Fadal Specification

[11toma]

I recently purchased a 1996 Fadal 3016 HT. I have a few questions about some of the specs on the machine. First what does the HT stand for? What is the advantage of high speed CPU? How do you know if the ball screw is also cooled be the chiller? I own a couple of Haas machines. This is the first Fadal, got it in with a haas I was purchasing, now I am trying to get up to speed on this machine. Thanks for any responses. Tom

[FastFieros]

HT is High Torque - as in the spindle.

I have seen pictures of the cooler lines going into the ball screw area, so, if you had this type of assembly on the table, I would think you will see additional lines in around the table area.

I dont have a need for what is considered HS CPU as in the 1400-5 and -6 , but , it is my understanding that the better the processor and memory, the less jerking you have while the tool is cutting around a part. I have the 1400-4 and only 184k of memory, so I get a little jerking going around corners and long runs in a straight line at higher speeds.

[denmar]

fastfieros: the jerking could come from the axis controller cards,clock card, loose head,
losse ball screws/ trust bearings,,not from the memory or cpu!

[FastFieros]

Machine is still tight. Backlash is great on this machine.

I had search the forum for past postings and someone mentioned that the look ahead buffers will fill and on long runs, or really tight corners, you will see it stop, go , stop, go again. I get that on exactly long runs, and tight corners. The 1400-4 is a 286 microprocessor, and the 1400-5 is a 386SX, so the -5 stuff will surely process and have better look ahead buffers.

EDIT :
Avoid another post....

I was just running a chamfer bit around an edge and the buffers were running about 15 and the jerking was pretty bad. However running a .625 around a block of alum the buffers were running about 52 and there was no jerking at all. both code came from MasterCam. What sets up the buffer look ahead? Why 15 on one of the paths, and 52 on the other?

[11toma]

FastFieros,
Were on the control does it list the buffer? This is interesting, I was running some G-10 on my CNC this weekend and the feeds I needed to run would give me the jerking you spoke about. This happened when in tight corners or arc movements. I was not cutting this on my Fadal, but I believe it has something to do with look ahead, or buffer. Would be nice to see what the buffer was. Another question there is no way to make offset adjustments on the Fadal 88 while in auto mode is there? Tom

[Neal]

If you are in Format 1 then make sure that you have a G8 at the beginning of the program to turn off the feed rate ramping at each block.

Neal

[FastFieros]

FastFieros,
Were on the control does it list the buffer? This is interesting, I was running some G-10 on my CNC this weekend and the feeds I needed to run would give me the jerking you spoke about. This happened when in tight corners or arc movements. I was not cutting this on my Fadal, but I believe it has something to do with look ahead, or buffer. Would be nice to see what the buffer was. Another question there is no way to make offset adjustments on the Fadal 88 while in auto mode is there? Tom

On the Fadal screen version SYS97.3 and above, it shows the BUFFER information on the screen while cutting. Pic attached

Oh my gosh, you cannot imagine how I wish there was a way to just tweak the offset X Y Z while in auto running mode. If it would only adjust .005 plus and minus I would be a happy camper. Bad thing is that if you generate your code with like MasterCam and dont use the G49's, then you dont even get to comp offset with D= either. I have had problems with my post processor using the comp wear feature in MC, so I dont use it.

[Neal]

The fixture and tool length offsets can be adjusted while in AUTO mode through the back ground edit method. The only restriction is that IF the data is already placed in the buffer it will not be applied to the current part but will be effective for the next cycle.

Neal

[FastFieros]

Well, I did not know about the space bar menu's while in Auto mode, but I just read about what is available in that background edit and it does not do what was on my wish list.

A simple potentiometer just like you can adjust feedrate override would be nice to adjust Z a few thousands so you dont have to stop and adjust on the program itself. I engrave alot of my parts and some do great at .015, and others look better at .025. Just being able to adjust with a pot would be my choice. I know what it would cause however. Production line errors with operators that accidently turned the knob during setup or even running and causing close tolerances to be out the door with a bad part. Feedrate adjustments can be just as bad however. Too fast and you destroy the bit or part, too slow and you can create ugly finish lines on the part.

[donnelson]

while cutting push cycle stop hit jog adjust your z up or down hit auto it asks what do you want to do retrurn axes or shift and run choose shift and run you are now at your new depth is that what you are asking about

[11toma]

I tried using the space bar to make offsets in Auto. That is what I was looking for, Thanks. I am running in Format 2, I don't know if that makes a difference on the feed rate ramping that Neal referenced too. Thanks

Tom.

[Neal]

Tom--
Format 2 defaults to G8 so the ramping is automatically turned off unless you code a G9 to turn it back on.

Neal