TB-324: Hickory and Leadshine EL8-EC Setup & Tuning

TB-324 2026-01-29
Hickory and Leadshine EL8-EC Setup & Tuning

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TBID: 324
Date: 2026-01-29
Author: Lucas Kottwitz
UID: 495
File: 324.pdf
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Overview
Setup guide for Leadshine EL8 EC EtherCAT drives with the Hickory CNC Controller 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Hickory CNC Controller
The HICKORY is an integrated PLC and motion control processor  HICKORY uses an Ethernet based fieldbus to 
communicate with all accessories over RJ45 shielded twisted pair  Ethernet  cables  The new protocol and connection 
scheme are the defining features of HICKORY versus previous products such as OAK 
HICKORY communicates with a host PC over Ethernet connection  Drives and peripherals  PLC expansion boards  
Operator’s Control Panel  etc  are connect in a daisy chain format  with the first Drive connected to the HICKORY’s fieldbus 
output and subsequent drives and peripherals chained down from the first Drive  
A typical configuration would be connected as   HICKORY → Axis 1 → Axis 2 → Axis 3 → Axis 4 →  Axis 5 → Axis 6 → Axis 7 
→ Axis 8 → Operator’s Control Panel 
Typical Mill/Router  Axis 1 = X  →   Axis 2 = Y  →  Axis 3 = Z  →  Axis 4 = Y2  paired motor to Y1   →   Axis 5 A  rotary axis   → 
Operator’s Control Panel
Typical Lathe  Axis 1 = Z →  Axis 2 = X →Axis 3 = Y → Axis 5 C  rotary axis  → Operator’s Control Panel
HICKORY supports up to 8 drives and 8 peripherals for a total of 16 devices chained together  
When Using any Hickory Expansion boards place them at the beginning of the chain 
Example  HICKORY → Ecat1616  i/o expansion  → ENCEXP13  encoder port expansion  → Axis 1 → Axis 2 → Axis 3 → 
Axis 4 →  Axis 5 → Axis 6 → Axis 7 → Axis 8 → Operator’s Control Panel 
Supported Drives
Yaskawa   TB322   Estun Summa   TB317  
Teknic ClearPath EC   TB332   Inovance SV660N   TB329  
Delta ASD B3A E   TB330  
Delta ASD B3 E   TB330    LS Electric iX7NH   TB335   
LeadShine EL8 EC   TB324    This document 
Leadshine EL7 EC   TB323  
Required software
• CNC12   Centroid CNC control software
• https //www centroidcnc com/centroid_diy/centroid_cnc_software_downloads html   
• Leadshine MotionStudio V2 2 6+   Leadshine drive setup and tuning software
• https //centroidcnc com/centroid_diy/downloads/hickory/LeadShine_MotionStudio2_installer zip   
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Supporting documents
• HICKORY DIY Installation Manual 
• https //www centroidcnc com/centroid_diy/downloads/hickory/centroid_hickory_cnc_install_manual pdf   
• Centroid Schematic S15209   Mill  220VAC  HICKORY  Leadshine EL8  Generic Inverter  VFD  schematic 
• https //www centroidcnc com/centroid_diy/schematics/pbrowse php?term=S15209   
• TB301 –  Using Absolute Encoders   Absolute encoder configuration 
• https //www centroidcnc com/dealersupport/tech_bulletins/uploads/301 pdf   
• Working with Motion Studio 2 manual 
• https //www leadshine com/upfiles/downloads/da1d94cdaf901aaf922a2194fa2ed8fc_1676431463347 pdf   
• EL8 EC Series AC Servo Drive User Manual 
• https //www leadshine com/upfiles/downloads/80d235a044e2847bafb5c58fa24ed2d8_1687682456724 pdf   
Setup and Configuration Procedure outline for Leadshine EL8 EC EtherCAT drives for use with 
the Hickory CNC Controller
1  Follow the Hickory Installation Manual up until you finish Section 5 7 
2  Using the Leadshine MotionStudio software  program the Leadshine drive parameters for use with Hickory 
3  Bench Test Motor Movement with the MotionStudio software 
4  Follow the Hickory Installation Manual starting with section 5 8 and until you finish section 7 1 
5  Use the MotionStudio software to tune the Leadshine drives to the machine axes 
6  Use CNC12 Drive delay Auto Tuning to Auto configure the Drive delay 
7  Perform Drive tuning by hand for paired axes or to more finely tune the drives 
8  Continue with the Hickory Installation manual from Section 7 3 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Program Leadshine drives for use with Hickory
The Leadshine drives can be programmed at just about any step in the Hickory setup process but generally you’ll want to 
have completed up through  Section 5 7 of the Hickory install manual  before following this section  Or at the very least have 
gotten to the point where the drives should be bench tested with the CNC12 software 
Prerequisites
The following items are needed 
• Computer with LeadShine MotionStudio installed   Version 2 2 6 720 was used for this document 
➔ Download at    https //www leadshine com/download/Software html
• USB to USB Type C cable – connected between the PC and the Leadshine drive you wish to setup 
➔ Use this link   https //amzn to/41imr7Y
Drive Configuration Process
• Launch the MotionStudio software 
• You will see the following screen 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
• Confirm correct serial port is selected 
• Press “Connect” 
• You will see this window after successful connection 
• Close the connection window to complete connection setup 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
• You will now see the following screen 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
• Open the Parameters List from the toolbar or function navigation pane 
