting.
I would like something more obvious.
I could have the tool setting buttons show up when the tool table is showing ....
Chris M

I think having it on the tool table page would work well. Include the ability to change tools from there too (tool index button). Could even highlight the row in the tool table matrix for the currently-loaded tool. When a tool is touched off the values in the tool table matrix should update. My thinking is that the tool table page would have everything necessary to set up all the tools in the changer.

Karl

Ya that sounds pretty good
I could pop up a dialog that lets you move the highlight bar then press change tool.
This is very like run-at-line dialog.
I'm not sure how to handle tool offset selection.

Chris M

newbynobi wrote: Hallo Chris and all the others,


I am missing on that page the button to select a tool.
After powering your machine it is needed to set a certain tool,
i.e. the edge finder, but you will have to distinguish two situations,

First situation:
The tool is mounted already in the spindle,
so you will have to give an M61 Q5 to set tool 5
without doing any move off the machine.
I am doing that with a button getting the value from the entry dialog.

The second situation:
There is no tool in the spindle, but you need to get it from the changer,
so you will have to enter T5 M6 resulting
in machine movement.
I do this with an MDI command.
(shouldn't sending any MDI command from a button be integrated in gscreen?)
I couldn' find a function "self.command.mdi("MDI STRING").

Both should only be allowed if machine is in all_homed state!

I was dreaming from an tool editor page where I can just select the tool highlighting the line and press a button!
So the error messages "requested tool 99 not found in the tool table" is gone.

Next question to answer:
For a tool change you have to give first G40 to unselect cutter radius compensation,
then you select the tool and after that you will have to give an G43
to activate tool length compensation.


Norbert

I though linuxcnc remembers what tool is in the spindle after shutdown?
Why do you have to enter G61 Q5 - I remeber this being added but can't remember why.
Why is it important that the machine not move in this situation?

Gscreen has a tool index button and it calls Tx M6 and then G43 Hx.
(Look in gscreen/mdi.py)
The x is the same for T and H which is probably not the best thing (especially of lathes)

adding a user selectable MDI command button is interesting.


As for G40 and friends - I don't understand why you would be using compensation while manual machining.


Chris M

Next I found:

gremlin is not indicating the tool path correct:

Norbert:

This is something that you should bring up in the mail list or IRC.
If you are sure it's a bug you could file a bug report.

There is a guy (Kirk Wallace) that is currently working on gremlin - mostly in the context of lathes -but he may be interested in your findings.

I simply don't have time to delve into it at this time.
Gremlin is a very large program all by it's self and not documented very much.

Chris M

I though linuxcnc remembers what tool is in the spindle after shutdown?
Why do you have to enter G61 Q5 - I remeber this being added but can't remember why.
Why is it important that the machine not move in this situation?

Gscreen has a tool index button and it calls Tx M6 and then G43 Hx.
(Look in gscreen/mdi.py)
The x is the same for T and H which is probably not the best thing (especially of lathes)

adding a user selectable MDI command button is interesting.


As for G40 and friends - I don't understand why you would be using compensation while manual machining.


Chris M

Hallo Chris,

No, linuxcnc do net remember the tool number. After every reboot the tool is set to "0"

The need to give the tool number to the machine with G61 Q5 is that the machine will not go to the tool changer.

If you just give an T5 M6 the machine will move to the tool changer and will try to mount the tool 5, witch is already mounted.
I have one machine with a magazin changer with 24 places. To change the tool, the machine will move in front of the pocket from the tool mounted in the machine, then it will enter the tool pocket in Y, go up in Z and move in X to the new pocket, then go down in Z, Go out the place in Y and change has finished. If the machine thinks, there is no tool in the spindele it will strait go over the pocket and then down in Z to get the tool. But when there is a tool in the spindle, it will breack the tool holder of the changer.

That is the reason I am forced to give first the tool mounted in the spindle.

I got an other machine with a carusel changer, witch will also crash if the tool number is not or wrong set.



For the T5M6 with G43 I will check your code. Why to you set tool length compensation with G43 Hx? If you just set it with G43 without anything else, then linuxcnc will get the parameter needed from the tool table. That does work also on lathes!
So just forget the H after the G43.

Compensation in manual mode:
Just a small example. I want to machine a slotted hole in my part, One part and nothing else then this hole.
Do you really write a complete CNC program, or do you just use MDI commands to machine the hole?

Or on a lathe, you just want to turn down a bar from 20 mm to 15 mm with an 45 degree angle on one side.
It is quick made with some MDI commands, while the first command is executed, you can enter the second and the third and so on, so you have finished entering commands while the machine is still working.

Doing this with compensation means you don't have to measure in between and calculate the path you have to program. Just imagine machining the slotted hole 20 mm with and 60 mm long with a burr 9.45 mm diameter. A simple G41 or G42 will make all the calculation for you.

Norbert

If you have an absolute encoder on your tool changer your tool change ladder or what ever you use should know what tool is loaded and not move the changer.

To program by hand you need ngcgui or in the case of touchy pyngcgui not the MDI window.

John