We have a Fagor 8055i control retrofit on a Clausing knee mill. When we program it, the X-axis is always mirror imaged. For example, If I program a part in the 1st quadrant, the tool always moves to the second quadrant in X.
It is almost as if the encoder or something is wired wrong or a parameter needs changing. Anybody have any experiance with this?
I have tried G10 mirror image cancel at the beginning of the program and that does not alleviate the issue. Fagor, so far, has been no help at all. They say the axis movement is correct. The table position is moving negative and the CRT confirms this. What they do not seem to understand is that when the table moves negative, my tool position is positive of my zero. So when my program runs, it reads my positive moves and the tool is negative of my zero and engraving air. I hope this is not to confusing. I have given myself a headache.
I am using Surfcam to program. The program will run on my Fadal with the Numatix control perfectly. It is just a simple engraving program.
Any help is most certainly appreciated.

Let me ask you this.
When you program the machine using the built-in icon/conversational screens, does it cut in the correct directions?

If yes, changing machine parameters would not be very smart.

Make a post processer for the machine with the X axis movement reversed.

Thanks for the reply.
Yes, the control also cuts this way on the conversational side as well. When we had the retrofit installed, the tech just made sure all axes moved and he shagged out. We also had problems with the spindle drive, but we figured that one out. Do you have any more ideas? We are getting behind the ball a little bit. We use this machine to modify pistons and my machinist does not trust it. I do not think it is a training issue either. He went to the training classes in Chicago at Fagor and told me that their machines there moved correctly from the designated zero point with absolutely no issues. This is a first for me as well and I have been around CNC machines all my life.
Thanks

Sounds to me like the company/technician that did the install is/was negligent and should be held responsible for making things right.

There should be a parameter in the PLC that can be changed to reverse the X axis servo, there is also a good chance that it could be done electrically.
I have dealt with Fagor Canada technicians many times and they have been superb. I can't believe that Fagor USA won't tell you how to change the parameters, for shame.

Fagor tells us that the axis movement is correct and there is no need to change anything. This is the only gripe I have about the control. Do you have any idea where this parameter is located in the PLC?
Thanks

Sorry - I do not.

Tell Fagor you don't give a flying *&^ if it is right, tell them you want to make it wrong and you want to know how.

Besides, HOW do they know if it is right unless they send a technician out?

Anyway, I am out of great suggestions for you now (nuts)

BTW - I currently have Fagor DROs on all my manuals and a Fagor CNC lathe. I have been very happy with Fagor and am budgeting for an 8055 controlled kneemill for the very near future (should be a lot more user friendly for 1-offs compared to the Fadal).

I appreciate the feedback. I think the knee-mill retrofit is excellant for one-offs. This, however, is my first experiance with Fagor. The other knee-mill retrofits I have used is the Proto-trak and the Mill Power by Accu-Rite. Both were pretty slick.
Good luck and thanks for the help.

5th-axis
I have a 3axis VMC with a Fagor 8055M controller.
Attached are the details of the movement parameters that I could find for the 3axis of my machine.
I'm not conversant with this area and are offering this info for you to compare which may help you to solve your problem.

Thanks Kiwi,
I will check these and see if they match.
Your help is appreciated.

The parameters that KIWI sent me did not match what was in our control. We changed the parameters to match and that did not help the issue. Has anyone had any similar issues with this control? The machinist who runs this machine is having to cheat up programs to work and I am afraid that this is going to cause some problems with scrap rate,etc. Not to mention the machinist has no faith in this control and is getting very frustrated.
Any help is most certainly appreciated.

Is the table moving in the correct direction for standard cartesian coordinates?
IOW if you have a spindle/quill that is fixed in the XY then the table should move towards you in the y+, away in the y-, move right for X- and left for X+.
Al.

Thanks for the reply.
The y axis movement is correct. When the table moves toward me, it is +. When it moves away, that is -. The only problem is in X axis.
For example, lets say I have a 2 inch by 2 inch piece of stock. My datum is in the center of my stock. I want to drill a hole in the first quadrant at X.5 and Y.5 . When it actually drills the hole, the hole will be located in the second quadrant at X-.5 ,Y.5 .
Thanks for your time,

You are commanding it to go in the + and the display confirms this, but phyisically you are moving in the opposite direction, right?
This is usually a parameter bit set to a 1 or -1.
I would have to look up the parameters for the 8055, is the 8055i a PC based control, by any chance?
Al.

