Alernatives to tool changer

[rycodog]

Is there way/mechanism that will allow a single router to change bits, short of investing a large amount of money in a tool changing spindle?

Thank you

[ger21]

Wrenches? If you have an expensive spindle, manual tool changes can be quick, but toolholders are quite expensive as well. What kind of router do you have?

[rycodog]

Looking at a Techno CNC. Diff in cost b/t tool changer vs. no tool changer is approx $7000. Looking for the router to be able to change bits during the course of cutting a sheet of stock, without me having to stand with it and do this manually. Tool changer would do this, looking for a less expensive alternative. Thanks.

[buscht]

rycodog, It depends upon how many different tools you need. I have seen two to three seperate routers mounted on a moving gantry. Each one has its own Z axis. You can either cut two parts at once or use two different cutters and use a coordinate offset in the programming to handle the Y difference.
I think that Shopbot has this option.

A word of caution, if you have 4' in Y motion and the router heads are 1' apart, it drops your total bed coverage down to 3'. You have to buy an extra 1' of travel.

$7000 seems fairly cheap to me for a working toolchanger. (Assuming it works as I have no experience with a Techno router.)

A less expensive option would be to have a power drawbar and use preset tools. You still have to be there to swap the tools, it just goes pretty fast.

Good luck.

[rycodog]

Got it. I like the idea of several routers, will think about that. $7000 was the difference between the 2, I believe the price of the spindle was $10,000. Thanks for the help.

[ger21]

Our machining center has 2 HSK 9.5HP spindles. One has a 5 position tool changer. Both can change tools with the push of a button. But Yeah, if you can getaway with 2 routers, it can be a lot faster than the tool changer. BUt if you need more than 2 tools at a time, then the changer would be the way to go. In a production environment, the $7000 would be well worth it imo. But be prepared to spend another $1000-$2000 for tooling.

[CNC Pro]

On my 3-1/4 h.p. Porter-Cable equipped Digital Tool router I tried a compromise, I purchased a Jacobs PowerCollet with mixed results. While not an automatic tool changer, I looked at it as a way to eliminate the wrenches. a review can be found at:

http://www.woodworking.org/WC/GArchi...wercollet.html

[crayner]

Does anyone have a source for an aftermarket ATC? I'm weighing my options with a Tree master journeyman with a crapped out control system. If I can find the right parts, I'm lookng at a retrofit. A 5 position changer would work great for me...
Chris

[georgebarr]

You can always make your own. Get some really good plans and get an RFQ to build just the gripper and spindle shaft.

Does anyone know where to get plans for this?

[DareBee]

You could build a 5 station rack at the end of your table (for the Tree). and your tool change macro would be a specific XY location depending on which tool is called for. You will sacrifice some table travel to ensure you dont crash your head into the tools and it may be difficult to keep out chips but it will work.