What's new
What's new

VF2 side windows?

draganm

Aluminum
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Location
colorado
well in addition the the bad spindle bearings and faulty back-up battery circuit on the main CPU circuit-board, today I went to close one of the side windows on my VF2 and the bracket fell off. This 3 to 5 pound powder coated steel bracket was just glued on with RTV silicone to the sliding acrylic window. Some nice rust and sour coolant in the crap-trap created by the design of the bracket too.

Anyone fix this yet? I have stainless steel here, sheer and a bend-brake too, but if you have a nifty solution please post some pics.

thanks
 
I'm not sure about the design myself. You got a cordless drill there? Drill a hole though it and put a screw and a nut on it. You're set for life.

You need a recipe for ice too?

Come on, it's been a long day. :D
 
LOL, lets see, fill up tray with water, then......... errr, not sure what comes next

drilling plexiglass is tricky, cracks if you even look at it wrong, which is why I suspect they glued it on. On better machines they actually have metal doors that the plexi is captured in like a window frame, not acting as a structural element. don't feel like going that far though,
 
so to wrap this thread up, this is what I wound up doing and it turned out well.
I realized I really didn't want to start making new parts out of stainless, so I took a clsoewr look at how the old one was put together.

I noticed that originally the plexi does not go all the way thru the bracket, it stops at the top of the barrel on the 3 shoulder screws that hold the latch on. This leaves a pretty large gap between the plexi and the bottom of the bracket, about 1/2" or more. This area acts like a large crap trap, a reservoir for old sour coolant, rust, etc.

This is where I did it a little different from factory.Remove the latch and the 3 screws. Take a stiff scraper, like a putty knife but more rigid, and dig out all the old Silicone RTV and rust out of the slot in the bracket. It was pretty bad, there was heavy rust and even scale down there which I think came this way, I haven't seen my coolant do this on any of our machines. I washed it out with soap and water and then rinsed with Acetone. Clean the plexi with mild soap and water too, do NOT use Acetone on the plastic.
P1000983.jpg




With everything clean, get a tube of Silicone in a caulk gun, I used Dow Corning 737 in a 10oz tube (pure Silione), fill the 1/4" wide slot in the bracket about 1/4" deep. Center it on the Window (has to be in the machine), and push it up on the Plexi. Use a dead blow and carefully tap it up until the plexi is as far as it can go down into the bracket. Securely temporarily with C-clamps to keep it from sagging and sliding down.

The screws will not go in now , so you will need a 25/64th" flat bottom drill. This last part is important, using a normal 120 deg included angle bit and drilling by hand can easily result in the drill binding and "grabbing" the plastic, which will crack it. Also, the hole needs to be clean with no counter-sink on the bottom like you would get with a normal drill point. I make my own flat bottom drill,really only takes about 5 minutes to do on a clean bench grinding wheel with good corners.

Blow out holes with compressed air and check fit of screws, make sure they go down all the way. Remove and a little more RTV to the threads of the screws and barrel of shoulder, add latch, and re-assemble. The plexi is now captured in the screws and completely engaged in the bracket, should be good for a very long time. Just need to decide if I do the other side now or wait for it to fall off first?
 

Attachments

  • Haas VF2 window fix.jpg
    Haas VF2 window fix.jpg
    34.7 KB · Views: 255
Good to hear.

Mine didn't come with any RTV on them, yours might have been added after the fact. On mine, they just fit snug, and after a month or so they just fall off by themselves.

Only thing I'm wondering, in order to remove the panel, (pull it out from the top) you need to remove the bracket. You might be sorry you loaded it up with silicone.
 
drilling plexiglass is tricky, cracks if you even look at it wrong
Just to address this, I don't know what kind of Lexan / Plexiglass / Polycarbonate you've got your hands on, but there are a gazillion Lexan race car windows and windshields mounted as below. Generally drilled with a hand drill motor with the best drill money can buy at the hardware store. Can't say I've ever seen one crack.

polycarbonate-windows-installation.jpg
 
They should not crack when drilled properly and in fact a drilled hole is used to stop a crack that has already begun.

Mike
 
Only thing I'm wondering, in order to remove the panel, (pull it out from the top) you need to remove the bracket. You might be sorry you loaded it up with silicone.
didn't consider that, but yeah it's captured. It did come that way, I checked the other side and it's solidly glued on from the factory. Removing the window, as opposed to latching it in the fully raised position, only gives another inch or 2 of vertical clearance, I don't foresee ever having anything that tall and long on the work-table, but it depends on what you're doing I suppose.
 
didn't consider that, but yeah it's captured. It did come that way, I checked the other side and it's solidly glued on from the factory. Removing the window, as opposed to latching it in the fully raised position, only gives another inch or 2 of vertical clearance, I don't foresee ever having anything that tall and long on the work-table, but it depends on what you're doing I suppose.

Ya, actually we have a couple 5x trunion tables. It's easier to slide them in from the side than to go through the front. However, you need every RCH of clearance you can get.
 
I have had lots of issues, but never had the side window brackets come loose on the mills.
Tomorrow morning they will all start falling off.

Now the old 91 plastic Luna module mill I have knocked those windows out...major pain trying to put them back in with that degraded molding all around.


Plexi or acrylic will crack easily, I'm pretty sure the side windows are Polycarbonate/Lexan. They will grab your bit if you don't grind a flat on leading edge, but otherwise drill fine.
 
Yes, Lexan will crack easily. The secret is heat. In the summer lay it in the sun for a few hours. In winter warm it with a heat gun. Cheap insurance.
 








 
Back
Top