A little more info on why I bought another... I am a one man shop and pretty much self taught when it comes to Mastercam and operating a CNC machine (with much help from this board). My initial plan was to buy this machine to replace my VF2. If I bought a machine with a Fanuc control the cost would be +30%, my trunnion would not be compatible, and I would have a lot of extra work ahead in learning the new control and sorting a new post. My goal now is to keep both machines and if I do need additional capacity in the future I will most likely be buying a higher end Japanese machine. My business is just not at a place where I can justify it right now. I was REALLY hoping that my experience with the VF2 was an anomoly.

I can hear the noise slightly at 50% and not at all at 25%. There is no noise whatsoever when I rapid to the right either. This is also isolated to the X-axis. I did buy the machine from Selway and the service has been very good over the years. No complaints there.

Another concern is that this problem will manifest itself in 2-3 years and the cost will be new linear ways, servo, and ball screws totalling $10,000 and a week of down time.

I am completely open to fixing the problem and if it can be fixed I am all for it. Fixing this would be my overwhelming preference but their response is "it should be fine, we will extend the warranty for a year just in case it isn't". I should not have to settle for that with a brand new machine. If I bought a new car for $100,000 and the engine made some groaning noises that didn't sound right, no, I would not settle for an extended warranty. I would want it fixed or replaced. I am a little gunshy because I DID settle for that with my VF2 and it has been 3 years of problems and crappy parts. I bought another Haas because I have a Haas trunnion and I wanted them both to be compatible. I was very close to going with a Toyoda.

I recently took delivery of a new Haas VM3 and it makes a funny noise (vibration, like a low groan) as it rapids to the home position. It is very noticeable and I can feel it through the floor when it happens. I have not yet paid for this machine nor do I plan to until this issue is resolved. Haas says they will extend the X-axis ball screw warranty for one year and I am not comfortable with that. I have a VF2 that has been nothing but problems over the last three years and I am not prepared to live with more of the same with the new machine. What are my options? Can I send it back? I took delivery on 10/20/08. Thanks, Bob

I called Haas and it can be done via variables 3401 to 3600 (tools 1 to 200). I added a quick line in the macro (#3402=6) and it did modify the coolant position of tool #2. I also inserted some lines to turn on the stagetool routine for sequencial tool setting. With 40 tools the carousel is a little slow.

I have a Haas VM3 with probing and I would like to add offsets for my coolant nozzle to the tool setting routines. Does anyone know what variables these would be on the machine? Basically it would set the tool length AND the coolant offset for the tool at the sane time.

Also, I would like to add a misc integer option to add a tool breakage probing to my posted programs. Is this fairly common and are the post tweeks extensive or fairly straight forward?

I recently took delivery of a Haas VMC equipped with a Renishaw probe and I would like to create some custom routines using macros. With the software included by Haas the machine will ask for inputs (part width, length, etc...) before proceeding with the program and probing routine. Is this something that is typically done with macros or does the operator usually need an instruction sheet identifying the variables that need to be input and what they represent? I am new to Macro programming and I have Peter Smid's book on the subject. I'm sure I will be asking several questions on this forum over the next several weeks as I try to actually create some of these programs. Thanks, Bob

The machines are basically identical. I'll give it a try with what I have and see how it works.

I just took delivery of a Haas VF3 and my post and machine definition are set up for a VF2. What changes do I need to make to my post and machine definition for the new machine? The travels are 40 x 26 x 25 for the VF3 versus 30 x 16 x 20 for the VF2. Thanks, Bob

The part is 15" x 10" x .225" and I am milling it. I would like to hit a flatness value of <.01" if possible.

I am doing a project with Delrin and the part is flat and thin. The first piece warped like a potato chip. Is there a way to stress relieve Delrin so warpage is not as much of an issue? Thanks, Bob

How fast should I be pushing my tools with HST versus standard milling? For example, I usually run my 3/16" MA Ford end mill at 60IPM (12K rpm) with a depth cut of .1" in aluminum. If I am roughing using HST and running depth cuts of .019" how fast should I be going? I am still getting used to the HST and I want to take full advantage. Thanks, Bob

This is never a problem on short jobs (<30 minutes) but on the longer ones is when it is an issue.

Was the coolant on? If so, could you see any being drawn in by to the suction hole? I buy my gasket material from Mitee-Bite and I wonder if my gasket grooves are a little too deep.

The Mitee-Bite unit does have a pump and it is a venturi style unit housed in the plate itself. I don't know how they get around the coolant getting sucked into the pump though. I use the same style venturi pump and it runs off shop air at a rate of ~2CFM or so. I just mounted mine remotely. Mine draws 27" of mercury so the seal is pretty good but somehow coolant manages to get by. The reservoir is between the plate and the pump so it is under vacuum. Opening a solenoid valve would only let air in, instead of blowing out the water as in a compressed air system. I could just make the reservoir bigger and it would buy me more time but an automatic system would be maintenance free.

I have a vacuum chuck that I made that consists of the vacuum plate, a venturi vacuum pump, and a coolant reservoir between the two for catching coolant that gets sucked into the line. My coolant reservoir is on the small side and it gets filled on longer jobs. Is there a product available that will purge the reservoir as it fills up? The problem is that once the reservoir fills up the coolant gets sucked into the pump and the vacuum level drops off, and then bad things happen... Thanks, Bob

I remember the process taking a few days to completely iron out. One thing I had to do is assembly the tool to the Z axis when constructing the simulation model of the machine. I am not in front of Mastercam now so I can't tell you exactly what to do. I opened up some of the reference files so see how they were done and I had to do it for both the tool and the raw stock I believe.

Is this for 4 or 5 axis simulation? I set mine up with the trunnion etc... and it worked well but it didn't match what my machine was doing. In my opinion too much goes on in the NC post processor to do meaningful simulation with the moduleworks simulator (for 5 axis anyway).

I need to machine some silicon pieces and I am told that diamond bits are the way to go. Anyone have recomendations on where to find these and what to look for? The units I know to work well do not have any flutes. It is a straight cylinder (3/16" dia) with a diamond coating but I didn't get who made it. The operation consists of pocket facing a small rectangular piece of silicon. Thanks, Bob

So these surfaces are ignored when their level is turned off?

So how exactly does this work?

If a person had a given amount of money to spend on machinery for production work, say $250k. Would they push more volume spending that money on 4 Haas machines or 1 Japanese machine? Also, for the anti-Haas folks... What other brand would you recommend for a person on a Haas budget? I always hear a lot of Haas bashing on this board and the solution always seems to be to buy a machine that is 3-4X the price. Is there anything better in the Haas price range? I am aware that my Haas is not a Matsura quality machine but it is a pretty good value and it has worked well for me.

Okay. I misunderstood your response and thought you meant machining at 100-300 ipm, which sounds great :-) If plunging and not cutting material the rate is trivial. I am starting to like these toolpaths and I see the potential. To really take advantage I need to get a handle on how fast I can push the cutters with such small depth cuts.