Hi:
The machine is a Microcut Challenger MM430 from Legere Industrial, purchased brand new last fall with tooling package and 8055iA control for <$50k.
We have an 8055 equipped lathe, and I love the control, it's what prompted me to spec the mill with an 8055 control. I can get a conventional machinist up and running on this machine in a couple of hours. (no crashes in 4 yrs
)
Likes: Love the 8055 control, easy to use very intuative , easy to learn and a breeze to run. Nice canned cycles for drilling, tapping and doing little jobs when you are feeling too lazy to fire up the PC. USB file transfer works well, and the 4GB memory ($400) is sufficent for most jobs.
The support is the best I have ever experienced.Fagor knows their product, and actually implement customer feedback. It's really easy to tweak the control with custom menus etc.
Dislikes: Fagor is still the new kid on the block. We're running Solidworks/SolidCam, and getting a post was a hassle (not Fagors fault). The VMC is really nice, and everything works (well most of the time).
If you were to purchase the 8055M, I'd be happy to sive you a Post for Mastercam and SolidCam.
regards