Tool Change Command (360 to UGS to Power Route) -

[viddall]

I made a tool change , from 1/4 to 1/8 when setting up in fusion 360.

Did all the necessities in UGS (I think) and sent the file to my PR.

It's milling ! Sweet! and the first stage is going as planned.

But, the tool change, will the machine stop , to allow me a tool change? I really didn't think about it until now.

Need some input from anybody..

Solidworks
Fusion 360
UG Platform 2.0
Power Route

[viddall]

Rookie mistake!
It says it right here (not implicitly) , all the supported Grbl GCode commands.

github.com/grbl/grbl

Nope, no tool change command Yet.

So, Can I 
1) Pause
2) Move My Z up 
3) change my tool
4) If I unpause , while in the new Z position, will the machine know to go back and continue?

Wowsers...

[mirthmgr]

I think your best bet is to split the gcode into multiple files. Here's the basic process that has worked for me:
1. Install first endmill and home machine
2. Set zero for X, Y, and Z
3. Run first operation
4. Install next endmill and home again (changing endmills can potentially move the gantry a bit, which would mess with alignment)
5. Set zero for Z with the new endmill
6. Run next operation

Then repeat steps 4-6 until you've finished the cut.

[viddall]

Feb 3, 2019 21:22:28 GMT mirthmgr said:

I think your best bet is to split the gcode into multiple files. Here's the basic process that has worked for me:
1. Install first endmill and home machine
2. Set zero for X, Y, and Z
3. Run first operation
4. Install next endmill and home again (changing endmills can potentially move the gantry a bit, which would mess with alignment)
5. Set zero for Z with the new endmill
6. Run next operation

Then repeat steps 4-6 until you've finished the cut.

That you know of
1) Can you pause the process (from UGS)
2) Raise Z (so you can swap endmills)
3) Bring in the Z Probe (which is how I set the Z in the first place): Adjust to new Z zero
4) Unpause and continue?

I may just do the above , but not if someone intervenes before its time to  
Thanks for your quick reply

 

[Bruce]

Unless you manually put a delay in the G-Code to pause between the tool change the program won't stop. You also have to reset the zero for the Z after the tool change.
In the long run it's cleaner and easier to split the file and run for each tool.

[viddall]

Feb 4, 2019 1:52:17 GMT Bruce said:

Unless you manually put a delay in the G-Code to pause between the tool change the program won't stop. You also have to reset the zero for the Z after the tool change.
In the long run it's cleaner and easier to split the file and run for each tool.
    

Confirming what you said (and mirthmgr).

For future newbies (if you haven't noticed)
1) Everything is grayed out in UGS after you send (play) your file to your machine, except the stop button.
2) When you stop the UGS, it marshals a stop command that inevitably halts the gcode being transferred  AND resets the gcode file. 
$G
[GC:G0 G54 G17 G21 G90 G94 M5 M9 T0 F0 S0]
-------------
UGS halted operation when it encountered the second tool change, so I knew I was done with the first part and proceeded with breaking up the work in different files like (mirthmgr suggested).


  

[rowiac]

Feb 4, 2019 9:29:48 GMT viddall said:

1) Everything is grayed out in UGS after you send (play) your file to your machine, except the stop button.
2) When you stop the UGS, it marshals a stop command that inevitably halts the gcode being transferred  AND resets the gcode file. 
$G
[GC:G0 G54 G17 G21 G90 G94 M5 M9 T0 F0 S0]
-------------
 

Once you hit Play in UGS, the Pause button should be active in addition to Stop.  I've used Pause when I think the feedrate in my gcode might be too high, so I start it with Play, and then immediately hit Pause and adjust the feedrate and then hit Play or Pause again to resume.

Regarding splitting your gcode into multiple pieces with different tools in each, there is a way in UGS to queue up your gcode files and it will stop after each one to allow you to change the tool.  I did it once accidentally and can't remember exactly how to do it right now.

[viddall]

Feb 4, 2019 17:41:58 GMT rowiac said:

Feb 4, 2019 9:29:48 GMT viddall said:

Once you hit Play in UGS, the Pause button should be active in addition to Stop.  I've used Pause when I think the feedrate in my gcode might be too high, so I start it with Play, and then immediately hit Pause and adjust the feedrate and then hit Play or Pause again to resume.

Regarding splitting your gcode into multiple pieces with different tools in each, there is a way in UGS to queue up your gcode files and it will stop after each one to allow you to change the tool.  I did it once accidentally and can't remember exactly how to do it right now.

You're right! The pause button is there. I incorrectly noted that : My program stopped because of a T2 M6  it encountered.
On my new job I did see the pause button available.

 
" there is a way in UGS to queue up your gcode files and it will stop after each one to allow you to change the tool." <--- neat
I started doing some research on it... and will post the step by step when I figure it out.

Thanks

[rowiac]

Does Fusion 360 have a g-code post-processor specifically for GRBL? In Vectric software, if you try to combine toolpaths using different tools in the GRBL post-processor, it will warn you that tool changes are not supported. I'm just wondering if Fusion 360 will do something similar if you pick the right post-processor.

[viddall]

Universal G Code Sender has a Very Nice Workflow Plug in, that allows you to add or delete jobs. When a job is done, it prompts the user that the job is done, return to zero and continue. When changing tools, in my case to a smaller diameter and length tool, I pressed (after changing the tool) "Return to Zero ", Probed Z
and then Press Play And that's it, on to the next job.