• Press "Factory Reset" then press "OK" 
• Power cycle the drive 
• Reconnect the software to the drive 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Bench Test Motor Jogging with Leadshine Software
For testing on the bench wire up the Leadshine drives according to schematic  #15208  
Force outputs on
a  With the Hickory powered ON  open CNC12 and press  ALT+i  to open the PLC Diagnostic Screen 
b   For motors with a holding brake which is controlled by Hickory via an output relay we’ll need to temporarily manually 
release the motor brake  Navigate to the correct output using the arrow keys  which in our example is  OUT9     and force it on 
by pressing  CTRL+ALT+F   When forced the output will now be permanently green and have a white underline  Be aware of 
the Z axis dropping due to gravity if E Stop is toggled with the brake off 
c   Note that if no physical E stop has been wired you can force the Emergency Stop circuit to apply motor power to the drives   
Using the arrow keys on the keyboard g o to the output assigned to NoFaultOut  which by default is   OUT1   and     press 
CTRL+ALT+F   once  Notice  OUT1  is now green and has an underline which means its current state is being forced  This will 
close the E Stop contactor and provide motor power to the drive for further setup 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Bench testing motors with Leadshine software
With CNC12 running and  OUT1  forced on  go back into MotionStudio  software and click on "Trial Run" then "Position Trial 
Run" 
* Press "Servo Enable"  then jog each direction a few times to verify operation 
• If everything is working correctly you should have smooth motion of the servo   Press "Servo Disable"  and close the 
Position Trial Run tab when complete  
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Return outputs to an unforced state
a   Turn servo power off and press E stop  Then go back into the CNC12 PLC Diagnostic Screen by pressing  ALT+i  to return 
the outputs we forced on earlier to their unforced state 
b   Using the arrow keys move the selector to any of the outputs that were forced on earlier  Now press  CTRL+ALT+F  to force  
the output permanently off  and  CTRL+ALT+F  once again to return the output to it’s default state so it can be controlled by the  
PLC once again  You should now see no white underlines underneath the outputs 
Once finished bench testing the motors with the Leadshine software power cycle the drive  Continue where you left off with 
the Hickory install manual until you’ve completed section 7 1 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Tuning Leadshine drives to the axis motors of the machine
Once you’ve reached  Section 7 2 of the Hickory install manual  you’re ready for tuning of the Leadshine drive s   At this point 
the drives and motors have been bench tested with the MotionStudio software and CNC12  The motors have also been 
installed on the machine and are ready to be tuned to the axes 
*** Skip this drive tuning step on paired axes  Do not command motion on paired axes from software other than CNC12 
when the motors are coupled to the axis motion 
Force outputs on
a  With the Hickory powered ON  open CNC12 and press  ALT+i  to open the PLC Diagnostic Screen 
b   For motors with a holding brake which is controlled by Hickory via an output relay we’ll need to temporarily manually 
release the motor brake  Navigate to the correct output using the arrow keys  which in our example is  OUT9     and force it on 
by pressing  CTRL+ALT+F   When forced the output will now be permanently green and have a white underline  Be aware of 
the Z axis dropping due to gravity if E Stop is toggled with the brake off 
c   Note that if no physical E stop has been wired you can force the Emergency Stop circuit to apply motor power to the drives   
Using the arrow keys on the keyboard g o to the output assigned to NoFaultOut  which by default is   OUT1   and   press 
CTRL+ALT+F   once  Notice  OUT1  is now green and has an underline which means its current state is being forced  This will 
close the E Stop contactor and provide motor power to the drive for further setup 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Leadshine Drive Software Tuning with stimulus from the drive
• Press "Easy Tuning" then "One Click Tuning" at the top of the screen or in the Function Navigation pane 
• Press "Next" 
• Press "Servo Enable" 
• Press "Forward" and "Reverse" to jog to safe positions then press "Position 1" and "Position 2" to set a safe range of 
motion for the tuning procedure 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
• Press "Next" then click "Yes" to start tuning 
• You will see this screen during the tuning process 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
• Click "Done" after tuning is completed 
• Click "Yes" to save the tuning results to parameter list 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
• Return to parameter list and click "Save" to write parameters to the drive 
• Set other parameters accordingly 
 Set PA0 00  Model following bandwidth  to 0  Disable MFC  
 Set PA0 02  Real time Auto Gain Adjusting  to 0  Manual  
 Set PA0 15  Absolute Encoder settings  to 1 for multiturn linear mode  i e  X  Y  Z axes   Incremental encoders 
are not supported 
