Hi Have a part that runs perfectly on 1 Vise, now need to set up 2 vises in the machine. First vise is G54, how do i set the program to duplicate the part at G55? Or how can I make it cut with each operation on both parts? Can I duplicate the part in MC8, and give the 2 parts seperate offsets? I'm trying to do this without having to actually measure the distance between the two vises and make a new drawing. Thanks John

Hi Thanks for the info on the fadals, I guess that was a fair price then. As for HAAS bashing, sorry this has turned into a flame fest, that's not what it was meant to be. I wanted to get the opinions of people with more experience on these machines than myself, and what better place to go than here. As for the Haas we have, it IS a great machine, but the situation I'm in with this warranty repair is definitely not where I want to be. I am on the hook for 4 more years of payments for this thing, and now who do I call if there's a problem? definitley not the factory outlet where I bought it from, which sucks because that, again, is why I paid the extra $$$ for a new machine. Well, enough of this for now. Thanks for listening.

Hi How are Fadals?? There was a 92 model, with coolant recirculator and automatic pallet changer, with something like 40 x 20 table travel, which is bigger than my haas BTW, at a local tool shop here for like 8,500. I've seen others at the same shop with less bells and whistles for the same price? Are they decent?? I don't feel like I'm getting screwed if i buy a machine that i suspect needs repair, but when I pay $60,000 for a NEW machine, and then get nickeled and dimed to death, it sucks. Still waiting for a reaponse from HAAS, but www.haas-sucks.com is up until they decide to fix this problem. John

Hi Just for another update, the Service manager from HFO torrance, Jim McGregor, just called to let me know that he got the factory to give me 75% return cre ( the one that I supposedly broke) instead of their standard 50%, and he is also willing to cut his labor charge by 50%. Still $1,900 out of my pokcet, which seems kind of strange that they would even offer that if the problem was my fault...... Hmm. Oh, and this morning thier repair guy came out to fix the coolant system that was working fine until they replaced the transmission. Total cost - Parts $3.15 ( Yes three dollars and .15) Labor and travel$ 270.00 9 ( yes TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY DOLLARS) all for a part which worked fine until they touched it. The tech just said " yeah, they wear out every once in a while". Enough!!!! www.haas-sucks.com

Hi You know what sucks, is that up to this point, the service had been great. Whenever there was a problem, they were out here the next morning. Maybe there shouldn't have been any problems in the first place, I don't know, but they would get the macine running again, same day, under warranty. Now this. Well, wish me luck. How do I get ahold of a mori seki salesperson?? John

Hi I called Haas Automation in Oxnard today, and spoke with Tavi Udra, the service manager who I understand is one step below God, and he is saying he will check the file, but basically that the fact that the machine ran on no oil. in the tranny and was squeaking from the spindle for 6 months doesn't matter. Neither does the fact that they told me to run it til it broke, and they would fix it under warranty. O'yeah, he is being "unbiased" and just going by the repair sheets. The service manager at Haas Factory outlet in Torrance, Jim Mcregor, claims that since the noise was first notced in 11/01, and suddely got so bad in 6/02 that there was a crash sometime in between. OK. They new the machine was bad, and told me to run it til it broke. When was it supposed to break? And if they now decide that they won't cover this under warranty, how do I know that even if the problem was my fault ( HYPOTHETICAL) if it was fixed when I called them that it wouldn't have been so bad or expensive. All I know is that if they don't get this straightened out, I'm going to open www.haas_sucks.com, and unload online...

Great!! Wish him luck for us, and I'll try to get you some promo stuff with the logo before the race. Any other "Sponsors" out there?? Thanks John

Hi Count me in for one of the riders. Thanks John Hotshot Performance

Hi Just to add to the total stupidity of this situation , we received the repair invoice today, including a bill for the labor to replace the belts I requested them to swap while they had the tranny pulled out ( I paid for the belts). The repair invoice is for over $3,200!!! We are in the process of writng a letter to Haas and a lawyer, detailing the history of the machine. It blows me away to think that they can blame a deteriorated transmission on a crash ( that never happened). What is the basis of their logic here? Or is this the standard "rainmaker" 'standard denial of all claims' type of deal. Either way it sucks, and I doubt I will buy a Haas again, even if they do get this straightened out. Thanks John

Hi We've already spoken to the salemsan, and he came out and checked all the paperwork, but his attitude is "Don't worry, we'll wait and see what they say". My Attitude is " Fix this... NOW"!! Next time I need a machine, I 'll think I'll do a little more research before i buy another Haas. Thanks John

Ha ha!!! Great Story. My stepdaughter just turned thirteen, I guess it's time to stop by the sporting goods store. John

Hi There I need a little help, and a lot of opinions here. When I first got my Haas VF-2 ( 3/01) I noticed a squeaking that i thought was coming from the coolant pump ( Cause it sounded like the pump had run dry and hurt itself), so I called service to have them check it out( 3/30/01). It was less than a month old, and since I don't have $60k to throw away I wanted to make sure Everything was perfect. The tech comes out and runs a few tests... Nothing. Says it's a belt and that they all squeak, don't worry about it. Few months go by (06/01), I'm using the machine more and more, and the squeak gets louder. FIguring my warranty will be up soon, I'd like to get this fixed now. The next tech comes out and finds that the 2 speed transmission was never filled with oil ( Supposed to happen at the factory , I filled it with all listed and required lubes). He's actually suprised it lasted as long as it did. FIlls it with oil, runs a few tests and leaves. Service manager comes out and says to run it till it breaks, and they'll fix it under warranty. (6/02) OK, they came out and fixed it, and now (TODAY) I get a call from the service manager saying that the technician that checked out the old transmission at the factory has determined that the problem was caused by the user ( implying i crashed the machine), and that it couldn't have been that it never been filled with trans fluid, because (according to him) there's a pressure switch that will prevent it from cycle starting if it runs dry. My Problem is this 1) I've never crashed the machine, ( But I have drilled through a few fixtures) and if i had wouldn't that break the spindle, not the tranny? 2) It took them over a year and 3 tech visits to determine the problem, which they said would be covered, and now are sending me a $3,200 bill. BTW, I have all service sheets, and the note from the service manager saying they would cover the repair under warranty, since the problem was encountered before the warranty was up. Help John

