And now too add to the issue, before I left the shop tonight my #1 customer wants me to confirm or deny 4 PO's (one a month)from right now until Dec 5. to make 4X as many parts as we already do.
These 4 PO's equal $160,000.00
I really need to just use the POS machine, and fix it later, even if it is on my dime, its just not cost effective now to even swap the table unless they overnighted it and swapped it by Monday.
Ahhh!, If I had to do it over again(past 5 years), I would never wish owning a shitty machine shop on my worst enemy, such a shit business.
These times are what I like to call "good problems". But, wouldn't you rather that $160k cover 100% of your ROI on a machine worth owning?
You know, one that will be profitable for the max time after the 4 months of ZERO profit. I'm not keen on what a VF2 is worth new these days?
Cold chance in hell of haas selling me iron now. But, after seeing your pics, I would put exactly zero faith in the longevity of that machine!
I understand the "value of the customer"! (Trust me, it is the only reason I'm still afloat). And, that you gotta do what you gotta do to get this shit done!
But, is there any way you can get by with this POS until you can get something else on the floor?
As long as you haven't signed off, you should be able to reject it for a certain amount of time. That table flatness is obviously unacceptable.
If haas says that is acceptable? I wasn't aware how bad it has gotten and they are getting dangerously close to their demise.
Honestly, if you bolt vises down (you mentioned vises in your OP), and they indicate flat across the beds? Rock & Roll.
Then get the ball rolling on a different chunk of iron to replace that POS. Last I knew the VF2 is still the same basic iron it has been for a long-long time.
With new body-work, flashy paint, and floofy widgets and gizmos that seem to increase sales.
But, I would bet the core business of the tool (the important bits that actually define the machines capability) has been penny-pinched to death.
As evidenced by that table on your machine!
The cycle time to produce a quality table obviously dips way deeper in the profits than the stylish bodywork, and nifty widgets.
Weather this is true or not? I can't say. But, I can not see any other way to interpret this situation having dealt with haas over the last several years.
I mean for crying out loud: I had to replace a VF3 way-cover. It was $450. Literally 3 months later, that brand new cover exploded. Defective spot welds.
Obviously defective! They did zero about it other than charge me $900 for another new way cover! Yep! 100% price increase in 3 months.
I had my guy go over that cover and TIG everything together because I could see those spot-welds were poor just like the last.
That was the day they lost any faith I may have had. Which wasn't much after the Coldfire Sunset fiasco! haas is definitely not the company they once were.
Anyway (big tangent, LOL), in your situation:
Unless you are doing super aggressive roughing in tough material? They (the vises) probably wont move clamped to that table, and you will probably be fine.
Not knowing anything about the parts. I mean: your buying haas's. You can't be doing anything too hard-core.