Editing the PathPilot Tool Table with Conversational machining codes

Introduction

Tormach’s PathPilot CNC control software offers a Tool Table facility that will accept up to 1000 different tool entries.   This is more than enough tools for the small machine shop and if fully populated would represent a small fortune in tools and collet investment.

In PathPilot when you go to the Offsets tab to edit a tool, the following dialogue box comes up (sorry about the quality of the image ..) suggesting that you can be quite clever with the descriptions of your tools. 

tormach tool table intelligent codes for conversational milling

How you describe the tool helps local machining settings such as Conversational routines.  It has no impact if you are loading an externally created GCode from CAD/CAM packages such as Fusion 360.

When I first started using PathPilot I had never bothered to add this intelligence when I described the tool. I simply wrote something that meant something to me.  As time has passed and I have added more and more tools, the prospect of going back into the Tool Table and making edits to conform to these intelligent descriptions did not seem like a glamorous prospect, even for a rainy day job.

Tormach Changes

What has changed is that in the latest versions of PathPilot, Tormach has added a search routine for the tool table.  This depends for its success in finding what you are searching for on the consistency of entries in each line description.   

There is now an incentive to have a ‘rainy day’ session and clean up the table entries.

See Mill-tool-table-editor  to download a folder containing the description of how to do this and also the Excel file used to manipulate the data.

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Handy Tormach TTS Collet Storage Idea

A Storage Tip

I am quite anal in needing to have a tidy workshop with everything having a place where I can find it easily.   It is a kind of insurance policy to perhaps give me a bit longer time in the workshop before I lose the plot altogether.  (The less palatable advantage is the dealer who comes in to clear my workshop when I am in turn in ‘a box’ can easily see what a treasure trove he has stumbled on.   We’ll move swiftly on from that thought).

To this end I have settled on using 5 Litre Spacemaster storage boxes for all my ‘stuff’ (technical term as defined by my long suffering wife).   These are readily available in the UK at Dunelm and on the net.   They are made from a very durable plastic and supplied with a lid which is rarely useful for my application.  I believe they are principally intended for ladies to store their shoes in.   

Update : – Dunelm no longer supply Spacemaster boxes but Zoro UK have added them to their range.   Their stock code is ZT1053092X.

The boxes have a 6.5″x 12″ footprint and are 4″ deep.  It is surprising just how much workshop kit can be stored in these (and of course nicely labelled).   The 12″ is just not long enough for 13″ silver steel but a little hang over can be tolerated for such useful material.

marcos storage boxes
How sad is this ? Just a small section of my anal storage system

I have accumulated a reasonable (by my standard) set of Tormach TTS tooling collets with my preferred tools permanently fitted.   These are each numbered to match my tool table entries in PathPilot.  The numbering is done using an Edding 750 white paint marker.

My solution to storing the collets was to use the same boxes.   I used a sheet of Dural (150mm x 290mm) and punched a (3 x 6) matrix of 20mm holes into it to take the collets.   The Dural sheet sits on 5 off 10mm diameter x 36mm long spacers.

Tormach TTS tool storage
Spacemaster 5L box used for TTS tooling storage. Side view showing Dural plate

To give you some idea of the strength of the boxes,  you can pick up one of these fully loaded with tools by the front wall and your wrist will break before the box does. (Well you know what I mean).

You will notice in the above photo that after some expensive clumsy breakages I now fit 3D printed caps over the most fragile tools such as carbide PCB drills.

Tormach TTS storage
Spacemaster based TTS storage box showing protective 3D printed caps over fragile tools

So a bit of a slow news day but thought this might stir an organisational initiative somewhere ……  

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