Any good alternatives to Haas Office mill ??

Kev h · Mar 20, 2013

Hi Guys

Had a price for Haas OM2A in UK and nearly fell over £52K GBP !!!! :willy_nilly:

Can any one suggest any good alternatives for a good quality small garage cnc mill for small plastic parts enclosed if possible?

Cutting on TM1 fine at the moment , even a bench top possibly.

Cheers Kev :cool:

PS Emco seem to be only option at the moment :confused:

SIM · Mar 20, 2013

The office machines seem overpriced....think maybe the small demand...maybe the high spindle speed...but who cares...just cost prohibitive for anything I'd ever need.

If interested in Haas..I'd bump yourself up to a Mini-Mill. Lots of them out there in the used market and more versatile.
New Mini is huge chunk of change less money, granted they start out stripped down...but does not sound like you need much.

Mickey_D · Mar 20, 2013

Does Hurco have their little VM5 over their yet? I saw one at a show last month and it looked nice for the size.

TC VMC · Mar 20, 2013

Yo Kev,

I priced an OM2A back in 2009. I made the enquiry online and expected just an e-mail....

A week later, 2 HAAS salesmen walked through the door. No appointment, nothing.

So anyway, I dropped what I was at and we all had a good old chat. To cut to the point, he gave me an A3 envelope with the offer price for a brand new OM2A.

I nearly fell over when he told me £48,000 ! I basically gave him an ear full about why this was totally ridiculous.

Ok its a specialist machine but come on....

He said it was due to shipping from California...import duties, taxes etc.... I showed them the door.

Doosan can put a proper big VMC on your floor NEW for around £50,000.

They have the market now.

For ultra small machine. Well not much choice. Emco as you said...or Denford maybe.

You should look into buying an OM2A, used, from the USA. Would cost maybe £1500 - £2000 for shipping to get it back to UK.

Should be able to buy one for around $20,000 second hand.

Did I read once that it had an option of ISO/CAT 20 spindle taper ??? And went to 80K rpm !!!???

TKassoc · Mar 20, 2013

No idea on the price but you could check out Datron

High Speed CNC Machines | Aluminum CNC | Datron

Kev h · Mar 21, 2013

Thanks guys for replies , have just had a list price of £15k and £23k for Emco's smallest two machines , which is getting a bit more sensible pricewise.

Would love a mini mill but way too big a footprint.

Cheers Kev :cool:

pvsora · Mar 21, 2013

I have met a couple of Haas Office Mill users, and neither of them are garage-type users. One did micromachining on very small parts in hard metals and the other one actually machined pieces of human bone for use in grafts and implants. I get the impression that they are pretty damn accurate and with the 30,000 rpm spindle they are a very economical alternative to $300k+ micro machines like the small DMG ultrasonics for people who really don't need that level of machine. (I recognize that those two machines aren't even on the same planet, but there really isn't much in the mid-grade market for these kinds of machines.) This is an article that came out last year about a small shop that uses them:

Keeping Watch on Small Parts : Production Machining

peninsula · Mar 21, 2013

Mickey_D said:
Does Hurco have their little VM5 over their yet? I saw one at a show last month and it looked nice for the size.

I got a quote on one of these last year for $58,000ish. Way to high priced I thought. I was told there was very little wiggle room in that price.

implmex · Mar 21, 2013

Hi KevH:
If you're willing to entertain used machines, you could look for a Light Machines Benchman or a Defiance VTX 1.
I've got a Defiance, and it's a nice little machine; DC servos linear ways and ballscrews, 10K spindle.
The newer ones come with a 40K Precise spindle, Creative Evolution control (better than the Bridgeport DX32 on my machine) and umbrella style toolchanger.
The machine is a benchtop unit 12" x 8" x 8" capacity.
They are pretty cheap on Ebay these days; average around 5 to 6K, but pretty rare.
One of my buddies bought one on Fleabay a few years ago for under $4000.00, but it needed some TLC to get it running.
I have no idea if they were ever sold into Great Britain though, but they're only 550 lb or so and they are single phase 110 volt (at least mine is), so easy to hook up even in the garage.
Cheers

Marcus
Implant Mechanix – Design & Innovation - home
Vancouver Wire EDM -- Wire EDM Machining

Kev h · Mar 22, 2013

Hi Marcus

They look neat little machines but have never heard of them in the UK but will do a little searchin just in case.