It looks like P13 & P26 want reversing for the X axis.
Al.

5th-axis
This maybe the parameter in your file MX1 that needs changing? (This is for a 8055M)

AXISCHG (P13) (AXIS CHanGe)
Indicates the counting direction of the feedback signals. If correct, leave it as is. If not,
change it from NO to YES or vice versa.
If this parameter is modified, parameter “LOOPCHG” (P26) must also be
modified so the axis does not run away.
Possible values: YES and NO.
By default, the CNC assumes NO for this parameter.

Al the Man
Sorry to repeat, time delay.
Great minds think alike.

I show the P13 & P26 in the 8055i manual.
Loopchg reverses the analogue signal, so now the motor will now run in the opposite direction for the + command. So the feedback must be reversed by the Axischg to again count in the right direction.
That is the way I interpret it.
Al.

My post is a direct quote from the Fagor Manual

Ok gentleman, we are making some progress. Par. P13 and P26 were both NO. We changed them to YES and axis movement and the readout were correct in X. However, it would overtravel when trying to home the X axis.
Where is the home switch location on your mills? The physical location of our switch is on the left side as you are standing in front of the mill. I am thinking that if I move my switch to the right, all will be well. Or could I do that with a simple parameter switch?
Thanks.

By the way I read it you should change P26 back to NO to have it home in the correct direction.

We put P26 back to NO and it did not change. We are going to lie to it and change the home position and see if that works.

Suggest you also check P5 and P6
These set the software travel limits.
P5 = Maximum, P6 = Minimum.

Where is the home switch location on your mills? The physical location of our switch is on the left side as you are standing in front of the mill. I am thinking that if I move my switch to the right, all will be well. Or could I do that with a simple parameter switch?
Thanks.

I don't think it matters where the switch is mounted as long as it gets triggered and the parameters are set to suit.

For the Limit settings my Fagor controlled machine with a 'X' travel of 800mm has P5 Limit+ as 777.5 and P6 Limit- as -23.5

Just a thought.
If your P5 Limit+ = 500 and P6 Limit- = -300 I'm thinking these may need reversing?
eg. P5 = 300 and P6 = -500.
Could be totally wrong, just offering a suggestion.

Gentlemen,
We can put the Fagor problems to rest. After changing the P13 and P26 parms. the issue is resolved. We did end up moving the home position switch to the right side of the table. We could not change this in the parms. no matter what we tried. But the control is functioning as it should thanks to you fine gentlemen. Your help is greatly appreciated. Maybe one day I can return the favor.
Good Luck

i have a challenger microcut machining centre and im trying to rigid tap, the machine has an 8055i controller on it and i think the problem is synchronisation between spindle rpm and feed.

at higher Rpms 1000 and above there is no problem i think the speed fudges the encoder resolution.

at lower speeds below 1000 rpm i think the encoder which is capable of 8000 rpm is "in the weeds" so to speak and tends to multiply the following error.

anyone have any solutions to this problem? i dont want to tap 1/2-13 at 1000 rpm.......

ChrisCharby
Looks like you may need to contact ToddSR. I haven't seen him post here on CNCzone for awhile. He's the Fagor guru.

You can manually check the following error with the hand wheel. Maybe your problem is in the drive tuning?

Hi:
When you home the machine where does it go? Most machines go to the positive extreme of each axis to find home. I thinks it's going to boil down to a machine parameter/x axis parameter. I'd make sure that I have a backup of all parameters (can be done by USB or RS 232), and then go into the X axis machine parameters.
Most of the parameters are named, and are intuative. I think the solution will be a count direction issue(+/-), or the value which defines the axis limits.
Only change 1 parameter at a time, and then reboot control(must be done). Keep a pad handy to track all changes.Changes that have no effect on the solution get changed back to the original value before proceeding.

To get you up and running, there is a mirror axis feature on the control, the zero key button (exteme LH below screen), if pressed 3 times (the first is to home, the second is to set work offsets, the third allows you to mirror axis.....I'm not standing in front of the machine, so please pardon me if I'm not 100% correct about the mirror axis procedure. I'm ussing a 2007 8055 iA 3X milling control.

regards