Haas VF3

Haas VF3

This week I got to train two people on a Haas VF3, and what a delight it was. This machine was old I mean 1996 but still a great functional machine tool.

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I like to see myself in a similar way, really old but still functioning, well at least as I write.

Haas VF3

It took me back to when I first set up my business of training people on CNC machines. My first two victims were at Armitage Shanks in good old Wolverhampton.

1996 was the year I started out on my own CNC Training and these were the first machines I trained on. I did so many I got pissed off with the sound of my own voice (which I rarely do).
Because all the machines were the same I was saying the same things and quoting the same tired old anecdotes day after day.
Fortunately, I went on to train on all the well-known CNC machines like Mazak, Mori Seiki, Matsuura, Bridgeport to name a few. Quite a lot of the not so well-known ones like Maho, seen below.

Haas VF3

The machine above has a Phillips control and they were the absolute dogs’ bollocks. It even had rigid tapping. You could hit feed-hold while it was tapping and you got the option to reverse the tap out! Training people on these was an absolute delight.

Don’t forget we’re talking mid 80s here.

Shut up David this sounds like a big plug for the CNC Training Centre, or maybe it is.

CNC Training Centre (Home of the CNC Program)

There is pub by us and on the sign, it says “The Home of the Roast”.

You have to queue up to get your food and a young lad carves the meat in front of you. If he don’t like the look of you, which obviously with me he didn’t, you get two or three slices of turkey, so wafer thin, you can see the pattern on the fuckin plate underneath.

Now I don’t want to knock the people of Nuneaton, being as most of my family live there, but honestly there are some greedy bastards about.

After you get your meat and a few accoutrements you follow a long line of people adding cabbage and peas and all sorts of vegetables and potatoes to their plates. This bloke in front of me was scooping so much on to his plate it was flowing over. It was like a fuckin bowler hat as my late father would say, sans expletive.

In those days you didn’t swear in front of ladies, unless of course it was their turn.

I was just thinking “did you like not eat for a fuckin week?” You can imagine his kids at school saying to the teacher “oh, we’re not eating at our house this week miss”. The teacher then asks if this is some precursor to a religious festival or some such thing.

“Oh no miss, we’re booked in at the carvery for Sunday lunch” she gives them a knowing nod.

Anyway, I looked at this blokes plate with utter middle class disgust and vowed never to go there again.

My mate was about three people in front of this bloke and to my amazement my mate’s plate was so full of food, it made his look like he’d paid for the children’s menu.

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Haas Training, Milling, Turning

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Haas Training
Haas products are constantly improving and developing. I love working with Haas because they actually listen to customers.

Every company claims to do this. We all know that some of the software and machines we use everyday have annoying faults that just never seem to be picked up on by the designers.

Haas Training
Anyway you all know I get pissed off about this if you ever read anything I write. Here is an example.

Did you ever work on a machine with a random tool-changer?

Haas Training

This is a CNC Milling machine that gets the tool out of the spindle and puts it back into the nearest pocket. Could be a Fanuc control Mazak control, Heidenhain. So when you look round the back of the machine at the pockets, the pocket numbers bear no resemblance to the actual tool numbers.

Anyway you go round the back of the machine and you see a tool you want. An M10 tap maybe. I want that M10 tap so I have to go all through my tool lists or whatever to find what tool number it is.

I hope you get me so far. So I find there is an M10 tap called T06 and I call it to the spindle. Oh dear there are two M10 taps and I got the wrong one. In real life I would probably say bollocks but I am trying to make these articles more classy by reducing the profanities.

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Haas SL15 CNC Lathe

Classroom Training Click Here

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Today I got to train someone on a Haas SL15 Lathe, it had live tooling and a sub spindle.

Haas SL15

It also had a bar-feed.

Not worked on one of these for a while. Tell me why on earth don’t other companies look at the pragmatic approach that Haas take to CNC Machining and copy it?

Say what you like about Haas machines but they have an incredible knack of shattering the bullshit and making stuff easy.

Here are two massive ones.

G112

G112 tricks the Haas SL15 CNC Lathe into thinking it’s a machining centre and that it can mill.

It’s like gender identity for CNC Machines. But, and this is the “for fuck sake bit”, on most machines you have to program it like a machining centre but then when your done you need to double X and switch all the Y’s for C’s.

Sounds simple but in practice it’s a shit storm, specially when programming G2 and G3.

Here is an article about it.