 Adjust any other parameters required by your installation 
• Click "Save" to write modified parameters to drive 
• Power cycle the drive 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Return outputs to an unforced state
a   Turn servo power off and press E stop  Then go back into the CNC12 PLC Diagnostic Screen by pressing  ALT+i  to return 
the outputs we forced on earlier to their unforced state 
b   Using the arrow keys move the selector to any of the outputs that were forced on earlier  Now press  CTRL+ALT+F  to force  
the output permanently off  and  CTRL+ALT+F  once again to return the output to it’s default state so it can be controlled by the  
PLC once again  You should now see no white underlines underneath the outputs 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Run CNC12 drive delay timing Autotune
Centroid drive delay AutoTune is required for proper servo motor operation   The drive delay tune will verify a commanded 
move with the actual move data provided by the encoder and calculate a ‘drive delay’ in milliseconds 
Requirements 
  The Servo motor to machine mechanical ‘gear’ ratio  Centroid calls it “overall turns ratio ” “revs/inch ” or “mm/rev” when in 
metric  is required to be set properly before continuing with this procedure!  
  Currently software paired axes will not be run by the Centroid drive delay Autotune feature  If you run it with an active paired 
axis it will just skip it and give you a warning  However we recommend changing the axis labels for the paired axis to “N” 
  The machine home position must b e  set 
  After any drives have been configured and tuned with the Leadshine software or any time you have changed any Leadshine 
parameter settings on the drives s   the Centroid drive delay  timing Autotune in t he CNC12 PID menu must be performed  
again! 
Notes  
  If you would like to perform the drive delay AutoTune on one axis at a time  simply change the axis labels of the axes you're 
not tuning to “N” to turn them off 
  Drive delay tuning on paired axes must be done by hand  More information on this can be found after this section 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Start the drive delay AutoTune by pressing 
F1 – Setup  →   F3 – Config  default password is 137   →   F4 – PID  →   F5 – Tune  
Make sure that all axes can move the specified amount as seen on the screen without running into any obstacles or a limit 
switch and press  Cycle Start   
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
After successful autotune  press  F1 – Save  to save the results 
For software paired axes  it is required to hand enter a drive delay number in CNC12 using parameters 340 347  
A good starting place is to hand enter the same drive delay time that auto tune found for a similar axis motor/drive/machine 
axis mechanicals 
In the example below   Axis 2  Y  is paired to Axis 4  W  
So we set Parameters 341  Axis 2 drive delay  and 343  Axis 4 drive delay   to 5  ms   
Which is the X value found by Centroid drive delay AutoTune seen in Parameter 340 
Pitfall Warning   if you run Centroid Drive Delay AutoTune with the paired axis Active  drive letter NOT set to “N”  the drive 
delay value for the paired axis will be set to zero and overwrite any hand entered values! 
Further Hand Tuning of the Drive Delay amount and velocity feed forward gain in the Leadshine software is described below 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Drive delay tuning by hand
For some machines  such as those with paired axes  it is desirable to enter and tune by hand the drive delay  Centroid’s 
CNC12 software has a built in scope which allows you to collect positional data while running a simple test g code program in 
a repeat loop and observe the real time Absolute position Error of an axis  
In the example below we are running the Scope on the Z axis which is moving up and down over and over  The “ErrAbs” is 
observed at 0 00008 ”  In this case there in NO NEED to proceed with the instructions below   
In general  If “ErrAbs” is below the fourth decimal place  0 0000x  inches then there is no need to do any further tuning 
The image above is of running a live Scope shot of the Z axis  After automatic delay tuning was completed  with very little 
position error  orange line  from commanded position   The green line is motor velocity 
The orange trace  ErrAbs  is the position error  The readout on the top left tracks the marker in the plot  This marker can be 
placed by left clicking anywhere within the plot window  To the left of the slash is the error in terms of command pulse counts 
while the right side of the slash shows the displacement 
Assuming the overall turns ratio is set correctly  see  Tech bulletin 37  for more info  the position error on constant velocity 
moves should be very small  You can mostly ignore the orange spike seen on the direction changes 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Paired axis drive delay tuning by hand
The Centroid drive delay AutoTune function cannot be run on software paired axes however good performance can be 
achieved by fine tuning the delay and drive parameters by hand 
  Be sure to complete the paired axes setup as described in the Hickory installation manual 
  Keep the axes paired in CNC12 and only command the master axis label  Y in our example  in the drive delay tune g code 
