[mactec54]

keen

I did measured one of the GX series Bridgeport & it was higher than the Haas, but it could of been a different model, as I don't remember what model it was, but I though it was the 480, the measurement for the Haas I gave you was from the floor to the top of the head, this was mounted on the feet, I checked that number between the feet & the bottom of the machine, & that was 2" so 80" -2" =78" that would just squeeze in, put some 6mm flat steel bar down, & pull it in with a chain block, I would still lift your door frame up if it is not to big of a job

The control is very good on the Haas, in terms of easy to use, I would still say if you can do the extra cost of the GX480 to do it, if it has to be the Haas then it will do a good job for you as well, you don't need to get any of the extras, for the control at the time of purchase, If you want an extra, they will just give you a code to activate it, Like extended memory, rigid tapping, look-ahead, rigid tapping is not an extra on the GX480

[Steve Seebold]

I use GibbsCam to program my PCNC 1100. I had Gibbs when I had my shop but when I sold it, the new owner wanted to use his seat of MattuhCam (Mastercam). With GibbsCam, I can do anything you can do with Mastercam, but with 30 to 40% fewer key strokes.

Now, let's talk about rapids. Yes, a Mini will move about 700 IPM, but 95% of your moves are going to be one inch or less. For those short moves, you're not going to save enough time to justify the cost difference between the Haas and the Tormach. If you're gonna run thousands of parts, then yeah ,you'll see a time savings. But if you're running 30 or 50 parts, no way.

If you really want a machine that moves fast, look at the Haas DT1. It has a 15,000 RPM spindle, rapids at 2,500 IPM, changes tools in .8 (that's "point" 8) seconds and will rigid tap at 5,000 RPM. It's a little bigger than the Mini, and it will cost you about another $10,000.00, but if you're going to make thousands of small parts, I don't think you can beat it.

I have always said, if you run a Haas the way it was designed to be run, they're a great machine. For the price, you can't beat them. If you want to compare them to a Mori Seiki, Mazak, Doosan or Kitimura, forget it. If you try to run a Haas the way you can run those machines, you'll destroy it. QUICKLY. The same goes for your Tormach.

When I had my Haas, I never ran bigger than a 1/2 inch end mill in it, (most of the time, I ran 3/8 or smaller) and I used to cut 718 Inconel and 6-4 Titanium all the time. I just decided that I would rather break a $45.00 end mill than screw up a $4,500.00 spindle.