Help with HAAS VF Hello everyone, Hope you had a good New Years! My dad and I have a simple back yard shop with a conventional lathe and mill, and have wanted to learn and do some CNC. My dad is the machinist and I am an ex-programmer. I have the knowledge to derive the NC file for a CNC machine, and my dad has the skills. Now we just need the machine. We have been looking at a HAAS VF mill with plastic sides on it. I think it is a VF-2 because it has a 30” table. (See link for pictures) Mill information on the rear tag Model: VF Serial number: 1878 Date: 12-92 This one has been run hard with little maintenance, the right way cover is broken along with the Z cover. It looks like it has been used as a roughing machine for cast iron. The owner said everything seemed to be working before it was moved to its current location. We powered it up with no coolant, (the coolant system is outside on a pallet) and the owner could not get the spindle to function. All 3 axis seem to move okay, who knows what shape the ball screws are in. We were able to have the machine change tools, but the manual tool release button on the spindle housing is not working. Questions: Could the spindle problem be because of no coolant? If so, is there a way to bypass the coolant sensor for testing of the spindle? What is the procedure to determine the backlash or wear of the ball screws on a HAAS CNC? Is there a test /procedure to determine repeatability / accuracy of the machine? How much memory does this controller have? Will it support DNC (drip feed)? Does this controller support a 4th axis? How do I determine this? What am I forgetting? Approximately what should I be paying for a machine in this condition? Thanks for your help! Bryan | 