program  
   DO NOT  run the  PID_collection_moves txt  program on the Slaved Axis Label!  W in our example  
For example  we have a Router with a Y axis moving Gantry  Y is axis 2  master  and is paired to axis 4  W  slaved  
Run the Data collection Scope on the Y axis and observe the ErrAbs just like any other axis described below 
When performing the trial and error process of adjusting the drive delay value covered in the following section make 
adjustments to the drive delay parameters for BOTH of the paired axes at the same time   In our example we would make 
0 25 ms changes to both CNC12 parameters 341  axis 2  master  Y  and 343  axis 4  slaved  W  
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Hand drive delay tuning procedure
1  From CNC12’s main screen  press  F1 – Setup  →  F3 – Config  default password is 137   →  F3 – Parms  and 
navigate to parameter #340 
2  Set the delays for any axes that will be hand tuned to a starter value such as 5 ms 
3  Press  F10 – Save  and then press  F4 – PID  →  F1 – PID Config  to enter the PID Configuration menu 
4  Press  F1 – Edit Program  to bring up the PID data gathering program in a text editor  
PID_collection_moves txt   Modify the program to provide a safe range of motion that is large enough for the 
axis to accelerate to the commanded rate  The feedrate should be the fastest positioning speed i e  the fast jog rate  
The delay is not critical but it is a good idea to have some 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Here are a couple examples   Edit these files to meet your requirement for start/stop position  feedrate etc   refer to 
the  CNC12 Operators manuals  for further explanation on all G and M codes 
5  Save the file and return to CNC12  Press  F8 – Change Axis  to select the axis you wish to run the data collection on  
which is displayed in the upper left corner of the screen 
Run the Scope by pressing  F2 – Run Program  and then  Cycle Start  which will start the 
PID_collection_moves txt  program that we just edited  
The axis will start moving and you will likely see a display similar to the following image  If not  press  F7 Zoom All  to 
automatically zoom to the full extents of the signals 
The orange trace  ErrAbs  is the position error in terms of encoder counts  There will most likely be a large observable  
error seen since the drive delay timing value that we entered does not match the Software tuning of the drive  The 
above figure shows roughly 0 0045 inches of error  This might be good for a router but for a Lathe or Milling machine 
we would want to do better   
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
6  Now start the trial and error process of hand tuning the drive delay value 
ESC  out of the Scope Run and adjust the drive delay parameter  340 347  by 0 25  250 milliseconds  one way or the 
other and start the Scope Run again  Be sure to always run the same program in the same place on the machine tool 
when comparing and observing the ErrAbs amount  don’t change more than one thing at a time   
In general  the drive delay is too high if the orange ErrAbs trace is on the opposite side from the green Velocity trace  
Correspondingly  it is too low if it is on the same side as the green Velocity trace  The goal is to bring the orange 
ErrAbs trace as close to zero as possible 
7  After a little tweaking  below is the same scope shot showing good results of 0 00002” Position error  We are done! 
Ignore the orange spikes on the direction change and stops – they will not influence anything 
8  Press  Cycle Cancel  or  ESC  to stop the program when finished 
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TB324  Rev5  – CNC12  Hickory  Leadshine EL8 EC Setup & Tuning
Optional drive delay fine tuning
As the CNC12 AutoTune will set the drive delay to the best possible number within 0 25 ms this procedure is only necessary if  
you wish to even further fine tune the drive delay 
1  Navigate to the PID Config screen as we did in the previous section by going to  F1 – Setup  →  F3 – Config  default 
password is 137   →   F4 – PID  →  F1 – PID Config  
2  If needed edit the  PID_collection_moves txt  program for the axis you want to tune by pressing  F1 – Edit 
Program  and don’t forget to save the changes 
3  Press  F8 – Change Axis  to select the axis you wish to run the data collection on and then press  F2 – Run Program  
and then  Cycle Start  to start the  PID_collection_moves txt  program 
4  Open MotionStudio  connect to the drive that needs tuning  and open the Parameters list 
5  While the live tuning program is running in CNC12  adjust  PA1 10  "Velocity feed forward gain" in the MotionStudio 
Parameters List  Upload adjusted values to the drive by clicking "Save" 
Relatively fine changes will be needed here that will not undo previous tuning efforts  The error trace on Centroid's 
live tuning should get closer to 0  If not  adjust " Velocity feed forward gain " the other way  The error trace will be 
centered around 0 when the adjustment is correct 
6  Press  Cycle Cancel  or  ESC  to stop the program when finished 
Once you’ve finished tuning the drives continue with the Hickory install manual where you left off 
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