HAAS VF2 aftermarket controls possible?

[86turbodsl]

guys, tell me if I'm crazy. I ran across a VF2, older one, and it's got some controls issues.

Has anyone ever put hobby type controls on a HAAS?

This isn't for production, more like hobby/prototype usage. Home shop.

Yes, I have the room and can power it.

Or would I be better off with a converted bridgeport?

It's REALLY cheap.

[Machineit]

I have seen a couple on eBay with after market controls. They pretty much stayed there and would not sell.

But, if you are just doing it for a hobby it might be fun.

Mike

[mactec54]

86turbodsl

Why not, you could change it for anything you want, there are some very good controls
you could put on it, It still may be cheaper to see what is wrong with it & fix it, Haas will still have all the parts for it

[86turbodsl]

Update:

the seller informed me that he doesn't know what is wrong with it, it just sets alarms and stops.

Sounds like a pretty big unknown.

[86turbodsl]

Mactec:

Not being terribly up on controls for aftermarket, I'm more in the cnc plasma arena mostly, is there anything hobbyist focused available? Something like gecko ?

[Machineit]

I think I found the one you are looking at. Looks real rough.

A couple of things to remember:

1. Rigging and shipping will not be cheap. Not sure how far you are from it, but $2,000 to $3,000 should be about right.

2. Whether or not it is the control, the machines are pretty easy to fix and all parts are available. Might be easy to fix or may need a lot of parts though.

3. You may have the room, but make sure it can fit under you garage door. My VF-2 would fit in my garage too, but never through the door.

Have fun.

[86turbodsl]

It's probably academic at this point.

the guy said he's got to move it within a week of purchase, and I've got more ducks not in a row than that...

My shop has a 16 x 12' door, 14' ceilings, and not nearly enough open space in it at the moment. Stuff needs to move out.

As far as moving, I'm 3 hours away, and have a 25' gooseneck with tandem duals (10 ton running gear), also have a father in law who hauls commercially and owns a flatbed with a Volvo class 8 truck.

At my end, I don't have anything that will lift 8000 lbs, so I'd need a crane here.

The guy also said he had offers on it already, so it probably won't go that cheap anyway. It'd be a wet dream of mine, but it's probably more sense to just use a cnc'd bridgeport for my prototyping needs. I'm not tied to production timeframes.

[haastec]

Update:

the seller informed me that he doesn't know what is wrong with it, it just sets alarms and stops.

Sounds like a pretty big unknown.

Most likely the seller knows a whole lot more that what is being relayed.

Good luck!

[86turbodsl]

I had thought that too, of course.

The seller said that the job that was on that machine was gone when he got it, which makes me think he acquired the machine when he bought another company or something.

He made it sound like it was never under power at his location. who knows. Not sure I want my first cnc at home machine to be such an unknown anyway...

especially when things like spindle drives cost about 5k.

[Machineit]

Is the machine the one that is on eBay right now?

Mike

[djr76]

Cant you call up Haas with the serial # and get a whole history report on the machine? There might not be that much wrong with it, but who knows, only way to tell is put pwr to it. Id fix it and keep it original if it isnt to much to fix, you can make lots of money with your own VF2.

[86turbodsl]

Yeah, it's the ebay one. I agree it looks pretty rough.