mechanical axis switches wasRe: Can CNCPro...

Hi smoke,

No, the XY is shared by the four heads. They are used as either "tool
change" or "slave" (multiple SAME parts). Think of a pen plotter.

When the "drawn" line changes from red to black the plotter puts one
pen away, and gets another. This is the way the Vertical machining
centers used in metalworking shops work also. BUT, there is another
type of plotter which has 3 pens(more or less) in a row above the
paper.

In this case the change from red to black is accomplished
by "shifting" the 3 pen assembly to bring the desired pen into
position, and activating the solenoid for the now "in USE position"
pen...
This is how the woodworking routers work when in "toolchange" mode,
execept that they have full z axis control (usually) rather than
solenoid. (sometimes an axis carries a "piggyback" air drill which IS
actuated by a solenoid, or PLC.

In slave mode, the routers have adjustable rods to set any arbitrary
fixed distance between the heads. Then, the heads all go up and down
together, cutting multiples of the same part.

Hope this explanation clears things up.

Ballendo

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., "Smoke" <gordonr@r...> wrote:
> I'd presume with four heads there would be separate X and Y axis
for each
> head?