quick change tool mount

[donek]

I just found something on youtube that intrigued me. This "manual" cnc has an interesting quick tool change. See here:
http://youtu.be/TDRT908YPK4?t=1m10s

I rarely produce parts that require a tool change, but it could open some doors. Automatic tool changers are expensive, but if you had an accurate system and only needed a light duty router, quickly changing to a different router and not resetting z might be a viable option.

Is anyone aware of such a system used on a cnc?

[Bob Eustace]

Loved the wind up/down gantry idea. Might be a bit hexy at $10,700. Very neat swap over routter idea but would it have the fantastic accuracy of the z zero plate?

[knight_toolworks]

for the price add the computer. The quick change plates are very expensive.

[donek]

Loved the wind up/down gantry idea. Might be a bit hexy at $10,700. Very neat swap over routter idea but would it have the fantastic accuracy of the z zero plate?

A well made system should be able to accurately located within .001in, but that might be costly. The concept is intriguing though.


for the price add the computer. The quick change plates are very expensive.
Agreed. Why spend almost the same amount for a manual machine when you can get the speed and accuracy of a cnc. The quick change plates are expensive, but not as much as a automatic tool changer. Based on what I see in their video, the aluminum keys will likely wear and loose precision. There are, however, tooling options already out there that are made of steel, that might be used in conjunction with a quick change plate. I'm mostly interested in the concept. The ability to quickly and accurately change between a drill and a router is probably the biggest one for me. If you were running a long detailed job taking a light final pass, why not swap to a low horsepower router that consumes less power.

[harryball]

Very interesting product... very interesting.

/RB

[shoeshine]

Not exactly the same idea... but Tormach has long had a system of quickchange tool holders (Tormach tooling system) that fit into the same collet and can be individually pre-calibrated on the the same z-zero to where you simply change out the tool, assign it a tool # and switch out and run seperate toolpaths. We use it on our PCNC1100.

A poor man's ATC.

Might be worth a look, It typically runs under Mach3, but I cant see any reason it couldn't work under ShopBot's control software with a Z-offset.