Not to keen on shipping across the pond

Cheers Kev :cool:

ions82 · Mar 23, 2013

Would a Tormach not be suitable for such a job? For a lightweight machine that is only cutting plastic, it seems like it would be a viable option.

BOSTON · Mar 23, 2013

ions82 said:
Would a Tormach not be suitable for such a job? For a lightweight machine that is only cutting plastic, it seems like it would be a viable option.

OH Boy you're looking for trouble here suggesting a Tormach

implmex · Mar 23, 2013

Tormach is not a bad choice if the tolerance requirements are modest and the OP is willing to stay within the limits of the machine.
It won't compare to an Office Mill though, for speed and precision, so if the OM is the benchmark, a Tormach will be quite disappointing.
Also the Tormach is not enclosed, which was a wish on the OP's wish list.
Cheers

Marcus
Implant Mechanix – Design & Innovation - home
Vancouver Wire EDM -- Wire EDM Machining

BOSTON · Mar 23, 2013

implmex said:
Tormach is not a bad choice if the tolerance requirements are modest and the OP is willing to stay within the limits of the machine.
It won't compare to an Office Mill though, for speed and precision, so if the OM is the benchmark, a Tormach will be quite disappointing.
Also the Tormach is not enclosed, which was a wish on the OP's wish list.
Cheers

Marcus
Implant Mechanix – Design & Innovation - home
Vancouver Wire EDM -- Wire EDM Machining

well your right that a Tormach is no match for production compared to a Haas OM...
If you're looking at the Tormach 770 it does have a 10,000 RPM spindle if that would be enough RPM for you...Feed rate of 120 IPM for the 770 compared to 700 for the OM...
But you could buy 3-4 Tormach 770 for the price of an OM...So would 3 770 out produce an OM....I don't think so...an enclouser can be made for the Tormach if that is what you want to do....

Mid Day Machinin · Mar 23, 2013

BOSTON said:
OH Boy you're looking for trouble here suggesting a Tormach

Why is he looking for trouble? Two years ago I might have agreed with you, but I have had a Tormach in my garage since July 2011, and let me tell you, it will do ANYTHING a Haas OM1 or OM2 will do, maybe not as fast, but it will do it.

It just takes a little creative programming and it doesn't cost anywhere near $50,000.00.

Granted, the Tormach PCNC 1100 doesn't have a 30,000 RPM spindle, so you need to make your programs accordingly. If you have good Cam software, what's the problem?

BOSTON · Mar 23, 2013

Mid Day Machinin said:
what's the problem?

the tormach is fine for some people that have a lot of time on their hands....But let us be real here...yes the tormach can do some very nice 3D work...But it is slow...the 770/1100 will drop down to 10-14 IPM on tight 3D moves...
for plastic the 770 may have a 10,000 rpm spindle but that slow for this material using small mills...
there is also no tool changer for the 770...
it is only 1HP...
if the guy has time on his hands and wants to save a buck...then yes the Tormach is the way to go...

SIM · Sep 17, 2021

Mid Day Machinin said:
what's the problem?

The problem is we are considering a "Haas" to be the Heavy Duty, Powerful, Rigid machine and accurate.
I have Haas, I love Haas, but they are anything but Heavy Duty, Powerful or a Rigid machine, they are however fairly accurate used as they are built to be used.

mhajicek · Sep 17, 2021

SIM said:
The problem is we are considering a "Haas" to be the Heavy Duty, Powerful, Rigid machine and accurate.
I have Haas, I love Haas, but they are anything but Heavy Duty, Powerful or a Rigid machine, they are however fairly accurate used as they are built to be used.

Necro thread.

Any good alternatives to Haas Office mill ??

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