Lathe toolchanger ratchet style

Hi guys, I have recently acquired a small cnc lathe (Cortini H105, picture below). I have been using it with Mach3, it works great, but it cannot do threading since it doesn't support the optical sensor I'm using.

I've installed Linuxcnc 2.8, everything works except the toolchanger which hasn't been configured yet. I added the A axis to my hal file and I am able to jog the toolchanger. In Mach3, I was using the macro M6Start that I have attached below, The turret is a ratchet style, "rotate past pawl and reverse to lock". It has a proximity sensor to home the turret at T1.

As I understand, there is multiple ways to make it work:

1) Boxford toolchanger component : There is a recent thread on this (forum.linuxcnc.org/49-basic-configuratio...dex-need-help#255100), but it doesn't seem to work. I have tried it myself, but I'm also having issues with homing.

2) M6 Txx remap : I'm lost reading the documentation, I don't know where to start.

3) Carousel component : Requires the unreleased v2.9. Any input on this option would be appreciated.

I am looking for advice on which path should I take to implement the toolchanger and if possible some hint on how to make it work as I'm not very familiar with Linuxcnc yet.

Cheers
Olivier

Looks a lot like my EMCO5 turret. You could check out gitlab.com/TOLP2/toolerator

Thanks for the suggestion, I was hoping for a solution that doesn't require additional hardware... I'll look into it if there other solutions doesn't work.

Hello Andy, from what I understood in your comments in another thread is that the version 2.9 was required to includes a "counts" mode that uses stepgen or encoder counts to calculate the position. In my case, I believe I need the "counts" mode that uses stepgen.

My toolchanger only has one proximity sensor for T1 (used for homing). With the Mach3 macro, the toolchanger is first homed (define as the A rotary axis). During a toolchange, the rotary angle required is calculated and then the axis moves are in relative mode G91. It goes past the pawl and then reverses to lock (the stepper motor skips a few steps, but this doesn't matter as G91 is used).

Can the carousel component already do this? Is there an example I could look at to understand how to set it up?

Thanks
Olivier

Alright, I'll try to install it this weekend!