What's new
What's new

Haas VF3 feedback?

evidence_UA

Aluminum
Joined
Nov 23, 2015
Hi,

Currently we are running late 90's Japan CNC mills, but want to move over to the new machines to eliminate the downtime if something goes wrong and to increase the production volumes and overall product quality.
Im looking for a new Haas VF3 because of its price and lease options and i have seen that machine in the showroom milling steel and i was really impressed .
Mainly we machine small aluminum parts like 50-100mm of the longest sides, but having the jobs also for steel parts and molds, and the reason i have choosen VF3 over VF2 is in the rigidity of the VF3, at least, i suppose so, because its weight is around 60-70% more. However, we do not have parts more than 400x400mm in sizes.

So guys are there any possible issues with that machines after couple years of expluatation utilizing high speed milling? Are there any issues with spindles in long terms? I hope that while machine is new everything will be ok, and i fit the tolerances of 0,01-0,02mm (around 0,0005inches)
 
Consider the VF-3 has the exact same footprint as a VF-4. So why get a VF-3? Never understood that one. Our VF-4s run HSM on aluminum and steel all day, everyday. After 3-5 years now, they will all interpolate bores round within .0002.
 
I'm running a standard-model VF4. The only thing I regret on it is that we bought it for steel work but now find ourselves needing to run larger aluminum parts on it, which REALLY need the faster spindle found on the Haas VM or VF-SS machines. The standard spindle 8100-RPM isn't well suited for small tools and aluminum items. I don't have a lot of production experience with the larger machines so I can't really comment on that myself, but it's certainly a step up in mass from the VF1 or VF2, and the spindle head has a much wider stance (though it's still likely not much heavier than the VF2 spindle head, if that matters).
For our steel work, the tools are mostly under 1/2" or 12mm; not much facemilling or other operations that are traditionally not strong on Haas mills, so I can't speak to those.

Conversely, I have a couple VF2SS verticals and we beat the living hell out of them. I use the oldest one for "operation-1" rough milling in aluminum workpieces and it's been pretty good over the years. We had an issue with the lubrication system earlier but Haas seems to have figured it out at this point.

What Japanese machines are you running right now?
 
I'm also wondering what late 90's Jap machines you are replacing.

I understand that a 20 year old machine is far from new, but the higher end Jap machines from the 90's are still a step up from a brand new Haas anything in most people's eyes.
 
Maybe i was not correct. I will not change them for Haases, i just want to start dealing only with new machines. My current Japans are true workhorses and all those Deckel Mahos, Mikrons etc have nothing on them.
We are running Hitachi Seiki's and Mazaks. Yes, they are good, they are somehow fast due linear guideways but issues come up from time to time. One has spindle runout and ballscrew issue, the other gives perfect tolerances but the spindle too began to show the signs of bad things, and so on...

Concerning VF4, currently its out of the budget... And i really dont know if it would capable of fast machining the large production run of the parts not exceeding the size of 1 inch on the side... Yes, we doing such small crap too..
 
Concerning VF4, currently its out of the budget... And i really dont know if it would capable of fast machining the large production run of the parts not exceeding the size of 1 inch on the side... Yes, we doing such small crap too..

Ops, have by a mistake watch the price for VF3YT and thought i was looking VF4. Yes, the price is slightly differ and the reason i did not choose it at first - is the large travels that are excessive for us. But still the inertia forces are the issue for me while machining small parts with high speed
 
New Haas machines are nice. They will spoil you quick and confuse you a little at the same time. The one thing I miss about an older mill is the space behind the table...on the Haas when the table goes all the way back there is literally 2.5 inches or maybe less of clearance back there. It is a disaster waiting to happen. Not only for overhanging fixturing but for chips, tools and slugs. To help this Haas has put a coolant block that flows the chips down either side of the rear cover. But as I have seen and heard many times the rear way cover replacement is just part of a consumable and a prize you win for owning a Haas
 
We got a new VF-3SS with a TR-160Y trunnion about two and a half years ago (before the NexGen control). 15K RPM, 1000PSI spindle coolant, 41 tools, probing, etc. Using it for Ti6Al4V orthopedic plates and 17-4 H900 surgical implements. On the very rare occasion I put aluminum in it it really seems to haul, but I don't have a lot of reference. I had to have the rotary union for the coolant replaced, which had leaked and damaged the spindle motor, but the fixes were pretty fast and cheap. Other than that no complaints. Got it through Productivity who've been pretty good at keeping me happy.
 
