Looked at a Haas TM....light rust on the rails (linear bearings).

I went to look at a machine today and I have a few concerns.

First of all, the machine is housed 200 feet from a major body of water....with that in mind....

1....one of the vertical rails has rust on it. I'm not sure how serious that is. I had the same problem with the surface of my knee mill and cleaned it with a very fine stone. Rails may or may not be a different problem.

2....the z axis also has some rust on both rails. I could not see the x-axis rails but would assume it's the same problem.

3...I looked inside the spindle (quill?) and was surprised to see it had a dull gray finish. I'm assuming when new, it was nice and shinny....is my assumption correct?

4...some of his holders looks like they went through a hackers paradise. ALL my holders have pristine cones and the one I dropped, which sported a nice little dent, has been retired. Am I overconcerned that the holders damaged the quil/spindle?

5..the x and y were much quieter then the z axis. I heard the usual linear bearing rumble and it was noticeable greater then the x-y.

6....the spindle at 4,000 rpm was noisy. Not "shot bearings" noisy, but a far, far cry from the humming of my 10 hp direct drive high speed motors at that speed. I'm not sure if it was just the belt driven sound in a dead quiet area. I would compare that noise to me running 10,000 rpm on my big direct drives.

Could the "repair" of the rails be nothing more then taking a fine stone to the top of them, wipe them down to hell and back to make sure no grit gets into the bearing and then replacing the seals on the bearing housing? Or am I just justifying a potential nightmare?

If I'm going to get serious about it, I'm going to visit Haas and talk it over with their service manager, then if he doesn't throw up on the pictures, I'm bringing his best guy to look it over. What I want to establish with this thread is some "general" idea of what is normal and what may or may not be a problem.

BTW...the machines main use will be to make molds for in house in various metals. I need to be able to make them with .005" step-overs accuracy.

I would be grateful for any and all opinions as to the level of concern I should have about this machine.

HELP!

Close up of z axis rail...

Attachment 246600

Right y rails. Left looks the same.

Attachment 246594

Further back shot of z rails.

Attachment 246592

Thats not where the rail bearing surface is. It is on the sides about four .125 radii. I wouldnt use anything with a grit. Use something like steel wool or a wire brush and some phosphoric acid, then clean the acid with soluble oil. Then lots of slide grease thru full travel

Spartan,

I don't think that is too big of a deal. Check the bearing surface for corrosion.

Thank you,

Phil

Agree with LeWhite. We have a 08 TM1 and ahve been extremely happy with it. Although at its highest speed(4000), it's quiet. Good news is even if you had to replace the spindle they are a fraction compared to other manufacturers.