Wish I had the money for this Mill

The money is the easy part with something like that. Would it work for knifemaking? Ask Aaron Gough.
 
For 1200 $ , if it is here I will bye it at once . Even if I had to use it only for drilling hole for pins . .. ... .. :)
 
Did you read the ad?

It's not for sale.

You pay moving costs and he keeps it, you get visiting rights.

If he doesn't have enough to pay riggers to move, who pays the maintenance and upgrades it needs ?

They have good parts and support, but it will cost real money to get it working the way it should.
If I have to do that, I want possession and control.

 
He changed the ad, and the price. He must have received many calls. The price was $1200 and all you had to do was move it. The ad said nothing about him keeping it.
 
I HATE fadal mills. I have ran a bunch of them and most of them sucked. That guy is crazy, lol
 
A Fadal with .005 backlash isn't going to do a great job in steel. If I had a mill like that in my shop I'd probably scrap it. It might could be repaired, but why would you repair someone else's Mill. That thing has a negative value.


You can't effectively comp .005. your finish and accuracy would be terrible and you couldn't climb Mill
 
Old Mills are notorious for spindles. The old grease goes bad in the bearings. They run fine for a little while but go bad in a few hundred hours. A spindle rebuild is 4k and I figure it in when buying an older machine.
 
Sorry for the multiple posts I'm trying to post from my phone. My kids can do it but it's harder than I thought...

A reasonably mechanically inclined person can get into a good CNC setup for about 20 grand. Things need maintenance and adjustment but a good working machine can be found for that. Newer faster and better are nice but you can earn a living on something older if it's tight and in good condition. And you can waste a lot of money trying to nurse a clapped out POS back into shape.

You need good ways and ballscrews, a good reliable controller and a fresh spindle is nice.

In my opinion it is best to avoid oddball controllers, anything with Windows or PC built into it, and really old hardware with DC drives or analog motion control. I've been down that road.
 
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Nathan the Machinist said:
Newer faster and better are nice but you can earn a living on something older if it's tight and in good condition. And you can waste a lot of money trying to nurse a clapped out POS back into shape.

You need good ways and ballscrews, a good reliable controller and a fresh spindle is nice.

In my opinion it is best to avoid oddball controllers, anything with Windows or PC built into it, and really old hardware with DC drives or analog motion control. I've been down that road.
Click to expand...

Is there any brand or machine in particular you would or wouldn't get used ?

I like the idea of Fadals - manuals online in Englishi, all parts available in the US without having to order from Japan.

Any controllers you like or don't like ?

Like or hate Haas and or the new controller ?
 
Sorry for the misleading post

I wish I had a screen shot for the original add. I posted this add in case someone else was interested. The person that posted the add has changed it a couple times. I don’t have the room or the money for a mill especially one of this size. The original add didn’t mention that you hold on to it for a couple years (you pay to move it but it’s not yours to keep) I posted this add in case someone else was interested.

I appreciate all the input on mills in general so as the day I am ready to buy one I will be armed with great advise thanks to those here.
 
12345678910 said:
Is there any brand or machine in particular you would or wouldn't get used ?

I like the idea of Fadals - manuals online in Englishi, all parts available in the US without having to order from Japan.

Any controllers you like or don't like ?

Like or hate Haas and or the new controller ?
Click to expand...

Nobody likes Haas, they use them because they're cheap, easy, cost effective and they do the job. They're the front wheel drive four cylinder economy car of the machining world. I've run plenty of them but I doubt I'll ever buy one.

There are some lemons to stay away from for sure but I can't give an exaustive list.

Personally I really like Makino and Mori Seiki.

Fanuc controls are reliable mainstays in industry. They don't break much and are easy to repair when they do. They don't flake out.
 
I like Haas. Unlike Fadals or other budget machines they at least add features that make sense and their usability is far ahead of anything Asian. Cheap, easy and cost effective and do the job like Nathan said, is a perfect description. If I were going to buy a CNC mill for my own personal use it would more than likely be a Haas VF2. I don't know why they have such a poor reputation honestly. We have Toyoda, Toshiba, Okuma, Mori/DMG, and Haas on our floor. We've had Mazaks and Cincinnati in the past. With the exception of one machine that Haas didn't develop very well initially (EC 630) and then cancelled shortly after, they've not been any more maintenance intensive than the others, and far easier to do that maintenance or get support on than all but Toyoda. And even that machine we eventually straightened out and ran some 50,000 parts off over 10 years. Only now am I looking to sell it off.

That's VMCs and HMCs however, their lathes seem to be held together by bubble gum and the turrets can be pushed out of alignment by simply taking too heavy of a cut.

We only machine steel, every machine on our floor but the VF2 is 50 taper. We push 3.031" laminate drills with the VF5s and 6s. Haas didn't think it would work but we even modifed one VF5 to hold a 4 spindle gang head that tapped some million holes over the course of that contract.

Anyway. I agree Fanuc controls are the most stable in the industry. The fewest flakeouts, the fewest component failures. They are reliable as can be, the code is widespread and the knowledge base is huge. Haas code and program layout is almost identical to Fanuc, which makes them easy to program as well, with a couple minor exceptions and some really handy Haas specific G and M codes that increase usability, especially in an ad-hoc shop where programs may not be done with 3d models and CAM software.

There are a few brands of machine I've purchased that I wish I never had and likely never will again, Okuma, DMG, Accurpress, but Haas isn't one of them, in mills anyway.
 
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