mill recommendation

[rickyt]

hi everyone,
I have just started my own machine shop and it is going great, almost to great. I started my shop with a Haas TM-2 with rigid tapping, 10 tool atc and coolant pupm kit. I also purchased Mastercam X Mill L1. The machine cuts very well and holds tolerance well also (to my suprize). Anyway I seem to be getting more and more work (which is a good thing) but my mill just is not fast enough to handle the work that is coming in. The material that we are getting more and more is 304ss. I always liked the look of the Milltronics machines, and have been looking at the differances between the VM and the RW mills and was wondering if one was better suited for 304ss and aluminum milling operations. I was looking at the VM-20 and comparing it to the Haas VF-2, but the VM-20 looks like the clear winner with more control features, more work space volume (wow 26" in z is alot). Could the linear ways hold up to cutting the stainless better that the rigid ways. I have alot more questions but if I could please get some feed back on my questions so far I would really be greatful. Thanks in advance!!!

[rickyt]

bump

[tsutt]

call milltronics and see what they have to say. Todd

[AMCjeepCJ]

I cut D2 tool steel and aluminum ALL the time on my VM-22, it runs like a champ!

I was told the Box ways dampen the vibrations better but they also wear out quicker, the linear ways are easy to replace if you ever wear em' out. I think if you check the website, the box ways don't have nearly as fast rapids or feeds. (Going by memory, haven't checked lately.) I wouldn't think twice before buying the same exact one I have. BTW, something to keep in mind, Milltronics have one MAJOR advantage over Haas and Fadal, you can put WAY oversized pieces inside the cabinet and still cut it. I have 22 inches of Y travel and just got done milling a part that was 40"x32+" I had to flip it but there was ample clearance inside the box to clear the castingsm etc. This is a very real consideration if you do oversize work ever. I know for a fact Fadals won't do that and on the older Haas models, didn't some have a way cover that slanted up in the back preventing overhanging work?

Just my thoughts, I agree with your assessment on the standard features being more economical on the Milltronics. (They're VERY user friendly too if you plan on training new employees in the near future.)

Wahoo! My 100th post and my 30th birthday all in the same week!

Later...

[rickyt]

Thanks for the info, I called Milltronics today and talked to Craig. They were very heplful and pleasant to talk to. I really believe that the Millronics VM mills would do the job. The features that comes standard are some of the best in the industry. I really dont care about the coversational programing but it is nice to know its there. I am kinda concerned about the learning curve on the control. I have a haas right now and it is super easy, but i think I can hand it tho. Anyway Craig told me of a company not to far from my house that has some new milltronics installed and I am going to check them out in a real shop instead of a showroom. Like I said thanks for the info, and have a nice day.

[ssaults]

We have a Milltronic RH30 with a cent. 6 control & a Haas VF6. We like both mills but the Haas is does a better job for us. One problem that we have with the Milltronics control is sometimes it will make a complete circle that cuts through the side of the part instead of an arc. Most of the arcs are big (over 20" RAD) so we try to back plot ever job that we send to the mill. That is my biggest complaint with the Miltonic.

[One of Many]

Originally Posted by ssaults We have a Milltronic RH30 with a cent. 6 control & a Haas VF6. We like both mills but the Haas is does a better job for us. One problem that we have with the Milltronics control is sometimes it will make a complete circle that cuts through the side of the part instead of an arc. Most of the arcs are big (over 20" RAD) so we try to back plot ever job that we send to the mill. That is my biggest complaint with the Miltonic.

I have seen this once before. It was found to be related to the step over in a pocket clear routine produced by the cam package. All we changed in the cam parameters was the step over path by .001 or .0001 and that cured it.

I always run the verify screen before letting the machine cut. We do not "back plot" for whatever that is worth. That is where we caught the wild hair when it broke out about half way through verifying the program into a big arc. Aparently it could not resolve the math on its own and went into a lead in, lead out, because it did end up at the same place it started on the screen. No way were we going to run it like that!

I think I would rather have an error under this condition, but it has never been an issue since.

I just recall it being such a small amount, it hardly seemed logical. At least until I worked on some parametric programming that had floating point errors using conditional statements that would only come true if the numbers were accumulated right on. Not one count high or low to the resolution the floating point uses. Which is a lot higher than the encoders display. We had to box in the value using "Greater than or equal to" and "Less than or equal to" which allowed a little grace to handle the minor issues involved with floating point math. I'd imagine Milltronics knows about it. Whether they have an update to correct it, may be worth checking into.

DC

[mholden]

This has to do with the trig help on the control.
The points posted from the cam software are off slightly and the control is trying to correct for it. This feature is for the conversational programming.
To turn this off there is a parameter in the MISC parameters call special flags you need to set this to 002