Who has a Haas DT or DM?

I found a killer deal on a brand new Haas DT1 with all the options I am wanting (15k spindle, probing, HSM, 4th axis, auger). Wondering what you guys that have them think of them. I will just be machining smaller aluminum parts and plan to use HSM toolpaths for practically everything.

How is the surface finish? Does it do well 3d surfaces?

Anything you don't like about it?

I have read and watched every video I can find. Would just love to hear more from people that have one. Thanks!

I got a new DM2 at the end of last year and its a nice machine, Its a LOT faster on the tool changes than the vf2ss mills I mostly run I would not get a second one , its only like 7" smaller on the width whan the vf2 mills its really not any faster once your in the cut and has less HP than the vf mill and I am not sold on the tool changer, do to the size of the tool changer drum it makes the table further back from the door for loading parts and the door its self is a lot smaller, For the small alum parts I make on the machine its ok, but all in all the machine is just not as universal as the VF mills,

As for finish
The HSM tool paths are not meant as a finish cut and well it moves faster than the VF mills like I wrote before its not the same power as a VF and once your in the cut it runs faster but you cant cut as hard or heavy as a VF. The 15K spindle would be nice for finishing but your not going to remove the bulk of the alum any faster and that with the 40 taper spindle, most of my roughing cuts are "NOT" HSM in that I have found they work great on steel but not as good on alum ,,, Even with onecnc cad/cam and that, I still hand code all my production parts in that I can edit them easily to save air cutting time and also to change feed line by line, There is a lot of programs that I change feed on about every line to push the tool just as hard as I can. if you have a long (1" or more ) straight cut you can feed about twice as fast as you can on a inside corner ,, even if the corner is double the tool RAD the chip load well go up in the corner, that's one HUGE down side with cad/cam in that there set up to run all cutting conditions for that tool as the same speed and feed.

I am "NOT" a 30 taper fan and well I can see I upside for some parts under the right conditions I like the versatility on the 40 taper,,, my go to tool is a 3/8" or 1/2" cutter in a 3" holder and just see way to many limitations with the 30 taper. well I have not read about guys snapping pull studs on the DT mills I don`t see why they would not be doing it just like the brothers machines.

I am going to get some chit for saying this but in my book the 30 taper is good for light milling and great for a drill tap center but if you want a real milling machine look at 40 taper. I make about 6K to 8K pounds of alum chips a month and run the Haas 12k spindles up to 150% power every day, about 50% of my programs would never make it to the M30 with a 30 taper pull stud .
I would say get a 40 taper machine to start with and "IF" you find your self doing a lot of light milling and drill/tap work then look at adding a 30 taper to the mix.

Bottom line is even the DM2 has a lot of limitations in my book and I like the VF2SS machine a lot more.
31 tools over 19 tools
about twice the HP
way bigger door opening
a lot heavier built
more Z height for 4th axis work
longer tools allowed
a lot easier to load parts.
( the list goes on )

This is interesting because I have been looking at a DM2. I like the idea of the DM series because I can use my existing CAT40 tools between machines.
My biggest concerns were (as DD stated) HP, tool capacity, door opening, rigidity.


FWIW, BROTHERFRANK will be dropping into this conversation in 3...2...1....

I have 8 Haas dm2s. Love em...

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

as9100d said:

I have 8 Haas dm2s. Love em...

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

What material do you run? Is the HP sufficient or rather anemic??

D.D.Machine said:

...Bottom line is even the DM2 has a lot of limitations in my book and I like the VF2SS machine a lot more.
31 tools over 19 tools
about twice the HP
way bigger door opening
a lot heavier built
more Z height for 4th axis work
longer tools allowed
a lot easier to load parts.
( the list goes on )

Click to expand...

I didn't even think about the door opening. Thanks for the post that is super helpful.

the HP is not bad but its not up there with the VF mills ..

for the most part a DM is a DT with a 40 taper spindle, there like 5,500 lbs were as the vf2 is 8,300 lbs ,,, there is a lot smaller linear rails and there closer together and just the castings and everything are a lot smaller ,,, its build to be a drill/tap with milling capability .

Our 2014 DT1 is ok. The rapids are fast and it can handle a pretty decent cut in DC53 for being a small machine. All in all it's a decent machine, however for the work we do I would look at something else. The 7.00000" limited tool length and width of the door opening really suck. Also the 4" from spindle nose to table is too big of a gap to me. Most work isn't an issue, but I find myself having to block up too many fixture plates. The 3D profiling is ok, but I find that the acceleration and deceleration speeds are less than desirable when profiling smaller features.

ChipSplitter said:

What material do you run? Is the HP sufficient or rather anemic??

Click to expand...

We run lots of 4140 and aluminum as well as delrins and they work great. It's not an okuma or a Mori seiki but it's fast, reliable, repeatable, and the auto coolant refill is the best option [emoji23]

We use hsm tool paths for all materials and things like aluminum or plastics we just increase the stepover size.



Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Have a whole row of DT-1's making Walmart's new facial recognition camera housings we put in a few years ago. Well over 16 million 4-40 and 6-32 holes drilled and tapped and not a single machine failure. Of course their not big hoggers but thats what you get with a 30 taper. I like the DT over the DM in parts that have lots of tapped holes. Since the 40 has so much more spindle bulk and heavier tools its much slower than the 30 even with the bigger motor. Thats a lot of inertia to start and stop. If I pull a pallet from the DT to the DM and run the same program with lots of threads the DM falls off. But then again if it's removing material the DM will take the checkered. You just need to balance out the kind of work you do with the spindle you need.