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Mini Mill 2 under a 83" garage door threshold?

coolidge

Plastic
Joined
Dec 19, 2013
Location
Battle Ground, WA
So I want to buy a Haas Mini Mill 2 for home shop use in my garage. I have the ceiling height for it once in place but it looks like it won't fit under my 83 inch garage door threshold. Anyone have a MM2 who can measure this? Factor in loosening the conduit and laying that flat with the head lowered. Haas is saying 88 inches minimum are needed so I'm like 5 inches off. My garage door header is a big beam so cutting into that isn't happening. A Mini Mill will fit no problem but the work cube is pretty small I'd prefer the MM2.
 
My door is 83-1/2".

MM2 just barely fit. It was brought in with a forklift, so there may be another small amount of room.

I think the Z-axis servo was the highest part.

Check if there is trim on top of the garage door that can be removed to improve clearance.
 
Thanks Mike, it looks like I would have 85.5 inches with the trim removed they used a pretty thick plank of wood under that header beam, then the 1/4 inch rubber trim piece on that. Fortunately I took a bunch of pictures while the house was being constructed. I will have to either cut a section of this trim out or rip off all the trim sides and top as its wedged up there above the side trim pieces. But it looks doable.

Does your MM2 have this sheet metal sticking up in the back/left/top of the enclosure? It almost looks like that would be the high spot with the spindle lowered. Also what year is your machine, not sure if they have made other changes that increase the height.

mm2b.jpg


Here's the header/trim construction for my garage doors...

h1.jpg
 
It will fit...my VF-1 fit under my 79" door height.

Pull the Z axis motor and the wire loom. Make sure the rigger puts the machine on skates then hand feed the loom under the door as the machine gets pushed in.
 
Just for general information...is the MM2 a 'weldment' machine or cast iron? Opinions on-line seem to vary so I had Haas send me photos of the machine without enclosure. The answer is its kind of both. The cast iron column bolts to a cast iron base which extends forward, the saddle and table ride on this cast iron base. However what looks like the bottom of the mill in the photo above is welded steel, its basically a stand to raise the mill up to a work height. They tell me the coolant tank is basically the bottom of this welded steel stand, I'm not sure I like that I'm wondering what a pain it would be to clean that.

I guess I would prefer if the whole thing was cast iron to the floor. The Hurco VM5i which is near the same price as the optioned MM2 but with a slightly smaller work cube is top to bottom cast iron and weighs 1,800 pounds more than the MM2. I crossed the Hurco off my list however for a number of reasons.
 
Does your MM2 have this sheet metal sticking up in the back/left/top of the enclosure? It almost looks like that would be the high spot with the spindle lowered. Also what year is your machine, not sure if they have made other changes that increase the height.

mm2b.jpg


Mine is a 2009.

It does not have the sheet metal sticking up in the back/left/top corner.
I think the sheet metal might be for the side mounted tool changer -- mine has the umbrella tool changer.

The picture Haas shows on its website is probably an old stock photo that Haas has not updated, because the MM2 is fully enclosed (the top is completely covered with metal).
 
The top completely covered in sheet metal that's interesting, I wondered what happened to the clear plastic tops I see in some photos. They don't have a MM2 on display at either of the local Selway outlets in my area, it would be nice to know exactly what I'm buying. Maybe I'll take a road trip down to Haas or some other Haas dealer.
 
Hi,
The MM/SMM have the clear top (optional in the mini, standard in the super). The MM2/SMM2 have a sheet metal roof (at least the one have I seen at the local HFO). I think only the machines ordered with the SMTC come with that sheet metal part shown in the above picture.

I am surprised to hear the MM2 fit under an 83" door without removing the Z axis servo and/or the regen resistors (the stove coils). I just took delivery of a new MM on new year's eve, and it barely fit through the 82-1/2" high opening of the garage door in my house. There was about 3/4" of clearance while and the forklift forks were about 2" high. I had to remove the clamps for the spindle head wire conduit, so that it could be pushed down. once inside, I had to cut a pocket in the 99" high ceiling so that it would have enough overhead clearance for homing and tool changes.

Sage, what year is your VF-1, and what parts did you have to remove to get it past a 79" door?
 
All of my girls are early 90's plastic enclosure machines.

The Z axis motor was taken off, 4 bolts and one set screw. Then loosen the bracket bolts that hold each end of the loom and also the mounting box above the elect cabinet. I pushed a few inches of wire up the loom to create slack and then it all can be laid on it's side. Make sure the riggers put the machine on skates, then as it gets rolled in you can feed the loom under the door.

