[aarongough]

Hey guys!
I'm looking at buying a '94 Fadal VMC10 with the 88HS control. It's the first machine I've seen that is within my price range and will actually fit in my space. I plan to use it for low volume production, parts will mainly be 5/32" thick A2 tool steel (annealed) and G10.

Anything in particular I need to watch for with this machine? Am I correct in thinking that it's basically the same as the VMC15 but without the sheet metal?

Thanks guys!
-Aaron

[DareBee]

I have PM'd you my service guy info.
If you are willing to spend a few bucks up front, give him a call and have him go over it ahead of time.

[aarongough]

I have PM'd you my service guy info.
If you are willing to spend a few bucks up front, give him a call and have him go over it ahead of time.

Thanks mate! It may be worthwhile having someone look the machine over, because I'm going to have to spend $500 or so fly up there and see it anyway. If I can spend that money on someone that knows what they're doing to inspect it and prep it for transit then it's probably money well spent!

-A

[hayes]

Aaron,
I've enjoyed your videos for a while now and that's a big step up from hand made to CNC made! Congrats!

All the best.

[aarongough]

Aaron,
I've enjoyed your videos for a while now and that's a big step up from hand made to CNC made! Congrats!

All the best.

Thanks mate! I'm looking forward to it as I'm starting to burn out a bit doing all the repetitive processes by hand as I'm sure you can imagine!

I'm flying up to inspect the machine on Wednesday, should be fun! Hopefully the machine is in good shape, but it looks like it should be!

-Aaron

[hayes]

Aaron, how was the machine hunting going? One thing to really consider is an enclosure. When running a CNC cutting steel, you'll want to use coolant or air/mist and coolant and chips will get all over your shop and make a huge mess if the machine isn't enclosed.

[aarongough]

Aaron, how was the machine hunting going? One thing to really consider is an enclosure. When running a CNC cutting steel, you'll want to use coolant or air/mist and coolant and chips will get all over your shop and make a huge mess if the machine isn't enclosed.

Hey mate!
I went up to Ottawa to inspect the VMC10 yesterday, and I will be buying it! The machine is in great shape and has low hours on it.

I'll likely get the sheet metal place down the street from me to bend up an enclosure for the machine to help control the chips!

I'm going to be trying to avoid using coolant as much as possible, will be running coated tools with air blast and HSM toolpaths instead. I don't want to have to deal with breathing in coolant mist or disposing of used coolant. We'll see how that works out, I'm getting a coolant tank/pump with the machine so I may end up using it.

-A

[hayes]

Congrats!! I run dry / air blast when cutting steel on my machine and I've resorted to wearing a respirator as I don't like steel dust in my lungs, it's no fun. I'm stoked for you, this is a huge step. I'm working to get things lined up to get a fullsize VMC for myself...

What are you using for CAD / CAM? I can't say enough good things about Solidworks and HSM Works.

[aarongough]

Congrats!! I run dry / air blast when cutting steel on my machine and I've resorted to wearing a respirator as I don't like steel dust in my lungs, it's no fun. I'm stoked for you, this is a huge step. I'm working to get things lined up to get a fullsize VMC for myself...

What are you using for CAD / CAM? I can't say enough good things about Solidworks and HSM Works.

Cool, I will keep the steel dust thing in mind! I'll be machining G10 as well which is way nastier, may have to resort to coolant for that to keep the dust in check.

I use Solidworks for CAD and have been playing with HSMExpress a bit. In the past I used Vectric Vcarve Pro for CAM on my router. Would work ok with this machine too, but it's nice to be able to model fixtures and so on in Solidoworks, especially as I'll be doing a lot of multi-part fixture plates on this machine...

[ThatguyDave]

Do the hot HSM chips burn the wood floor?

[aarongough]

Do the hot HSM chips burn the wood floor?

Not from what I've seen! I'm sure the chips are much cooler by the time they hit the floor...

The machine has been doing a fair amount of work, and overall running very well!

Here's some photos of the work we've done so far!

[carbidecraters]

When your ready to graduate to a VMC 4020 let me know I think we have 2 without sheet metal

[aarongough]

When your ready to graduate to a VMC 4020 let me know I think we have 2 without sheet metal

Depending on how things work out I may be looking for an additional machine before the year is out.. The 4020s are nice machines! Where abouts are you located?

[carbidecraters]

We are located in Wisconsin on the western side. I have a high collumn 4020 with a 15K spindle and a 40x20x20 HT model with a 10K spindle. I would want around 12K for either. I may still have sheetmetal for them.

[carbidecraters]

We also have a mid 90s DC 6030 without sheetmetal. When Fadal (MAG) liquidated there was an 8030 without sheetmetal that had a horizontal spindle as well. What a machine...I think it went for $8K

[carbidecraters]

We are winding down our squadron of Fadals. They have made us millions but they are not the fastest machines.