Hi all,
Lathe control extras.
If I can add a few options,
Casting option:-
I have requested before. Basically allow you to turn off the roughing passes and only do finishing passes, maybe even give a “surface offset” to quickly adjust the casting thickness.
Tool description:-
Display tool description after the tool number on the main page for easy cross reference
Grooving initial plunge:-
Be able to set feed/speed & style (peck etc) on the initial plunge of the grooving cycle. Some tooling does not have the rigidity to part it’s way in all that quick but once there is some relief the tooling can be sped right up. Would be really awesome if the initial plunge did a peck cycle but between first and second cut coordinates to work it’s way in creating its own relief each peck until the roughing depth is achieved.
FYI, the tool check button seems to reset the grooving cycle back to the beginning, not like other functions where they continue on from last coordinates and can be very frustrating when you are almost done and have to run the whole lot again.
Turn:-
Allow an option for start, end and intermediate finish as in corner radius/chamfer etc. sometimes you just want to turn something basic diameters but you cannot seem to get corner radius or lead in/out chamfers without having to draw a profile.
G-code scrolling:-
Have a display window in the run menu for the g-code that is scrollable and a “run from here” option.
Tool offset look ahead:-
I do not run a dedicated tool change position so it is turned off but it would be nice if the program looked at the next tool when stopped for a tool change and automatically travelled the axis to allow for change. Some of the drills etc are a lot longer and you cannot change them as the manual feed is locked out and it is too close to the work. A simple fix would be to allow jogging while awaiting tool change.
Tool offset probing:-
When probing a drill, allow an option to set diameter of drill to allow correct X offset.
Tool wear offset:-
When updating a tool offset, request to reset tool wear. I have scrapped a few parts from forgetting to update tool wear after resetting tool coordinates. My own fault I know but it would be nice to help dumb proof offsets
Absolutely loving the intercom system though, I will be upgrading my mach3/4 machines soon