Woo Hoo!! I just replaced my Nvidia TNT2 Vid Card with the 3dlabs Oxygen card ( which I got for $99, thanks Jay - Cad Cam), and OMYGOD. What a F****N DIfference. If you are still using a video card designed for games, do yourself a favor and invest in this card. I haven't crashed since, and everything looks and works just SO much better. O'yeah, P3-1000, 256 ram, Win 2K Pro, MC8.1.1 with SOLIDS!! Thanks Again John

Hi What type of cutter are you using, and what material are you cutting. Speeds and feeds? I am currently running a 1/4" center drill at 5500 rpm, and about 15 FPM, at .003 in 1018 plate, Thanks John

Hi Thanks for the encouragement. I do feel that I've learned ALOT in the past year, but there is so much stuff that I still have NO CONCEPT on how to do. People like James Meyette, and Scott Bond come here and make it look easy. If I can find time I am going to take the NTMA classes that James teaches. For now I just read everything I can here on the forum, and keep going throught the In-House tutorials, and Scholars books. One thing that makes my life a little easier, is that all the parts I make right now are for my products, and if I say thats how they are SUPPOSED to look and fit, well then that's it. As long as I don't break anything in the process. Thanks John " What do you get when it doesn't turn out the way you thought it would? Experience." Scott Bond

Hi Thanks James. I thinks that's what i will try to do. Scott has been coming down here on his way home lately, slapping me into shape on solids, etc. I actually made my first two parts using Solids yesterday, and it is SOoooo much easier to visualize the part that there is no going back for me. thanks to everyone on this forum for all the help John

HI Wow, thanks for all the responses. i guess I had posted too late last night, after everyone had gone home, cause I gave up after about an hour of checking the board, and figured it out. What I did was set up my dial indicator on its stand in the spindle, and swept it around the circle until it was pretty close. then I lowered the Z, and touched it off while spinning the spindle ( Scott says NO). It took me FOREVER to figure out that I only had to adjust HALF the distance on the indicator to get it centered, but I FINALLY got it. It tried to use my edge finder but the damn battery was dead. Anyway, I cut the part and it came out Swwweeeeet. I left work about 10pm, all proud of myself, and wrecked my car on the way home. Ever wonder what's inside of those big yellow trash cans you see when there's construction on the freeway??? Thanks Again John PS Solids are kickin' xxxx

All right, I know I should know this, but I don't. I am trying to enlarge a single hole in a piece of .25 aluminum from 2.5, to 2.625. How do I set it up to be sure that it's centered? What does "sweeping" it mean? Help.

Hi Sorry, I guess the question was a little vague. By "2D" i mean no surfacing type cuts, 2 1/2 axis stuff. Basically I need to know; Do I change my method of drawing the 2D parts in mastercam to unlock some hidden functionality or benefit of Solids, or do i draw them the same way, pull the toolpaths the same way, and use solids only for visualization? I can already see how it's going to be a LOT easier to create objects ( even 2D) that have more than 1 side machined. But for my everyday stuff, it's more like a neat toy. At least until I find a better tutorial... Thanks John Hotshot

Hi Just got Solids for Version 8.1.1, and finished the tutuorial, but it didn;'t cover anything related to my 2D drawings? Is there a different method of pulling a toolpath off the drawing? Any suggestions on books other than tutorials?? Thanks again John

Hi Thanks Everyone. I ordered Solids and am waiting for it to be delivered. After reading all the responses from the forum, and people alot more experienced than me, It seems to be too good to pass up. The half off summer special also helped!! Anyways, Thanks for all the help John PS. Note to JayK,: Hardway told me to talk to you about suggestions for a new video card and monitor. He says Solids will be too much for the system I have now = WIn 2K Pro, P3, 256 ram, 32meg Nvidia card, 15" gateway monitor.... Thanks

Hi I don't know what i did, but i am having problems running programs I created in V8 level 1 mill, stored on My Haas VF-2 control, and actually ran before. Now when I try to run programs, I can't use cutter comp or wear comp or i get errors, and on certain programs i've ran previously with no problems, i now get "invalid I,J,K" errors. Keep in mind, these were all programs that ran FINE before, and are stored on the control. What Happened?? Help John

Hi Well thanks for all the responses. It was cool to be able to see EVERYONES perspective on the use of Solids as i was lost in justifying the expense. It seems that If I can save time by visualizing the parts and have something to show a customer, before machining, it's worth the $$ to save the hassle. SInce I don't work off prints, being able to actually see the part seems like it will help what I do a bunch, too. Any resellers offering any specials I can take advantage of??? thanks John

Hi This is a pretty vague question, but hopefully all you solids guys out there can help me. I have been told by lots of MC guys that I should get solids, but I still don't know how it's going to save me time or money. Right now I have Mill Level 1, V8, and mainly cut header flanges for my own parts( 3/8" thick x 3-4" steel plate). 99.9% of what I do is 2D. How will solids help? What are the pros and cons, and the learning curve? Thanks John

Thanks. Access to this forum has made my life easier once again....