Do you use Tool Kits - Kit Assistant

Do you use Tool Kits - Kit Assistant, when doing your jobs?

So 20 people have look at this survey and only one person has responded. Come on guys! It's a simple question.
Do you use Tool Kits?
Somebody Push a Button. Let's get some interaction going here.

Cheers to our one respondent for having the balls to say "I dont know what a Kit is"

Mike Mattera

Hi Mike,
What are you refering to when you say "tool Kits". Meaning what ?

Dado

Start - Programs - Edgecam - Toolkit Assistant.

So I'll take that as a "No" :) :)

Mike Mattera

This is my first post sense joining the CNC Zone. The question about tool kits drew a question mark. I write all my programs long hand. G-code.

I started machining 42 years ago. I'm recouperating from a fall at work that broke my shoulder and tore my rotator cuff. I tripped over an air hose. I just had surgery last Wednesday to repair the damaged Cuff. I'm on the mend now and plan to return to work after the Holidays.

The shortage of machinists and our work load has caused our company to build a plant in China. Companies all around me here in Minnesota are having difficulties in hiring competant machnists. So, when I retire in a few years, I'll buy some machinig centers and grab some of that work.

I'll hire a few young people the secret's learned in 45 years of machining. I enjoy teaching . They can learn from me and get paid as well. I'd like to start a production teaching school. Very small time of course. I would enjoy that.

I have to teach myself Cad Cam. The company I work for doesn't believe in any on the job training of such things as using Cad Cam. That's the engineers job they say. Oh well, I'll teach myself off the job.

Be thankful if you have a company that will teach on the job.

Just to let you know where I stand on toolkits.

I have been using Edgecam for 9 years now and have never used a tool kit. I am sure it is a useful tool if you are doing similar components but in a small subcontract workshop you never get a spare minute to set these things up.

Even my toolstore is incomplete! Now that I have started using some of the new adaptive postprocessors in version 11 with machine graphics, I am having to go through my entire toolstore to add gauge height and holder information that was not used before. Very tedious but well worth it when you can see whether or not you have a collision with the 4th axis.

John

Hi John,

I know whet you mean. I just finished a new training cd for Edgecam and one of the most important things was to get a complete set of Drills, & Counter bores in 1/32 (and some of the more important 1/64) sizes. Making sure they have tool holders and the proper gauge length.

It's now included with the training CD along with a Fanuc compatible 3X vertical mill post, for machie simulation.

Mike Mattera

Tool kits are great for assigning turret positions for specific tools that stay in the same location in machining centers. You can start the basic tool kit for a specific machine and then copy it for a certain job if you're adding more tools to it.

You can actually make a job after you program the part and it takes at most 1 minute and the time it saves for documentation and set/ups can save you a ton in the end.

never used it
only do 1 off stuff and have enough other things to do
mike

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mike Mattera

So 20 people have look at this survey and only one person has responded. Come on guys! It's a simple question.
Do you use Tool Kits?
Somebody Push a Button. Let's get some interaction going here.

---

Mike,
I share your disappointment...
Now you have 25 responses in 880 views!
What % participation is that less than .03?

Or, there are so few Edgecam users who "do" use toolkits...
What do you think?

Personally, I don't or didn't...
I am using UG NX4 now, and I don't use it's Tool library either.
I created my own system using Excel and Macro Express to import my data...

I think it's cool...

Well since Tool Kits are tied into the HTML setup sheets/Job reports, I can assume many of you are not using Job Reports either.

So what is a Tool Kit?
================
A pre selected list of tools for use on a particular part. You can select your tools, set Tool #'s and offsets for a particular job. The Kit name will usually be the same as the Job (NC) name, but it doesent have to be.


If you go to...
Start - Programs - Edgecam - Tool Kit Assistant.
You will open the Edgecam Tool Kit Assistant. In here you can Create a new Tool Kit (upper right). You should enter some general information about the Job. This same information can also be accessed thru the Job Manager.
Press OK to accept the new job.

At this point your looking at Jobs/Kits (Left window) and Tools (right window). Grab a tool from the right side and drag ot over to the job name (you just created) on the left side. Select all the tools you'll need for the job.

