Looking to buy Haas SuperMini - Thoughts?

[ewest]

Hello,

I'm looking in to buying a Haas Supermini. There's currently one Milltronics CNC here, and it's big and heavy, and has served us well, but it's time for something with high speed capabilities. We mostly work in aluminum, and I'm doing more and more small detail work, and the 15K RPM spindle looks like a good option for me. There's a lot of die, jig, and light mold work to be done. We also work in Delrin and some stainless.

How noisy are these units? I've read that the chip augers are lousy, but I don't think we'll need one. We don't do production. Is maintenance easy? Fast? It's got serial ports, right? A lot of my programs are pretty big. Should we get the extra RAM or just dripfeed?

What about other brands? This machine is in my price range and feature range, but are there other options I should look in to?

Thanks!

Andy Baker

New York, NY

[Geof]

Have you tried doing a search on the Zone? I have commented in many posts about the Haas Super MiniMill. I don't want to repeat everything here but if you have any specific questions I may be able to answer them.

[jackson]

i have an older mini and it works great and i have a new VF-2 with a 12k spindal and it is fairly quiet for running 12k, i'm not a big haas fan but they have improved a great deal and you cant hardly beat the cost for a new one and i would say as long as your not doing a lot of hard heavy cuts in stainless it should last you awhile and be a good machine and i really like the USB port instead of floppy disc.

[SORCHEROR]

you wont find a better machine for the price with high speed capabilities,i own a regular hass but a friend has had the mini mill for about a year now,its not loud at all and has run problem free,maintinence is simple and easy,they have RS-232 port and floppy drive for program tranfers,the hass control is the easiest to run of all the machines ive worked with,and thats quite alot,
the best part of the hass is the service,they are almost always local and fast to respond with a good stock of spare parts.good luck with what ever machine u buy
steve

[PBMW]

I just bought a Sharp 2412s. Box ways, 16 tools, 10K spindle, Fanuc 0iMc control with AI contouring and AI NANO. Chip conveyer, Yada Yada...About the same money as a nicely equiped Super mini Haas. It will machine rings around the Haas. I have a Haas sitting next to it... My mini is a nice machine that just keeps making me money but the sharp is one heck of a lot more rigid. More power too
Just my .02. There are in fact more choices out there

[jackson]

Originally Posted by PBMW I just bought a Sharp 2412s. Box ways, 16 tools, 10K spindle, Fanuc 0iMc control with AI contouring and AI NANO. Chip conveyer, Yada Yada...About the same money as a nicely equiped Super mini Haas. It will machine rings around the Haas. I have a Haas sitting next to it... My mini is a nice machine that just keeps making me money but the sharp is one heck of a lot more rigid. More power too Just my .02. There are in fact more choices out there

I just looked at the sharps online and they defenitly are better built than a haas and no dout would last longer and run circules around a haas, i didnt look at pricing but the one thing that the haas has that the sharp does not is the higher rpm my older VF-2 only has 7,500 but i run a speeder so tha i can run 21,000 on alum. on my new VF-2ss i have 12k and i use every bit of that on brass, so for me the and the amount of parts i do the haas has more of what i need

[ewest]

Yes, the sharp machine looks nice... but I don't see an option to go above 10K RPM... And you say the prices are comperable to the Haas?

Sounds pretty good, I just wonder about the spindle speed.

Andy

[srstol]

We have a super mini on the floor at work and it has been a good performer. I work at an all haas shop with about 30 vertical machines and the mini is one of the more trouble free units.

I would look pretty close at the sharp and also some of the other options out there. Hardinge, Daewoo, and Brother make viable alternatives. Fanuc robodrills are solid too. There are other makes out there too.

http://www.hardingeus.com/index.asp?pageID=63&prodID=36
http://www.brother.com/europe/machine/index.htm
http://domss.doosaninfracore.com/cus...asp?model=2162

Rob.

[gizmo_454]

I wish we would have had the extra $$$ when it came to the Mini we have. We would have bought a Super Mini Mill. Our Mini Mill has been an excellent machine. No real issues. Just not a fast enough spindle for the small parts we work on.

Also, unless you plan on doing only mold work, the HA5CB with a chuck and tail stock would be advisable addition. We got the indexer, but I neglected to get the chuck and tail stock. I could really use them right about now. LOL

From what I can see, if you have the ceiling height, you might want the extra 4" of Z clearance. As anyone else will tell you, by the time you put a vise on the table, it does not leave a lot of extra head room.

Hope this helps. Good luck in your search!!!

[mwteng]

I just took delivery of a new Hardinge/Bridgeport XV710 after pretty much deciding on a Sharp 2412. I got the XV710 with the 10K spindle and by a mistake within Hardinge got the 24 tool swingarm toolchanger for no additional cost! I had researched the Sharp for about a year and it is a very nice machine for the money, but the Hardinge is a nicer machine, has 28" x 18" travel and is just darn impressive with the build quality and support. And this was for only a little more money than a Haas mini mill, which is NO comparison.

[ewest]

Well, I think the idea of a new machine is getting thrown out the window. Apparently, now I'm in the market for a used mini center. Wish me luck, fellas.

Andy