Help please - Tool length setup

[440regal]

Assistance in the following matter will be greatly APRECIATED, sorry in advance as I am relatively new to this. I have been working things out slowly which has been very frustrating.
Have an Anderson twin spindle CNC Wood router that has two auto tool changers that can hold 8 tools each.
The controller is a Fanuc OM and would like information on how to setup the router Cutters and what information do I input into the menu offset settings section in the controller. The machine has a vacuum table and I am using a 16mm MDF salvage board. Does not have locking pins on the spindles to allow height adjustment of the cutters, but I have a device with a dial gauge that i use. I try and set the cutters to the same height but not possible with some cutters. I am ok to this point but the next step of inputting the lengths is the confusing part. What measurement do I input ? Am I going down the right path?


With thanks

[samu]

1st: go in relative coordinate, put your dial on the machine table and with no tool in the spindle, lower the spindle on the dial until it indicate 0. No matter wich part of spindle you touch, wath is important it is to take a constant reference.

2nd:reset your Z coordinate to 0

3rd: put the first tool in the spindle, lower the spindle to touch dial with the lowest point of tool, when it indicate 0, the Z coordinate is the value of lenght offset of tool 1.

4th: repeat third step witch each tool.


there is no need to adjust your tool to the same lenght, but, in your nc program, you need to specify wich tool offset to use.

[440regal]

Thanks for the info.
I had a guy who originally setup the machine but he kept everything to himself.
I am sure he must have set all this up. Is there any way of finding the settings by looking at some of the tool offset lengths already installed?

[440regal]

Thanks for the info.
I had a guy who originally setup the machine but he kept everything to himself.
I am sure he must have set all this up. Is there any way of finding the settings by looking at some of the tool offset lengths already installed?

[samu]

the only way to be sure that tool length offset are correctly set, is to measure each tool. It is a big risk to operate your machine if your not 100% sure of the corect setting. Acording to me, the better way is to mesure all your tool. Also, you said that you tried to set some tool at the same length, so tool lenght have changed and old setting is no more good.