Exit the Tool Kit Assistant and go into Edgecam.

In Edgecam: When switching to Mfg Mode, you are asked for a Sequence name, Discipline (Mill/Turn) and Machine Tool (post). Select the Tab "Job Data". Browse the Job name and pick your new Tool Kit. Any other information you filled in regarding the job will populate the rest of the fields. OK to accept this.

Now when you do your toolpaths and select "Browse ToolStore" it will display the tools from your kit. All of the tool numbers and offsets already defined.

Mike Mattera

Still none the wiser....

I manualy create my G Code or use Dolpin CAM to post process a CAD file imported from Autocad. I also use my own program written in VBasic and converted to EXE to generate G Code... erm are any of them tool kits or do you mean toolkits like spanners, hacksaws and big hammers to hit the machine when it's bad?

*scratches head*

iman carrot
why dont you use dolphin to generate your code?

I do for my Turret Mill, but for my Diamond Turning lathe it's a bit more complicated, the equation I use too complicated for Dolphin to handle:

f(x)= [(x^2/R)/(1+SQR(1-(K+1)-(X^2/R^2)))]+ A4^4 + A6^6 +A8^8... etc

R= radius of curvature which can be anything (and convex or concave),
K= Conic coeffiecient, 0 for a sphere, -1 for parabola between -1 and 0 for a prolate spheroid (small end of an elipse) and >0 for oblate spheroid (large end)
X= Distance from centre (X0) incremented in 0.005mm.
A4-A10= Aspheric co- efficients which modify the sag

Put into this mix the fact that stoopid designers sometimes use the Conic Constant instead of Co-efficient and sometimes get the signs of the Radius and/or aspheric coefficients wrong and you can see my headache lol.

:)

oh ....right .....

Hi Mike,
I've been using pathtrace for about 17 years give or take and so i've seen all changes most for the good i might add, at moment im staying on 7.75 as i like to stay behind a bit as before ive rushed in and up-revisioned and then found that alot of surfacing done in previous revision has been re-pathed with unexpected results. and once saved in new version theres no going back, by the way we do do alot of 3d work.
i've looked at latest editions and to be quite frank i think software guys need to have a working,well experienced,shopfloor person to look over what they are doing.
An example- old facemill command- put in a few parameters and 3 mouse clicks later done
New facemill command- put in lots of parameters, create boundaries, then mess about with until paths are what you want.
Same with old surface lace command -you knew what it was going to do but with new surface commands software guys seem to be trying to put it all on one tab with all commands on it.
Now i know that there still there as "superceeded" but for how long.
Looking at amount of work that we do on edgecam(we have got approx 2500 ppf files each with at least 4-6 programs.
I did the post compiler course some years ago and over years have refined posts so that the guys on shopfloor do not do any editing at all, even speeds,feeds also theres no single blocking(whos got time for that on 200,000 line programs).By the way thats not including our turning ppf's
Any way back to original question "Do i use tool kits"
Answer "no"
I can see that they would be useful if you had a lot of common parts but we tent to use about 8 pockets in all our machines with same useful tools and then when we call these tools from database they are defaulted to that pocket.
When i first saw pathtraces tool database i had a little chuckle put it to one side and started afresh, everytime a new tool is used it is created 1st so our tool data base has in excess of 8000 tools (probabley 40% of this is 1mm-20mm drills in .1mm inc. and same with reamers and all types of taps threadmills)

But inspite of my moans edgecam still up there at the top and believe me i've programmed on a more than a few other cam systems.
Regards

I never try that before

Swarfmaker,
You know you can go back and find all of the old commands, put them up on the bar and use them instead. I still use the old thread mill command. It just works better than the new one.
But I digress.
I use tool kits, but not in the way your poll suggests. I found the best way to use tool kits is by machine. You can create a tool kit that sets up your turret. Assign the tool numbers for each pocket, and then never worry about selecting a tool you may not even have.
It works great.

I tried to use them it ended up being a complete waste of time for a bunch of incomplete information. I posted a similliar question on edgecam's help forum and got the feeling it not worth the effort.