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    Default Another what kind of vertical mill for a garage

    I have narrowed it down to fadal and haas but need some advice in what to look for. I would like to make small production runs that mills stainless, steel, aluminum and plastics that would fit in a garage. I notice that there are a lot of fadals out there but not sure what year or model would be good for a newbie who only knows solidworks and is taking cnc course at my local college. I would like to find a deal but I'm willing to go as far as 17k, im not sure if that would get me turnkey machine but I'm hoping for some good advise.

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  2. #2

    Default Re: Another what kind of vertical mill for a garage

    If you are going to go Fadal, and are using in your garage. I would go with either a 15 , 15xt, or perferrably (the cast iron version of the 15 or 15xt the 2216L or 3016L). (very reliable and Low maintenance) All Linear like All the Haas machines out there. No Gibs or Turcite to worry about. Just make sure they have the Waylube system and not the Grease system for the Linear rails. Those machines you can eaisly maintain yourself. And the newer the better ( atleast a -5 system on the control)



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    Default Re: Another what kind of vertical mill for a garage

    Thanks, Rodney247

    I like fadal for the price but when I asked my local service tech what he thought he recommended haas. Im guessing his reason was that fadal has been out of businesss for a while and To fix the machine I would have to source parts from a cannibalize machine. I don't know i might have to rethink what and when I'm going to start making chips.



  4. #4

    Default Re: Another what kind of vertical mill for a garage

    Well Fadal is still around its considered the New Fadal (which isnt compatible with the Old Fadal) fadal.com

    But lots of after market suppliers and techs still servicing and repairing and rebuilders. And Fadals can easily be repaired by owners

    indexdesignscnc.com
    itscnc.com
    calmotion.com

    find a large list of fadal service techs here fadalcnc.com

    all the manuals here flintmachine.com service too



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    Default Re: Another what kind of vertical mill for a garage

    Quote Originally Posted by xyzguy View Post
    Thanks, Rodney247

    I like fadal for the price but when I asked my local service tech what he thought he recommended haas. Im guessing his reason was that fadal has been out of businesss for a while and To fix the machine I would have to source parts from a cannibalize machine. I don't know i might have to rethink what and when I'm going to start making chips.
    Did you get a Fadal? I'm considering one as well, I'd love to know how you like it.

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk



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    No, I haven't yet. I'm looking for the something that will fit my budget and have enough left over for tooling but tooling is not a deal breaker. If the price is fair and it's on the higher end of my budget, I'm going for it. The issue I'm running into is location. I'm in Washington and every time I'm looking for machines they are always listed in Michigan, Chicago, Massachusetts, ny and the ones in cali or around WA are over priced even if you throw in shipping cost and since this is my first machine I want to be there for when the tech runs the machine through its paces... I thought I would be able to find something by know but no luck and my plan to have a machine by the end of summer this year might not happen... I don't know if the market is seasonal but the prices are fairly competitive for what I'm looking for so it not as simple as deciding what machine... anyway good luck and if you found something and you want to share your experience don't forget my post here... I would like to know how garages cnc machinest set up their garage, maybe that should be another post/subject..



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    Default Re: Another what kind of vertical mill for a garage

    Quote Originally Posted by xyzguy View Post
    No, I haven't yet. I'm looking for the something that will fit my budget and have enough left over for tooling but tooling is not a deal breaker. If the price is fair and it's on the higher end of my budget, I'm going for it. The issue I'm running into is location. I'm in Washington and every time I'm looking for machines they are always listed in Michigan, Chicago, Massachusetts, ny and the ones in cali or around WA are over priced even if you throw in shipping cost and since this is my first machine I want to be there for when the tech runs the machine through its paces... I thought I would be able to find something by know but no luck and my plan to have a machine by the end of summer this year might not happen... I don't know if the market is seasonal but the prices are fairly competitive for what I'm looking for so it not as simple as deciding what machine... anyway good luck and if you found something and you want to share your experience don't forget my post here... I would like to know how garages cnc machinest set up their garage, maybe that should be another post/subject..
    I'm still looking, I'm leaning away from Fadal/Haas at the moment, I'm heading they are really slow, can barely handle cutting 150 IPM. I'm not sure yet, but the calmotion guy tells me that the 4020 will do 250 IPM just fine with their $9k retrofit. But that's adding a good amount of money IMO. .. Gonna make a difference in my decision. Other then that I'm trying to figure out how new I have to go with a Haas to get how much better performance. I have two Tormach Chinese mills that cut at 135 IPM all day, I can't see dropping 20-30-40k to cut a tiny bit faster. I was ok with it bc of the bigger table but I can't fit a vf3, it's too tall. So the 4020 will fit, it's got a big table, but it's slow, for 9k I can make it faster, but for ten k I can get a robodrill and just deal with a smaller table....ugh I dunno what I'm gonna do. I'm appreciating my Tormach more and more everyday..

    I'll keep you posted, you do the same please, good luck.

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk



  8. #8

    Default Re: Another what kind of vertical mill for a garage

    Not just about how fast you can go or how fast you can go and the spindle keep up.

    Its how fast you can go and keep track of the servos and be very accurate and exact, No gouging and No cutting corners when when changing direction.





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    Default Re: Another what kind of vertical mill for a garage

    Agreeded! That calmotion retro seems to be the hot ticket, their rep told me it will hold tight at 250ipm no problem. From what I've heard and found out so far that kicks the **** out of any Fadal/ Haas under 30k that I've seen. I just don't want to dump 9k (that's what it costs) on top of a 15k mill that may need 5k in maintaining right off the bat to get it up to par. Ugh...

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

    Last edited by tbev; 04-08-2017 at 10:19 AM.


  10. #10

    Default Re: Another what kind of vertical mill for a garage

    tbev if you get a used Fadal just make sure its got the -5 system and hopefully the optional memory expansion (the mem expansions range from i think 166k to i could be wrong 16megs) most common is the 422k. Newer Fadal's will be AC. Or go visit a shop that has a Fadal with similar specs and get his opinion to see what its capable of or give me a call at www.indexdesignscnc.com same building as Calmotion. We mfg. rotary tables for VMC's sizes 5c to 15" and 5 axis



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    Default Re: Another what kind of vertical mill for a garage

    Quote Originally Posted by rodney247 View Post
    tbev if you get a used Fadal just make sure its got the -5 system and hopefully the optional memory expansion (the mem expansions range from i think 166k to i could be wrong 16megs) most common is the 422k. Newer Fadal's will be AC. Or go visit a shop that has a Fadal with similar specs and get his opinion to see what its capable of or give me a call at www.indexdesignscnc.com same building as Calmotion. We mfg. rotary tables for VMC's sizes 5c to 15" and 5 axis
    Thanks buddy, if I go the Fadal route I will for sure come by, I would like to either way. I'd like to find an old Fadal in decent shape for around ten, but the ones with -5 systems, or the 32 bit or newer controllers I have seen are all over 20K. It's of people have told me to get an ac machine, newer control, etc, but again those are all twice as expensive, from what I've seen anyways.
    I totally agree with what your saying, holding tolerance at speed is the name of the game, I've seen a 32mb 4020 run adaptive paths around 250ipm but it's only holding 0.003ish I'm trying to find the cheapest way to cut the fastest, I'm not quite sold on anything yet...

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk



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