Can I get a congrats?

[TravisR100]

There is nothing worse than hitting the back button by accident after typing for 20 minutes only to hit the forward button to find out your post has disappeared. So here's the shorter version of what I just typed.

My new SMM2 just showed up yesterday. The movers showed up yesterday morning. Wow, Haas really packs these things. It's in a bag, then covered by two tarps, then shrink wrapped. I was originally concerned about it fitting through my 70" wide shop doors in my garage. My local HFO sales guy went to measure one since he couldn't get any good measurements from Haas. Haas likes to publish the max operating dimensions but not the "getting it through a door" dimensions. He got some new drawings (July 09) from Haas for the SMM2 and sent them to me. I was skeptical since they showed the dimensions including the extra 7" on the left side from the door extending when open. Those of you who know the SMM2 realize that the 7" extra on the door opening is only on a SMM, not a SMM2. This is my "knock" on the Haas sales guy. He went to a local university that had one so he could measure it for me. He tells me that it will fit but he's vague about the dimensions I ask for. What he did was find out that they also got theirs through a 70" door so obviously it will fit through my 70" door. What he neglected to find out was that they had to remove the control panel and parts of the electrical panel to get it to fit.

So, the movers show up, wheel it in, and no-go. It won't fit. I call the sales guy. He says help is on the way. In 30 minutes they had a tech out to remove the control panel as well as parts of the electrical cabinet. After that it fit with 1/4" of clearance on each side.

This was Thursday (yesterday). Last night I spent all night sweating copper pipe for the air line for the machine. Haas managed to get a tech out today to do the setup. The tech arrived, we fired up the phase converter, and off to work he went. After about an hour I walked through the garage to the shop. I noticed the motor on the converter sounded suddenly louder. I asked the tech if he had fired up the spindle. No. He noticed the noise as well. Back to the garage and I find the phase converter panel pouring smoke. I grabbed the extinguisher and we shut everything down. The converter panel by this time was not only smoking but leaking liquid. Turns out the liquid came from the blown capacitors. Two of the three start capacitors blew. After long conversations with the tech at the manufacturer we determined that the relay that energizes the start capacitor had opened (NC relay) energizing those capacitors. He said it had to be a voltage drop. I have this nifty device that logs the voltage and current in the panel every second for the last two hours. A check of that indicated no voltage drop.

I'm happy the house didn't burn down but sad the Haas tech couldn't complete the setup.

Kudos to Haas. They got my install scheduled the next day after delivery. When it wouldn't fit through the door, they had a tech here in 30 minutes to make it fit. And to Gentec/American Rotary. I was able to get straight through to a competent technician even after hours. And I kept that guy on the phone for hours while we figured out what must be wrong. They are overnighting a new relay and set of capacitors for Saturday delivery at no charge. And the Haas tech will be back out tomorrow (Saturday) to finish the install if all is well with the phase converter.

I'm excited. It's my first CNC machine and first Haas. Hopefully it will all get into working condition shortly.

BTW, the Haas HFO I'm dealing with is Champion Machine here in Houston. The contact that sold me my converter and who has helped me with that problem is Jay at American Rotary.

Pictures for your viewing pleasure.

[Geof]

They do pack the Haas machines well. Back a few years the ones they shipped up here also had a wooden crate around the machine as well as all the bags and plastic. I have a fence built from Haas crates down the side of my property.

It is exciting getting a new machine; at least for the first 15 or so.

[crabbass]

I dont understand why you would go to the trouble of sweating copper pipe for your air supply. Why not use hose? Plastic tubing is a clean and easy installation also.

You say this is your first CNC. Are you a machinist? I see a lot of non-machinist "hobby" guys on these forums. I too would love to have a machine at home. Are you going to manufacture a product to justify it's cost, or do you have a large hobby budget?

[Geof]

Originally Posted by crabbass I dont understand why you would go to the trouble of sweating copper pipe for your air supply. Why not use hose? Plastic tubing is a clean and easy installation also.....

Plastic tubing is only a good idea if it is the type that is rated for compressed air; regular plastic water pipe is not suitable.

Hose is okay but if you let your system depressurize every night by turning the compressor off eventually the hose will burst in the most inaccessible place imaginable. And it will do it the night you forgot to turn the compressor off.

[TravisR100]

Originally Posted by crabbass You say this is your first CNC. Are you a machinist? I see a lot of non-machinist "hobby" guys on these forums. I too would love to have a machine at home. Are you going to manufacture a product to justify it's cost, or do you have a large hobby budget?

I'm not a machinist by trade. I definitely have a day job. While I have a large hobby budget I bought the machine with a profit motive in mind. They are very simple products sold to a very niche market. So yes, I do hope to make money with it although it's not necessary. With aspirations to do so I've gone through the steps of setting up a proper business entity, engaged a CPA with manufacturing experience, started keeping books, applied for a sales tax certificate, etc.

[TravisR100]

BTW, you'll notice in the third picture I posted the door to the right of the double doors. I had that put in earlier this week. Haas requires 3' of clearance to the back of the machine. The door allows me to put the machine within about 4 inches of the wall but still get access to the electrical cabinet in the back.

[TravisR100]

Also, a few goodies from Glacern and Maritool. Both Frank from Maritool and Sol from Glacern have been great to deal with. The vise is so nice I don't want to use it.

[Gabe Newell]

I have almost the identical machine and have been having a great time learning how to use it.

The Renishaw probe is awesome.

[TravisR100]

I'm anxious to get a chance to try it out. Hopefully it's as accurate as what I've read.

[Matt@RFR]

Travis, I was in the exact same position 2 years ago, although my machine is a VF-2ss, and it's in a 30'x30' gar...err, shop. (I tell my wife...do you see any cars in here? It's not a garage!)

When I bought the machine, I had not so much as leaned up against a CNC mill before. I allready knew SolidWorks, but bought MasterCam along with the machine. I forced myself to program a few parts totally by hand, and that turned out to be a big benifit later on. The control is super easy to figure out, and the probe is everything it's said to be and more.

Get familiar with the rapid over ride buttons, the feed hold, and the distance-to-go readout on the control. These will be invaluable when running a new program.

I also have an American Rotary phase converter, although mine is a 50hp model. I, too, blew up my share of capacitors! Mine came with something like 12 caps, so when they went south, it was in a spectacular fasion. American Rotary built me a custom panel with more caps, and some different electronics FREE OF CHARGE, and were great to deal with. The Haas tech tha installed the machine actually commented on how good the incoming power was from the phase converter.

[The CNC Noob]

Man some guys have it all. A Haas at home in the shop has to be soo nice. Can you tell what sort of products you are going to be making?




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Who needs brakes!!! All they do is slow you down.

[TravisR100]

Initially I'll be making static port covers as well as an adapter to go around a hard point in the cockpit which will allow fitting a RAM mount ball. For aircraft.