I’m likely not gonna call Blaser, based on other peoples’ experience with Synergy 🫠, but it seems like people are having some good luck with Vasco, so that’s good.
I knew nothing of other Blaser products until you mentioned Synergy. After 20 minutes of reading, I am shocked at how finicky that seems to be. Not what I expected
I truly hope that Vasco 6000 continues in the history of the Vasco line but, the 5000:
Did not rust or corrode anything. As noted elsewhere, it actually seems to
clean dark stains on the cast iron left from the vises being in place for many months at a time. I had some stainless guards on the lathe turn dark in local areas but, I believe that was from cutting aluminum and then leaving the coolant and chips dried on it for many months (years?!?). As you know, aluminum and stainless are pretty reactive in contact. My bad. The machines went unused for
very long periods when I had them available at work.
No paint damage on anything. The lathe is 16 years old and the VF-2 is 19. Even the completely submerged VF sump still has about half the paint after all those years. The VF-2 has the original windows. No chemical damage to the plastic. My machine has the wired Renishaw tool setter. The cable is soft, not gummy and no damage. Same for the rubberized plastic way cover wipers. I had three more Haas machines at work for 8 years, also Vasco. Same experience. A good friend bought a VF-5 Haas in 2012. Same experience. New vises, new everything, no paint damage. No corrosion.
I'm not even sure where I first learned about Vasco. It was either an ad in Modern Machine Shop and/or their booth at Westec around 2003-2004. The only other product I had any direct experience with was some Boeing-approved crap they used in the other shops at work. It had a heavy chemical smell, was greasy, ate the paint but, "Boeing approved" so that's what they ran. After reading a few threads like this one, I dodged many bullets by starting with such a good product. I wouldn't let Synergy put you off of the brand.
With that said: I kind of understand where Blaser (or any other company) is coming from with making blanket recommendations on a web forum. They really don't know your water situation or if your machine manufacturer used magnesium and copper for half the random parts and they began corroding the second they were made. A schooled and experienced sales person might see something on your machine and say, "well, your water is exceptionally hard and you'll be doing mixed materials, infrequently but, in bursts of heavy use. You have brass wipers on everything and they're rubbing on stainless guards so, these three products would work well for you but, I'd stay away from these because..."
Also: their website is just bizarre. I tried looking up information about the current offerings a few months ago. Uhh. Weird.