Im just curious. So the VF3/4 is is going to be a more stable cutting platform over the VF1/2 because the linear rails are farther apart and possibly wider/beefier rails? And possibly a little bit more casting to absorb vibration?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Concerning VF4, currently its out of the budget... And i really dont know if it would capable of fast machining the large production run of the parts not exceeding the size of 1 inch on the side... Yes, we doing such small crap too..

Hmm, that got me curious: What is the price difference between the VF3 and 4 in Ukraine?
Here in the US the base price diff is 3K USD, otherwise the options are all the same. IOW if you price out the VF3, all you need to do is somehow come up with another 3K and
you've got a 50" machine.
 
I have a 2015 VF4ss and a 2016 VF2ss both are "PRE" nexgen machine and both get the same programs and parts ran in them and a lot of days I run the same parts on both ... and I can tell you well I like the bigger table on the VF4SS I would not buy a second one unless I needed the 50" X travel ...
The VF2ss is way nicer to load and unload parts and fixtures into and its more ridged ( You read that right) The smaller vf2ss is more ridged and can take a bigger cut the the larger VF4SS mill...Its not just in my head.. tools last longer and I get better finishes off the VF2SS
 
I have a 2015 VF4ss and a 2016 VF2ss both are "PRE" nexgen machine and both get the same programs and parts ran in them and a lot of days I run the same parts on both ... and I can tell you well I like the bigger table on the VF4SS I would not buy a second one unless I needed the 50" X travel ...
The VF2ss is way nicer to load and unload parts and fixtures into and its more ridged ( You read that right) The smaller vf2ss is more ridged and can take a bigger cut the the larger VF4SS mill...Its not just in my head.. tools last longer and I get better finishes off the VF2SS

Rigid(You spelled that wrong).
 
Opps
Its a bad day when I get busted by the Alabama spelling cop. Must be the home depot coffee I drank

I actually debated posting that, but since the OP was from the Ukraine, I did. I'm not much for spelling police on tech forums, but the (You read that right)pushed me over to the dark side!
 
I prolly might could do that.

Oh, and on VF-3 vs VF-4, I think the 3 has better accelerations due to a lighter table with the same servos, so there is a trade-off.
 
Parts run just as fast on the vf2ss as the vf4ss ,,, the biggest slowdown is the spindle ,, I run at 50% rapids on the machines and there is vary little time savings with the rapids turned up. I run the same parts about every week and have found out with 11 tools that the vf2ss is about 12 seconds faster than the vf4ss and with rapids at 100% over 50% I save just over 40 sec on a 53 min run time.
 
I have a 2015 VF4ss and a 2016 VF2ss both are "PRE" nexgen machine and both get the same programs and parts ran in them and a lot of days I run the same parts on both ... and I can tell you well I like the bigger table on the VF4SS I would not buy a second one unless I needed the 50" X travel ...
The VF2ss is way nicer to load and unload parts and fixtures into and its more ridged ( You read that right) The smaller vf2ss is more ridged and can take a bigger cut the the larger VF4SS mill...Its not just in my head.. tools last longer and I get better finishes off the VF2SS

Sorry, did i understand properly, VF2 is more rigid than VF4? How come? Its weight is nearly twice less than VF4...

What is the reason you set the rapids on 50%? Will 100% rapids will harm motors or ballscrew on that speeds?
 








 
Back
Top