Local News & Events | Haas Factory Outlet

In the mid-1980s lower-priced foreign competition forever changed the face of the American machine tool industry. Many long-established US builders simply could not survive this invasion. However, a California-based manufacturer of a unique collet indexing device was determined to prove that an affordable, accurate and reliable CNC machine could still be made in America. Thus was born Haas Automation.

A unique feature built into the proprietary Haas control enables the company’s turning centers to save valuable seconds of tool changing time. A new video demonstrates Index-on-the-fly that reduces cycle times 5% - 15%. It accomplishes this by uncoupling the turret and allowing indexing a short distance from the tool, rather than requiring a return to the home position.

Investing in a 5-axis machine tool may seem like overkill to some CNC machine shops. Yet they significantly improve competitiveness and profitability. Here are 7 reasons why you should consider 5-axis machining.

Not everyone is cut out to be a CNC machine shop supervisor. You may have learned this the hard way by hiring or promoting someone into a supervisory role only to discover that they simply couldn’t handle the job. Fact is, the talents and skills that make a good machine operator or programmer may not be enough to enable a person to successfully supervise others. Being a supervisor requires the ability to juggle a number of responsibilities while leading, not just managing others.

If you’ve never worked with aerospace companies you may be intimidated by the shear size of some components and the demand for very tight tolerances. However the term aerospace covers a wide range of parts, many of which are routinely manufactured by CNC machine shops. There are 3 broad categories of part families associated with aviation and aerospace.

Dual spindle lathes can help boost productivity by making it possible to perform “one and done” operations, reduce setup times and make parts faster. While all of this sounds great, the idea of programming two spindles may be somewhat daunting. However Haas has made it simple through it’s exclusive control system that enables the lathe operator to enter one G code that automatically programs the second spindle by mirroring the programming of spindle #1.

Ever wonder what goes on in a major CNC machine manufacturing facility? Why not see for yourself by visiting the Haas factory in southern California?

For the past five years Gardner Business Media, has annually surveyed CNC machine shops to find out how the top performers get that way. The 2015 study participants break down this way: 46% are independent job shops performing short run and non-repeating work; 38% are shops that have contracts for repeating work; and 16% are captive shops of larger manufacturers.

In this video Haas demonstrates just how easy it is to keep your coolant tank full without taking time away from machining parts. With the Automatic Coolant Refill System you simply pour any coolant concentrate you choose into a holding tank and, using the machine control panel, push a few buttons to enable the device to automatically mix the coolant with water to your desired concentration. The system then fills the coolant tank. The video explains the entire process and demonstrates how the system works in real time.

Some CNC machine shops shy away from hard turning because they’ve heard tales of how complex and difficult it is to employ. Yet many others have found that, once they better understand the process, there are significant benefits including eliminating investment in specialized grinding equipment, and the ability to perform multiple CNC machining operations with one setup, thus improving throughput and reducing cost-per-part.