Hey Datum 1,
I am also a fan of linear ways. I'm in a shop with 3 Haas VMC's and 1 Haas SL-40 lathe. Our oldest Haas VMC is a 1995 and the newest is a 2001 we have never had any limitations based on the way design. Our biggest limitation has been that all of our VMC's are 40 taper. We have a VF-5 that we wish was a 50 taper. We also cut all types of material from plastic to aluminium to 17-4 stainless steel to titanium. We work these machines hard and fast! Seem to be great machines. I know that there are better(more expensive) machines out there but you get a lot of bang for the buck with Haas.
Seth |