Tool Changing update

[StephenGitHuber]

Not finished or on WP yet...

On CNC routers and mills, tool changes are very common since it’s not often that a whole project can be cut out with a single cutting tool. For most situations a tool change is just the act of swapping from one cutting tool to another (for example: from a 60° v-bit to a ¼” flat end mill) while keeping track of the location of the end / tip of the tool when that change happens. The main ways to keep track of the ends of the tools when changing them is:

1. Re-zero the Z-axis to the same spot that you originally used: if you zero Z at the top or corner of your material at the start of the job and zero Z at that same spot with every following tool then the change in length of the tools won’t matter
   • Can use the paper method or a touch plate
   • Very straightforward as long as you follow the steps
2. Use a hard-stop system: if you can ensure that all your tools have the same length, you can keep changing them and not have to worry about any compensation
   • Can hover the router/spindle collet above a piece of material that the tool rests on while the collet gets tightened, use a C-shaped height-setter, or using tool shank collars
   • The most simple in terms of steps and setup but the least accurate

At its core, all a tool change accomplishes

On CNC routers and mills, tool changes are a type of ‘pause’ typically put into the g-code if a single file contains toolpaths for more than one cutting tool. This “M6” command is meant to tell the machine and the user that it’s

gSender already recognized M0 and M6 commands to initialize a pause in the middle of a file