Anybody here using an accurate home location as reference for setting tool offsets? as reference

[DICKEYBIRD]

If so can you walk us/me through how you have it set up? At this point the 2 axes are homing accurately, I have an XHC DT02 working as a Z tool setter, a shop made opto sensor for setting X plus a Z probe for the work zero setting.

I don't know why this is zinging right over my thick skull but so far I haven't been able to set this up to work like it used to in Mach3. In Mach I had the Home X/Y - 0/0 point set up as Tool 0 (T0000) master tool and all 26 tools' offsets were referenced from there. I feel sure a setup close to that works in CNC12 but so far it has eluded me.

[DocsMachine]

I've had a tough time grasping this too, mainly because my brain just isn't "wired" for software or electronics in general, and CNC in particular. (My converted lathe is the first CNC machine I owned, and the first one I ever even pushed the 'start' button on. Total green noob, here. )

As such, I'll gladly welcome corrections or improvements/suggestions. I have no idea how Mach 3 does it, but I would suggest forgetting about M3 entirely, and going strictly by the Acorn manual.

Okay, trying to keep it a bit simple so I'm not typing for the next week and a half the first thing we need to do is tell the control where the spindle centerline is, meaning in relation to "home". Going by the manual, the trick there is to turn a piece using the jog buttons or MPG, then, without moving the tool off that axis, measure the new diameter and enter that into the part X-zero.

Then, you also use that same position to set the tool #1 X-zero. At this point the controller "knows" where the spindle centerline is, and where the tip of tool #1 is in relation to it.

And here's the part that it took me longer than I care to admit to grasp: All the rest of the tools are "offset" from that reference tool. The controller "knows" where the spindle centerline is, and where the tip of the reference tool is. When you add the rest of the tools after that, it then "knows" how far those other tips are offset from that first tip, and since it 'knows' where that first tip is in relation to the centerline, it therefore knows where all the rest of the tips are.

So now you swap to tool #2, and what I do is manually touch off the new tool to the previous turned surface- jog the tool in using the MPG, and manually rotate the spindle 'til I can see a very slight mark (aluminum stock.) Once I see the mark, I'll back off a thou according to the DRO. Still not 100% sure that's a "spot on" way to set it, but for the moment it's very, very close.

Once touched off, tell the controller to "measure here" (that is, you're telling the controller to "mark the current location") for that tool which sets the offset for it. Then move on to tool #3, and so on.

I do the Z axis the same way- turn a new face manually, set the part zero, set the tool Z-zero for #1, touch off the rest of the tools from that new face as well.

It can be a bit fiddly with jogging and trying to hand-turn the spindle to see when the mark is made, so I've been thinking about a similar 'indicator' setup to what you show- or an electronic edge finder, maybe, I dunno. Still real new at this.

Doc.

[DICKEYBIRD]

Yup, you're very right in what you said Doc. After just now finishing a re-re-re-watching video session , I think I now know what I need to do to get my probe system to work. As luck would have it though, one of my sweet young grandaughter's 9th birthday shindig is tonight. Gotta go clean up! Hope I don't forget what I learned before tomorrow morning.