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VF3 Buying Advice?

CNCME?

Aluminum
Joined
Feb 23, 2008
Location
USA, South
Hi all,

I'm considering buying a Haas VF3 VMC made in 1993.
It's from a lab, was used for aluminum and plastic. ~2200 hours spindle movement time. Has had two operators in its lifetime, both were professional machinists. Visually, the machine looks as new. Still has almost all the original paint on the inside of the enclosure, table gleams with no damage evident, etc.

Has the following:
4th axis
5th axis
10k spindle
Gearbox
Renishaw Probe system
Coordinate Rotation and Scaling
Extra M codes

8 Mb memory - memory was upgraded 4 years ago, it got a new board at that time. They said they upgraded because they got tired of drip feeding and having to restart, etc. Meticulous mtc. log shows time before upgrade - adding that to the present time gives the 2200 hour number.

It has a CAT 40 spindle - no tooling (except the Renishaw probe).

She runs smooth and quiet and gives a mirror finish on aluminum with a big cut (sounds real good in the cut, too) at 70 ipm and 8900 rpm. Also runs nice and smooth at 10k, but didn't try a cut at that speed. The tool changer works just like I'd expect it to.

Price is $30,000. Seems like a great deal to me, but I've got Haas fever and swarf in my eyes.

What do you folks think?

How crazy am I for buying a machine this old? What are the practical machining disadvantages to this machine vs. a new or new-er one?
 
CNCME:

With that information it would appear to be a good deal.

You might have a ball-bar test performed. A different way is to mill a circular pocket and then sweep it with a dial indicator. See my photograph P8 on the MISCELLANEOUS PHOTOS page at www.beta-a2.com .

Once you get this machine have the servo motors cleaned of carbon dust. Also the spindle drive may present a problem at some time. See http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22019

.
 
2200 hours for a 17 year machine doesn't sound right. Keep in mind when you upgrade the operating software it resets the machine timers (from my understanding). If that is not the case that machine sure sat for LONG time.

The other thing is I don't think it has the vector drives does it? I would check availability of parts for those machines, as a Haas tech told me once they are starting to discontinue parts for "non vector" drive (not sure it that is true or not, but you might want to investigate)
 
4th and 5th axis?

Are the 4th and 5th axis actually installed, or is it 4th and 5th axis ready? That would be a heck of a price if the axes were installed. I bought a used VF3 three years ago from a california dealer. I contacted the local HFO in California and they sent a tech over to do an evaluation. They spent a couple of hours, sent a written evaluation with recommendations and only charged me $175.00. The machine's been great.

Greg
 
If that is for sure WITH the trunion - BUY IT!

Of you don't want the trunion - now is a great time to sell it.

I believe that HAAS is out like 90 days (?) delivery on 5th axis rat now. :eek:


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
Pic of Table, Drive

Ox - yes, with the trunion table (see pic).

APM - yes 4th and 5th axis (axes?) are installed. Thanks for the info. on the tech. inspection.

zf864 - I agree with you on how the hours sound, but....the lab its in is a University lab, the machine is used each Fall and Spring semester to produce the engineering program students semester project, usually of aluminum, or plastic - seems to be one project per student per long semester. They don't do projects in the summer semester. They do power up and exercise the machine a little each week in the summer though. The professional machinist that runs the machine does this, as he doesn't have a lot else to do in the summer. This was his baby, no-one else is allowed to touch it, especially not students (they're training to be engineers, not machinists, so they work with him to produce the project). He's had the machine for the last seven years, and for the 8 years before that it was the man before him with the same job.
The 2200 hour spindle movement number was derived by adding the log time before upgrade together with the current reading. Machine has been run at least a little pretty much once a week minimum since it was purchased new by the University.

Re: the vector drive - how do I tell if its a vector drive or not? I have added a pic of the VFD and VFD data plate, if that helps. The nearest Haas dealer says they still support all the machines back to #1, but it would be good to know if that isn't 100% correct or if it doesn't hold for non-vector. Does vector drive refer to sensorless vector software in the VFD?

Gar - thanks much for the links and coments, very helpful. Thanks for suggesting and illustrating the circular pocket test. Is having the carbon dust cleaned from the servos something I could do, or is it best to let a certified (or other) tech do it?

Thanks to all very much for the helpful comments and advice.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh81/CNC-ME/VF3/VF3013.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh81/CNC-ME/VF3/VF3045.jpg
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh81/CNC-ME/VF3/VF3048.jpg
 
CNCME:

That is a real good deal with 4th and 5th. Get it right away.

No the drive is not vector. That is much less of a problem than the DC servos, but they are not a problem if the carbon is cleaned out. You could probably do it yourself and replace the brushes at the same time.

The MagnTek drive is a very good except you may need the electrolytic capacitors relpaced. The thread I previously referenced provides the source for this work.

Do not procrastinate on this.

.
 
FWIW - Got the werd the other day that delivery on the trunion is 28 weeks currently.

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I am Ox and I approve this here post!
 








 
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