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The industry-leading 5-Axis Machining Centers have changed the landscape of the machine tool industry by making 5-axis machining simple, affordable, and accessible to everyone. Available in multiple sizes and configurations, Haas UMCs are the perfect job shop machines for reducing setups and increasing accuracy on multi-sided and complex parts.

Why Five-Axis Machining?

Some people mistakenly think five-axis technology is only for the most complex parts. While it certainly excels at that, a significant majority of the applications are simply used to enable the machining of five sides of a workpiece in a single setup. With three-axis machining, jobs might require two, three or more setups to get at all the features of the part. With the done-in-one approach, those additional setups are eliminated in addition to potential for error each time you reposition a part. The justification for a five-axis machine on these grounds is simple, with dramatic reductions in total setup, machine time and reduced fixturing.

Another inherent advantage of five-axis machining is it can use shorter tools because the tool/toolholder combination can be tipped away from otherwise interfering surfaces or features on the workpiece. This is particularly important in die and mold work where the use of toolholder extensions is common to reach deep cavity surfaces. A shorter tool results in less vibration, allowing for heavier or faster cutting, better surface finish and longer tool life.

Particularly for job shops, five-axis machining enables complex parts to be cut from solid material that otherwise might have to be cast. This enables quick turnaround for short-run and prototype work on high-value parts. It’s a great opportunity to differentiate the shop from lower tech competitors and build a more profitable business.

Why buy a 5 Axis CNC Mill?

There are many reasons now more than ever why machine shops are replacing their current machines with 5-axis CNC milling machines. Here are a few of the top reasons that drive machine shop owners to add or replace older machines with 5-axis CNC machines:

It saves time – and time is money in machining.

The business case can be made for replacing standard 3-axis parts machining with 5-axis CNC machining based on both the setup and cycle time improvements. In one example by Hurco, one part that took 7 operations and 5 hours 30 minutes to setup on a standard 3 axis CNC machine needed only 2 operations and 1 hour 30 minutes to setup on a 5-axis machine. The cycle time for that same part also went down by over 30%. If a machine is running, it’s not making money. This kind of savings can quickly improve ROI.

5-Axis CNC can make complex parts.

When you buy a used 5-axis CNC machine, you are increasing the complexity of parts that you can make. Some shops like work that others consider to be too difficult. If your company loves to learn from every challenge and become better with each job, this strategy can pay great dividends. 5-axis machining is great for the complex work and shorter running jobs. Your 5-axis machine should be flexible, precise and adaptable for the challenges. Many used 5-axis machines have a swivel head that can articulate cuts in almost every direction.