Checking Tools Mid-Program

Have you ever needed to stop a program mid-cycle and check for finish, clear chips away or just to make sure the cutting tool is still intact? This is a daily occurrence in most shops but invariably the only way is to go to single block, press reset to stop the spindle then manually jog away and then restart the program from a suitable line. However this is not always practical especially with long running cycles in the case of mould tools for example.

Haas engineers have designed into the Haas control a feature called Run Stop Jog Continue (RSJC) and in very simple terms that is exactly what it does, allowing the operator to stop a running program, jog away from the part, and then resume program execution. Originally introduced in 11.02 software in 2000 the feature has been further enhanced with the current operational procedure set out below.

  1. Press Feed Hold to stop the running program
  2. Press X, Y or Z followed by the Handle Jog button. The control will store the current X, Y, and Z positions. Note: Axes other than X, Y, and Z cannot be jogged.
  3. The control will display the message “Jog Away”. Use the jog handle, remote jog handle, jog, or jog-lock buttons to move the tool away from part. Control buttons such as AUX CLNT (TSC), or COOLNT to turn on/off the coolant (AUX CLNT requires that the spindle is rotating and the door is closed). The spindle can be controlled by pressing CW, CCW, Stop, Tool Release. If necessary, tool inserts can be changed. Caution: When the program is continued, the old off sets will be used for the return position. Therefore, it is unsafe and not recom mended to change tools and offsets when the program is interrupted.
  4. Jog to a position as close as possible to the stored position, or to a position where there will be an unobstructed rapid path back to the stored position.
  5. Return to the previous mode by pressing MEM, MDI, or DNC. The control will only continue if the mode that was in effect when stopped is re-entered.
  6.  Press Cycle Start. The control will display the message Jog Return and rapid X and Y at 5% to the position where Feed Hold was pressed, then return the Z-axis. Caution: The control will not follow the path used to jog away. If Feed Hold is pressed during this motion, the mill axes motion will pause and display the message “Jog Return Hold”. Pressing Cycle Start will cause the control to resume the Jog Return motion. When the motion is completed, the control will again go into a feed hold state.
  7. Press Cycle Start again and the program resumes normal operation.