Haas VM-8-50

The Haas VM-8-50 pairs a 64 × 36 in (1,626 × 914 mm) table with a 60 hp (44.7 kW) 50-taper spindle, on 64 × 40 × 30 in (1,626 × 1,016 × 762 mm) of travel. It is the 50-taper counterpart of the VM-8 and the wide-table counterpart of the VM-6-50. Haas lists a starting price of US$265,995.

A mold base job shows how the figures work together. The block goes down on a table with T-slots in both directions, listed as 7 in X and 12 in Y. A face mill of up to 8 in (203 mm), or 10 in (254 mm) under the extra-large listing, both with adjacent pockets empty, cleans the top using 350 ft-lbf (475 N·m) at 900 rpm through the 2-speed gearbox. Roughing tools up to 30 lb (13.6 kg) and 16 in (406 mm) long open the cavity. The same spindle then runs to 10,000 rpm for finishing, at cutting feedrates up to 500 ipm (12.7 m/min). The part never leaves the machine between roughing and finishing.

The limits are the ones that come with the size. Table load is 4,000 lb (1,814 kg), which a steel base covering the table reaches at modest thickness, so weigh the block and its clamping before planning the job. X thrust is 3,400 lbf (15,124 N), below the 4,100 lbf (18,238 N) on Y and 5,600 lbf (24,910 N) on Z. Tool changes take 4.2 s tool to tool and 6.3 s chip to chip. The spindle nose comes no lower than 5 in (127 mm) above the table and rises to 35 in (889 mm).

On the installation side, the supply must provide 105 A at 220 VAC or 53 A at 440 VAC, three-phase. Haas's shipping table gives a domestic pallet of 194.5 × 120 × 131 in (494 × 305 × 333 cm) but no base weight; the only weight listed is 29,000 lb (13,155 kg) with the EC option. For scale, the VM-8 ships at 24,800 lb (11,250 kg) and the VM-6-50 at 25,500 lb (11,567 kg).