Tool Life Question on a 18-i Lathe

[theemudracer]

Hi guys,

I use tool life now succesfully on a few tools. My situation is I cut many keyway slots in different locations of the machine that has a subspindle. The tolerance's for the depth of the slots are +- .002. I use offset T0505 when I cut a slot that is hanging out of the main spindle. The subspindle is not exactly in line with the main spindle so when I cut a slot in the middle of the shaft with the subspindle supporting the other end I use T0515. When I have to cut a slot after I cut the part in half I use T0525.

This is the only way I have found to be able to keep the slots within tolerance depth wise is to use 3 different offsets for the same tool. I keep the geometry the same on all three offsets and adjust the wear to compensate for the subspindle "bending the bar" when it is clamped on the stock.

My question is, I cant figure out how to count the minutes of use for each offset in the same Tool life group. The code for starting the tool life in the prg. is T0599. This starts counting all the G01 time for T0505. I want to count the time for T0515 and T0525 also since it is the same tool. It seems the control can only count for the current tool that has life in that group.

Has anybody ran into this problem before??
Thanks