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and introduce him to the extensive range of machines
built by the Oxnard, California-based company.
“It was a well-timed visit,” says Heckmann. “We
were looking for some new machining centres, but
we couldn’t really find the price and specification
combination that we needed. For the sort of capability
we wanted, everything was too expensive.
“I was very impressed with the Haas machines,” he
continues, “but initially I was skeptical. We thought we
were just looking at more machines we couldn’t afford.
Then he (Weber) showed me the price list and I think my
jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe how much performance
we could have for our money.”
Moving quickly, Heckmann committed to his first
Haas machine – a VF-1 vertical machining centre with
an HRT 10 th-axis rotary table – which, in his rather
typically understated way, Heckmann describes as “of
good benefit to our products.”
Simple, Effective
Mahe’s products are made from complex shaped
components, and are manufactured from various
CNC MACHINING EUROPE 1
medical grades of stainless steel, with tolerances often
restricted to +0,0 mm. Running batch sizes of 100 to
150, cycle times on the Haas VF-1 are usually in the
order of to 7 minutes.
“We are very impressed with the machine,” says
Heckmann. “It’s solid and very reliable. In fact, we
haven’t had a single problem that couldn’t be sorted
out over the telephone. The service from Haas is
excellent.”
Operator Damien Duzmal is responsible for all of
the programming on the VF-1. Although Duzmal had
CNC experience previously, the Haas control was new
to him. However, such is its ease of use that he was
confident with the control after just one day of on-site
instruction from a Haas application engineer from the
HFO (Haas Factory Outlet – the company’s name for
its local technical centres and showrooms) Since then,
Duzmal has successfully programmed more than 1 000
components using the Haas control.
The performance and reliability of the Haas VF-1
meant that when Mahe needed a 5-axis machine, the
obvious course of action was to pick up the phone and
call Thomas Weber. One year after the installation of