Getting new mill VCU500C or NEXUS 530C-II HS or Haas VF-3?

Considering a Mazak VCU 500 or NEXUS 530C-II HS. also in the running is a Haas VF-3

I tend to steer away from the VCU because of the stationary table and reduced rigidity in regards to the nexus which can run a 50 taper. we will be running large drills and doing moderate/heavy milling

It's to replace a 4020 fadal.

Thoughts?

IntriCut said:

Considering a Mazak VCU 500 or NEXUS 530C-II HS. also in the running is a Haas VF-3

I tend to steer away from the VCU because of the stationary table and reduced rigidity in regards to the nexus which can run a 50 taper. we will be running large drills and doing moderate/heavy milling

It's to replace a 4020 fadal.

Thoughts?

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I don't think you're really comparing apples to apples here.

If you need the rigidity of a 530C with a 50 taper, the Haas isn't even in the same universe.


What makes it come down to the VCU500 or Nexus 530??

The haas is available in 50 taper as well. its the VCU that would have the smallest column, guides etc? no?
if anything the VCU is the apple to orange here? smallest spindle with least torque only 49'lbs!
Were NOT getting it in 50 taper i just use it as a measure of the strength of the machine to a degree. the VCU is not heavy enough

The nexus 500 is the most comparable to the vf3 with the same strokes, actually 5 inches less the the vf3 at only Z20 travel...

ManualEd said:

What makes it come down to the VCU500 or Nexus 530??

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Im asking you for your input on this. Its actually the 2 the salesman suggested for our jobs.
the nexus is more expensive and is a classical VMC construction.

the VCU is a stationary table sliding head design.

which would you rather have for running large drills and doing moderate/heavy milling in a general machining environment. mild steel mostly

IntriCut said:

Im asking you for your input on this. Its actually the 2 the salesman suggested for our jobs.
the nexus is more expensive and is a classical VMC construction.

the VCU is a stationary table sliding head design.

which would you rather have for running large drills and doing moderate/heavy milling in a general machining environment. mild steel mostly

Click to expand...

I would have them take the biggest drill and mill cut you think you'll be doing and try it in both machines at their test facility.
Taking a look at axis and spindle loads should tell you a lot.

The 530c-HS has an 18000RPM spindle. I know its 40HP, but you NEED to make sure it has the torque for running the large tools. High speed spindles usually have no guts at low speed.
You would probably want the standard or high-torque spindles unless you're doing lots of profiling.

I agree that its not as beefy as the 530C. I thought it was a gantry style like an Okuma Genos, supported on both sides but it seems like some sort of bastard child between that and a normal mill.


As for the Haas VF3, it would definitely get the job done. But you'll be taking much smaller cuts than a 530C. The 30 "Haaspower" spindle is probably the equivalent of a 20HP spindle on a Mazak for what you can do with it.


I'd definitely toss the Okuma Genos 560 into the mix.

I'd get the VCN 530 with the 15K spindle unless you're doing a lot of aluminum. The VCN is a workhorse design and more user friendly day to day to VCU's in my experience. Significantly beefier construction too. If you can get one with a SmoothG control on it I'd go for that.

How big is big for the drills and milling? If you're doing a lot of drilling definitely get thru-spindle coolant.

Don't even bother with the Haas, it's in a lower league. If you're gonna cross shop, there are worse ways to go than Okuma.

i haven't ran into any "lack of ability" with the 530c vcn with 15k spindle honestly. I've ran a mazak for the past 3 yrs consistently, the previous 8 yrs was solely okuma's. MX, MV, then the MB series. I don't have insight on the newer genos editions, but it looks to be a fresher MB model. All i can say about okuma's is that no matter how aged the machine was, they were always on target dimensionally. I'm also more fond of the okuma's table height/ position over the mazak's. The mazak's table sits considerably higher then the front machine cover, and further recessed in the machine(y axis) making loading of larger workpieces a bit tougher. my biggest peeve on the 530c is the handle safety button depression for movement non- sense. All in all, the 530c-hs is high speed- finishing focused with faster feed rates, spindle rpm, rapids and not much use for metal removal rate, or torque needed for large drill spinning. I've stumbled the 530c 15k spindle with a 1.07 hss drill, but that may have been my fault with operation parameters, and weak grade china drill quality.