I also blocked up the counter weight and removed the chain guide rails. All this was done in Phx July heat before I stored the machine and moved back to Ca. Fast forward a few years and the job went south so time to start my own gig. Measured the garage door in my house and it is at 79". I was sweating it when they went to move it under the door but I actually had an extra 3/4 inch to spare....

Now we are in our own bay with a big door so those headaches are behind us...Good luck with your move.
 
Sage, thanks for sharing, this is very useful information for those of us starting or running machine shops out of a car garage.

Best of lucks to the OP getting that MM2 in your garage and making chips.
 
Update: Just in from Haas, the absolute minimum height for a MM2 is 78" from the base of the casting to the top of the spindle head with it lowered fully. This is for models with a carousel tool changer not the side mount. I'm waiting for an answer on the spindle head wiring conduit (gore tube). It was noted as 3" and that it could be loosened and held down while moving it under the door. That's great but they didn't tell me if I need to add another 3" to the 78" for a total of 81" or if the total remains 78".

Next up is the leveling pads. The machine base looks like there is not enough clearance under the base to get a forklift or pallet jack under there without the pads so I think the leveling pads will have to be installed outside before moving the machine under the door, this adds 3" according to the Haas drawings. Which brings me to the "lifting provision" noted in the on-line Haas quote. So apparently it has built in lifting points for lifting the machine but they don't describe what they are or where they are, I'm waiting to hear back on this.
 
The conduit enters the spindle head at a recess in the top/back of the sheetmetal spindle enclosure. With the wire conduit clamp loosened or removed, the wire conduit can be pushed down and sideways so that it does't add to the minimum height. The conduit itself is not very flexible.

The leveling pads are not attached to the machine, the machine just sits on them and the are installed (set on the floor) once the machine has been moved into place. The leveling bolts can be retracted all the way up after the machine has been picked up by the lifttruck or pallet truck so they don't protrude past the bottom of the machine.

My machine is an MM, not an MM2, but I think these parts are same in both models. Of course, whatever the factory tells you will be the most up to date info, as they may have made changes since i got this machine.
 
Haas just confirmed what astromach said above, the total minimum height with the conduit loosened and pushed to one side is 78". I found this rigging photo, it looks like they just use the leveling pad studs to raise the machine so you can get a fork lift or pallet jack under it, and once in place lower it down onto the leveling pad feet. So I have 83 inches of clearance without taking a sawsall to my garage door header and this leaves 5" for the fork lift or pallet jack that should be doable.

rigging.jpg
 
If you look at the pictures of the MM2, with the spindle as low as it can go, the Z-axis motor is the highest hard part.
I doubt you can get the MM2 down to 78" unless you remove the Z-axis motor.



DSCN0067.jpg

DSCN0068.jpg


If you look at the sides of the MM2, there are some cut-outs for the fork lift. They are about 3/4" deep.

DSCN0069.jpg
 
When I went through this I couldn't get Haas to confirm a MM2 could get below 80", it was no problem for a regular MM. I went and measured some stuff and the linear rails stick up above the column and you for sure need to remove Z axis motor, breaking resistors etc. But maybe you've found someone with more desire to get all the data and measurements.

I also wanted 20+ tools and more travel, so I went with a Brother.

Pulling top sheet metal and in with the forklift.



 
The Haas Mini Mill dimensions sheet states minimum 80" from machine bottom to top of spindle head. Based on the clearance we had getting the MM in the garage, this is accurate. This is what it looked like getting the MM into the garage and set in the garage next to the TL1.

My guess is that the MM2 column is 4" longer, but removing the Z-axis motor and sliding the machine on skates instead of the forklift, you might get the clearance you need. In any case, it seems you have the option of removing some of the garage door header material, so it should be possible to get the machine in.

BY the way, the MM2 can be ordered with a twenty 40-taper tools carousel TC and don't think that increases the min height as the carousel sits kind of low inside the enclosure.
 

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I just bought a super mini 2 and i am trying to understand the dims.

it is in a facility with a 96" tall door - based on everything i read here that is not an issue. but they have a 70" wide double door it has to fit through...

What would we have to remove to get it through the door - the guy there said they had a moving company bring it in and it fit with some disassembly.

want to play what tools we may need and understand what is involved

anyone have any thoughts?

i was wondering if taking the door frame off would get it through..
 
Well mine just fit under a 84" garage door. It had about 3/8 of clearance and was on the forks of the forklift.
 








 
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