Under normal circumstances, the CNCSimulator Pro user does not have to think about tool length compensation as it is automatically handled by the program. For example, when you call in a tool with M06 the length compensation value will be automatically fetched and applied from the milling tool registry.

 

For various reasons (realism, education, etc.), sometimes the user might want to be able to control what value is used for tool length compensation, even in the simulator. This can be done by adding the G43 code to the program followed by the H word.

 

The H word specifies the index of the value in the Tool Offset Registry.

 

It is important to know that the Tool Offset Registry has to be enabled in settings and the index row has to be checked for the value to be considered valid. If the registry is disabled and/or the index row is unchecked, the currently selected tool length will be used instead (default automatic tool length compensation).

 

Important: The Geometry value specifies the positive tool length sticking out from the holder (this value is normally treated differently in real CNC machines where the gauge line is used; check your machine manual for comparison).

 

The Wear value will be added to the tool length when the compensation is calculated.

 

 

The tool length compensation can also be directly programmed using the P word.

 

Example: G43 P55.7 Z2 (Setting 55.7 as the tool length compensation).

 

If the tool length compensation differs from the tool length set in the milling tool registry, the simulator will be “fooled” into milling deeper (tool compensation less than tool length) or shallower (tool compensation greater than tool length) than the programmed Z contour depth.

 

Please also note that the activation of the Tool Offset Registry adds complexity to the simulator as well as more machine-like realism. For beginners, we suggest keeping the Tool Offset Registry disabled letting the simulator fetch tool values automatically from the normal tool registry. When disabled, H-words can still be present in the G43 blocks without having any effect on the tool length compensation.