When Mr Haas invented the Haas SL15 CNC Lathe he must have looked at this and laughed. Here is a really clever idea. We’ll trick the machine into thinking it’s a machining centre and here is the clever bit. We’ll keep up the facade.

So you make a milling program (XY) and then……. you leave it that way. How incredibly clever is that?? Mmmmmm

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Haas G150 Pocket Milling: How to Use It Like a Pro

I must admit I used to think this feature was a waste of time. But I didn’t realise that some folks don’t have a CAM sytem so long hand programming would take ages.

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I got to work on a 1995 very old but brings back great memories for an old bastard like me.

Dirty old beast but then so am I and I still have my uses.

The Haas G150 pocket milling command is a versatile and powerful feature for CNC machinists looking to machine pocket shapes. By defining a pocket’s geometry in a subprogram and then using G150 to call it, you can streamline your code.


What is Haas G150 Pocket Milling?

The G150 G-code command on Haas CNC mills is designed for general-purpose pocket milling. It allows machinists to mill out complex pocket shapes by defining the geometry once in a subprogram, then calling it using a single line of code in the main program.


G150 Explained

The G150 command uses a range of parameters to control the milling operation:

  • P – Subprogram number that defines the pocket shape, can be internal or external (but not on my old machine)
  • X, Y – Starting location (usually the pre-drilled entry hole)
  • Z – Final pocket depth
  • I or J – Step-over distance in X or Y direction, make sure you only include one as you will get an alarm
  • K – Finish allowance for a final pass
  • Q – Incremental Z depth per pass
  • R – Height for pocket, depth is from here
  • F – Feed rate
  • D – Tool diameter offset register (for G41/G42)
  • L – Optional repeat count with incremental positioning

Writing the Pocket Geometry Subprogram

The subprogram specified by the P code outlines the pocket’s perimeter. Important rules:

  • Must be a closed loop (start and end at the same point)
  • Max 40 moves (linear or circular)
  • Start move should go from entry hole to the boundary
  • Final move must not go back to the entry hole
  • Use cutter comp G41 with lead-in/lead-out moves add to cycle.

This example it really simple try it out first just to make sure all is ok. You can then hit it with a much more complex shape.

On older controls you have to put the shape in an external sub program like O500 you can’t use internal sub routine.

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Haas Screenshot How to Make One

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You might not know it but if you put your memory stick into your Haas control then press and hold SHIFT as you press F1 you get a Haas screenshot or a (Haas screen capture) on your memory stick.

Haas Screenshot

It is really useful if you need help because you can save a record of what is on the screen.

With this Haas Screen Capture. You could use it for set up sheets. It will also be useful if you want to create training literature.

If you want to enter a name for your screen capture just input it before doing the above.

I love the fact that Haas are constantly improving their products the machines are so well thought out. They were the first ones to incorporate a coolant hose to clean down the machine.

Extras

I notice now some things do come as extras but they still come well loaded. It’s not like when you buy a car and you find that all the things that really attracted you to it (don’t we just love the toys) are extras.

Haas Screenshot
Range rover with no wheels

Just having a memory stick on a machine is really good. I cant help but think that it seems to be taking so long for machine tool companies to really get to grips with technology.

Sometimes when I am training people who never worked a CNC before I feel embarrassed to say “oh the memory is like the size of a 1980’s calculator”

Haas Screenshot
1970’s Calculator

The editing on some controls (and I won’t name names, as I can’t retire yet) is poor to say the least. Students used to using a PC expect to be able to easily COPY and PASTE bits of programme.

Good luck with that one.

Fanuc Screen Capture

Yes you can do it.

Where’s The UNDO Button?

UNDO (don’t even go there) some do have it. But wouldn’t it be great if you could UNDO things like offset changes. These things are gradually coming in on new controls but I can’t believe how slow it’s all been.

And you thought this articcle was just about taking a Haas Screenshot

Anyway I’m rambling again (only doing it to get the word count up), I will be using this Haas Screen Capture all the time. Typical Haas practical, user friendly. Keep up the good work boys.

Fanuc Screen Shot

Yes Fanuc Does it Too

Go to a screen you would like to capture.

Press and hold the [SHIFT] button for 5 seconds.

The control appears to lock up for about 15 seconds.

Once it frees up an image will be on your memory stick or memory card.

Please contact me if you require:

  • CNC programming training.
  • Want to learn CNC programming.
  • Fanuc control training.
  • Yasnac programming training.
  • Any type of CNC course.
  • Fanuc training courses
  • CNC lathe training
  • CNC Vertical Machining Centre training

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