Originally Posted by
vandal968
I've got two cnc mills, the first is a Denford Easimill 3 running Mach3 that I've had for a couple of years. The second is a recently acquired Roadee VMC8 running Flashcut, some of you may have seen the video of this machine when cnccookbook mentioned it:
Both Mach3 and Flashcut use a fanuc style g-code that should be interchangeable. The Denford machine has no toolchanger (yet), but the M06 macro prompts the operator to change the tool, then applies the G43 tool offset. On the VMC8, the G43 & G28 (return to machine home for toolchange) are in the part program and are repeated in the NC file for each toolchange. To me, it seems like these two commands should be part of the macro which would make the tool-change operation self-contained. It would also make the same programs run on either mill without reposting unless there is something else I haven't discovered yet. Is there any reason NOT to do it this way? How does it work on full-size machines? I've only played with hobbyist-type stuff.
cheers,
v