Fadal

[Haas_Apps]

As most of you know I work for Haas and you are probably puzzled by the title of this post. I recently found out that MAG will be relocating Fadal from its current location in Chatsworth CA to its G & L facility in Fond Du Lac WI sometime in March of this year. I realize in the current economic state that this is probably a good business decision. I, on the other hand, hope that this does not signal the death of Fadal. I have worked on Fadal machines for years prior to becoming employed with Haas and I am a bit sentimental about Fadal. They taught me a lot about CNC machining. On occasion, during trips to Haas/Fadal customers for training I even helped train them a little on features of their Fadal machine and how to use them.

I will miss seeing all of the Fadal guys in southern California and I hope that MAG does not kill the brand.

[DEAN]

Where are the founders of Fadal today?
Man, they go way back. I wish there was a Wikipedia article on them.

edit:
After a little remedial math; I'd suspect they are all deceased or damn near.

[WallyL7]

I won't miss them. They never impressed me much, in a side-by-side daily comparison with Haas, and lost much respect when they couldn't put out a decent lathe.

I understand your sentimental, but they have been passed down so many times, they have no idea which way is up.

I would have never ever considered purchasing a new one. They've been dead to me for years.IMHO

Dollar for dollar I'd choose Haas every time (between Haas and Fadal). One of the guys I managed at my last shop was a die-hard Fadal guy, though. He'd go down swinging for Fadal. We'd all just laugh as the owners installed new Haas' every year.

[makingchips]

It would have been great if HAAS and Fadal got together and had little Fadaas's running around. I could see it now...... A HAAS control and servo's on a Fadal's Boxed ways. That would be one hell of a machine! I have both a 4020 and a VF4 SS they both have their place.

MC

[kojack]

Originally Posted by makingchips It would have been great if HAAS and Fadal got together and had little Fadaas's running around. I could see it now...... A HAAS control and servo's on a Fadal's Boxed ways. That would be one hell of a machine! I have both a 4020 and a VF4 SS they both have their place. MC

Yea I wish the Haas had Box ways and extended Z colums

But I have a Fadal and the control is a joke compared to a HAAS

[WallyL7]

I never seemed to notice the box way's on the Fadals being any better than the Haas ways. The machines castings weren't stout enough to benefit from the box way advantage, from my experience.

We used to do the same jobs on both Haas and Fadals. X Y Z rigidity seemed almost identical. We all used to agree that the old 710 ipm haas with the 22 horse gearbox was the toughest machine we had (we had only one with the 22 horse). This in a shop with two 4020's, a 6030, vf-8, and four vf-2's. So before you Mazak trolls laugh, keep in mind that is what we compared them to.

What is your experience comparing the 4020 to the Haas makingchips?

[makingchips]

Originally Posted by WallyL7 I never seemed to notice the box way's on the Fadals being any better than the Haas ways. The machines castings weren't stout enough to benefit from the box way advantage, from my experience. We used to do the same jobs on both Haas and Fadals. X Y Z rigidity seemed almost identical. We all used to agree that the old 710 ipm haas with the 22 horse gearbox was the toughest machine we had (we had only one with the 22 horse). This in a shop with two 4020's, a 6030, vf-8, and four vf-2's. So before you Mazak trolls laugh, keep in mind that is what we compared them to. What is your experience comparing the 4020 to the Haas makingchips?

I use the 40x20x28 for mold work I use the VF4 for live 5 axis work. We just bought the VF4 to replace the old Fadal 5 axis we had. We got the linear scales on the HAAS so it is very accurate compared to the old Fadal.

The last place I worked had 3 Fadal's 2 Haas's and a Makino A55. We made aerospace parts mostly titanium and stainless, during heavy cutting the Fadal would hold true all day long with no tool chatter the HAAS you would have to take lighter cuts to get the same results with no tool chatter due to the rigidity. They both have their pros and cons for instance the Fadals tools would often get stuck in the spindle when under heavy load for long periods of time. The new HAAS can change a tool in 1.2 seconds.
MC

[WallyL7]

That just goes to show you how different opinions can be, yet both be just fine. We did a lot of oil industry stuff - real thick nasty tough chromoly parts (among the aerospace and medical SS and Titanium parts we did as well).

Our experience was that the Haas just had a little more grunt (spindle?) and could run those big parts faster. It also seemed more accurate at the end of the day, and our Fadal's always left start/stop lines (at least more than the Haas).

That same Haas loved to get super hot running 10k all day and hold onto tools!!!

Oh, well - guess it doesn't matter now if they are going Bye Bye...

[carbidecraters]

Originally Posted by WallyL7 That just goes to show you how different opinions can be, yet both be just fine. We did a lot of oil industry stuff - real thick nasty tough chromoly parts (among the aerospace and medical SS and Titanium parts we did as well). Our experience was that the Haas just had a little more grunt (spindle?) and could run those big parts faster. It also seemed more accurate at the end of the day, and our Fadal's always left start/stop lines (at least more than the Haas). That same Haas loved to get super hot running 10k all day and hold onto tools!!! Oh, well - guess it doesn't matter now if they are going Bye Bye...

I remember years ago guys compaining about start and stop lines with Fadal machines but since 1994 we havent had any becasue we keep up on our backlash and have never even tightened a strap or gib or replaced any turcite. Granted the majority of what we machine is aluminum and mild steel. I dont think this signals the death of Fadal at all I think they are smart to get the hell out of california and into a state where the corporate tax is alot less as well as the wages. Heck they are even closer to our shop now so maybe I will finally be able to get a couple of empty vh65 units in here.