Setting Up a Job
Before a program runs, the control has to know three things: where the machine is, where the part is, and what the tool is. These pages cover each of them, in the order they are usually done at the machine.
- Manual, Handwheel & Homing: jogging, referencing the machine, and setting part zero where the tool is.
- MDI: typing a block and running it, without a program.
- Tool & Work Offsets: where the part is and how long the tool is.
- Setting Part Zero: touching off with an edge finder, a slip or the tool itself.
- Workpiece Setting Error: cutting a part correctly when it is clamped out of square.
- Probing: letting the machine find the part and measure the tool instead of touching off by eye.
Where to go next
Section titled “Where to go next”- Programming: writing the program that will run.
- Running a Program: starting it, and what to do when it stops.