Haas Automation Produces 125,000th CNC Machine

In 1988, Haas Automation Inc., achieved an industry milestone by introducing the first American-built vertical machining center (VMC) to sell for less than $50,000 – a price unheard of at the time. The Haas VF-1 quickly became the industry benchmark for affordable CNC technology.

Today, Haas Automation is pleased to announce the company’s latest milestone: the production of the 125,000th Haas CNC machine tool. Machine number 125,000 – a 2012 VF-1 vertical machining center – came off the line January 26, and is bound for a customer in the Phillipines.

The VF-1 is a fitting model for the 125,000th machine, as it is the model that began the Haas legacy nearly 25 years ago. A simple comparison of that first VF-1 to the modern version of the same machine proves how far Haas has come, and how much value a Haas machine provides.

When Haas introduced the VF-1 in 1988 at IMTS in Chicago, the suggested retail price was $49,900. Adjusting for inflation, that’s equivalent to about $94,880 in 2011 dollars.* The machine featured 20" x 16" x 20" travels, a 7.5-hp (peak) spindle motor, speeds to 5000 rpm, brush-style servomotors on all axes, 480-ipm rapids, a 16-tool ATC, and the Haas CNC control, which featured a whopping 128 K of program memory, and a maximum processing speed of 20 blocks per second. Additional options were essentially non-existent.

Today’s VF-1 is easily 10 times the machine as its 1988 namesake, yet its base price is only $45,995, or about $24,190 in 1988 dollars. The VF-1 still has travels of 20" x 16" x 20", but now features a 30hp (peak) spindle with a high-performance vector drive, speeds to 8,100rpm standard, brushless servos on all axes, 1,000 ipm rapids, a 20-tool ATC, and the Haas control, which now features 1MB of program memory (8 times the 1988 figure) and provides processing speeds up to 1,000 blocks per second (or 50 times faster than in 1988). And that’s the base model machine. A wide selection of high-productivity options is available to boost performance – and value – even further.

Haas Automation currently manufactures a complete line of CNC vertical machining centers, horizontal machining centers, CNC lathes and rotary products. The company also builds a variety of specialty machines, including 5-axis machining centers, mold making machining centers, toolroom machines, and gantry routers.