Need Help!- HAAS VF-2 TOOL LIST

[jts0311]

I have a Haas VF-2 with a 20 tool capacity. The control seems to pair the tool and pot number (pot 1/tool 1, pot 2/tool 2........) even though there are 99 tool offsets on the offset page. This limits me to only 1 through 20 for all my tool numbers. My Okuma and Matsuura can take any number between 1 and 99 in any pot. Can anyone tell me how I can assign different tool numbers to any pot?

[Donkey Hotey]

Tool number does not have to match your offset number. There is a setting for H&T agreement that you need to turn off to do it. After that, you could specify Tool 1, Height 29, Diameter 72.

Why on earth would you want to do such a thing? Yes, I know all the old-school programming reasons but, nobody does that anymore, do they? I mean--I know how to start a fire with sticks--but, why would you?

[KenFoulks]

Setting 15 will allow mismatched tool numbers. Out of curiosity, what is your reason for doing this?

[Matt@RFR]

Originally Posted by Donkey Hotey Why on earth would you want to do such a thing?

I've done quite a few parts that had 3D surfaces blend in to a flat face. I used a square endmill to finish the flat faces, and obviously a ball nose endmill to machine the 3D stuff. With the parts I make, aesthetics is everything, so those blends are extremely important to get just right. On rare occasion, I'll have to use two (or more) offsets for the same tool to get the blends to match in different areas of the part. Say one blend is in a weaker area of the part than another blend is, part deflection becomes an issue and instead of trying to figure out more complex fixturing for a one-off part, I just use another offset to tweak it all in. Besides, I don't think H&T matching is the OP's issue:

Originally Posted by jts0311 The control seems to pair the tool and pot number (pot 1/tool 1, pot 2/tool 2........) even though there are 99 tool offsets on the offset page. This limits me to only 1 through 20 for all my tool numbers.

This works on a SMTC, so hopefully it will work the same for you: To load T30 in pot 10, you have to go to the tool list (OFFSET>PAGE UP), arrow to pot 10, type 30 and hit enter. To verify, call up T30 in MDI and see that it is working correctly.

[jts0311]

I want to assign all, or most, of my tools in my CAM tool library with a their own number. That way all I can write programs and post them for any machine. No need to alter tool numbers for this machine or that one. Since I am dealing with over 75 different tools, I need to be able to enter those numbers into what ever pot I want.

[Matt@RFR]

Did you try what I wrote?

[jts0311]

Yes. I tried that. In my tool offset page the only thing that can be highlighted is the coolant position or the offset. There is nowhere to select POT. Any number I type will only change coolant position or offset.

[Matt@RFR]

From the tool offset page, press PAGE UP twice. Does that get you to a tool list that looks like the picture I attached? If not, then this is either only for SMTC machines like mine, or maybe it is year dependent. Don't know what to tell you beyond I can do exactly what you're asking about, so I figured you could too.

On second thought, I have to believe you can do this, otherwise you wouldn't have more than 20 available offsets. You just need to find the right page.

[cbr_speedster]

We had a Mori Vertical that held 40 tools and the offsets went to 200. Next to the machine was a cabinet that held 180 standard tools that used 180 offsets. My program might only use 25 tools from the cabinet but they were loaded in numerical order of how they were used in the program.

Tool 1 / Offset 100 (4" Sandvik Mill)
Tool 2 / Offset 6 (1/2" Carbide Drill)
Tool 3 / Offset 10 (.625 Carbide Drill)
Tool 4 / Offset 16 (1/8" Carbide Engraver)
etc. etc.

The Tool length offset didn't change unless the tool was changed from wear or breakage. Some tools would last longer than others and not need updated for months. This greatly reduced setup time not having to build up tools and set Z offsets. Once in awhile we might need a tool other than Standard and in that case used one of the Non-Standard offsets from 181 to 200.
This worked great for us and it was very easy to implement.