Siemens 840D control for HSM toolpaths

Pattnmaker · Nov 25, 2019

Looking at a used machine with a early 2000s Siemens 840D. How is that control going to be for 3d HSM toolpaths? I would be cutting all 3D work in mostly aluminum so fairly fast feeds. Anything else I should know about this control?

boosted · Nov 25, 2019

The controller can handle HSM no problem. However, the type of shape comp that can be used (and how effective it will be) depends on the manufacturer.

The 840D is a fairly significant departure from a FANUC, but I find them to be superior in almost every way. Because they aren't quite as "simple" as most Japanese controllers, a lot of of your user experience will depend on the quality of integration at the MTB.

Pattnmaker · Nov 27, 2019

The machine is a Fadal 4525. Good to hear the control is up to the task. All our programming will be done with HSMWorks. We have not used a Fanuc control so the difference from Fanuc will not be an issue. We currently have a machine with a Fagor and another with a windows based control. Anything will be a learning experience as I won't buy another Fagor after the experience we have had with this one.

D Nelson · Nov 27, 2019

You won’t buy a Siemens after this either.
Don

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pcasanova · Nov 27, 2019

The 840d is a great control, I've never really had major issues just replaced a few drives here and there.
But, and a big but now the machine builder is known. I had my 3016 rebuilt by ex fadal guys, one was an
there from 1985 til the end and we were talking about controls on the machines and I was asking about
the siemens (since what I have) and he said there were issues all the time and the 2 full time Siemes guys
they had just could never work the bug out of them. If you have issues don't let the Fadal/Siemenes combo
jade your view on the siemens,

Pattnmaker · Nov 27, 2019

That's concerning. I need a machine with at least 24"y travel but a 30x60 takes up more floor space than I want to use. This machine is a 4525 which would be a perfect size for me and the price was pretty good. Maybe I should keep looking.

Our tolerance requirements are not super tight and almost everything is one off so speed is not that important. Budget is tight because the machine will probably have a lot of idle time. But I need a machine that has a decent controller for the work type we do, I don't want to have to mess with drip feeding.

boosted · Nov 30, 2019

This is exactly why Siemens controllers get a bad rep. Poor integration.

They are awesome controllers when implemented by builders who know them intimately.

Vancbiker · Nov 30, 2019

boosted said:
This is exactly why Siemens controllers get a bad rep. Poor integration.

They are awesome controllers when implemented by builders who know them intimately.

Not just Siemens. Pretty much every controller has gotten some bad rep due to poor integration by a builder. As would be expected, most cases where the machine builder is also the control builder have the best integration. Think Okuma or Haas.

Bigger builders usually have greater engineering resources and often do nice integration of common controls. Think Amada or Makino.

Testing and debugging is a crazy time consuming process. Writing good PLC logic is a crazy time consuming task. When pressure is on to ship machines, guess what often gets shortchanged.

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Siemens 840D control for HSM toolpaths

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