Force pause between CAM ops?

[fritter63]

I have two CAM ops in a row which use the same tool. But rather just having them run together, I'd like to force it to pause (M6?) between the two so I can clear debris. Would rather not have to sit there and wait for the right moment to manually stop the machine.

Is there a way to to tell F360 to generate this in between specific operations? Didn't see anything obvious.

Thanks.

[LibertyMachine]

M6 is a tool change (on most (all?) machines). 

What you likely want is an M0. This is a stop requiring you to press the start button again. The way to get that into your program is as follows:

Click on your Setup once.

Right Click.

New Operation

Scroll down to the bottom: Manual NC

Clicking on Manual NC will open up a new dialog box where you can select a whole crapload of options. Most of them will not work, as they require post configurations. M0 should work just fine. Chances are it will insert it at the end of the file, so just grab it and drag it wherever you want

be warned though: All this will do is stop the machine. If your machine is setup to turn off spindle and coolant, you will need to manually enter those codes into your program. This in of itself isn't that much of a task, although it does get annoying. If you find yourself doing this often, you may inquire about getting your post edited to re-output the M3 and M8 after an M0

[daniel_lyall]

some post's have a M1 option on the pre post dialog for doing just this the Mach3 one I have has it, it would not be to hard to add it in from a example and have it as M1 or M0. I am learning this now and if the example is good it is quite easy

[fritter63]

Sorry all, I misspoke, meant to say "M1" rather then "M6" in the OP.

Yes, I can manually edit it, but was thinking that would be a nice checkbox option to have on an op.

[matthew.nichols · Accepted solution]

you could always use the Manual NC and select Optional stop under the setup panel after the toolpath that you would want an optional stop.

[fritter63]

Yes, that worked. Had never noticed that option before.

Thanks.