Personally, I'd have to say that this control of Fadals is nothing more than a boat anchor. This latest product from a US company (which I like) is just one more control on a list of bad controls. The 88, the Mp32, the 104d are all bad controls.
What makes a control bad, is its performance.
If a control cannot handle accuracy, it's bad.
If a control cannot handle reasonable feed rates, it's bad.
I don't really care (comparatively) how good it's interface is, because I did not buy a GUI (Graphical User Interface) from Fadal Engineering, I bought a CNC controlled milling machine. The CNC machine is so much better, without any of Fadal's own controls. In Fadal's case, perhaps they considered this 104d as "third times a charm"...
In my opinion, it's more like "3 strikes and you're out"!
BTW, we researched all of Fadals controls, including the 104d, and Fanuc controled Japanese made CNCs, by using our "designed test cut". No CNC (in this price range) even came close to the performance of the Numeryx / Rubicon retrofit HSM control.
This control (on our Fadal machine) is humming along with better accuracy at consistant high feeds in excess of 200 Inches per minute.
Fadal Engineering should buy one of these, they could learn a lot!
__________________
Scott_bob |