I bought the Aciera F5 that was offered over in the Machinery FS forum a couple of weeks back. I had Mike at HMS Tools do the move. Mike met me at the origin in the East Bay, loaded it up, and then brought it to my place on the SF Peninsula. The move was pretty painless.
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The F5 is now sitting next to the F4 I bought from Milacron in 2010. I paid a little more than half for the F5 with a drop-table, universal table, and 3-phase 208-600V transformer, as I paid for the F4 with plain table, but with a DRO. (The F5 seller included a DRO, but it is only 2-axis and meant for an optical comparator, so not particularly useful for mills without an EPROM change (maybe DIP switches inside if I am really lucky).)
The F4 and F5 are in about the same mechanical condition. Both were Canadian machines set up for 600V. I swapped out the 600-V motors in the F4 for 240-V motors driven with VFDs. The F4 is an outstanding machine tool, but the F5 does it several notches better, and not just in terms of capacity. I'll post more as I get into cleaning it up, changing the oils, greasing the spindle bearings, adjusting the belts, adjusting the gibs, and actually using it.
The F5 is now sitting next to the F4 I bought from Milacron in 2010. I paid a little more than half for the F5 with a drop-table, universal table, and 3-phase 208-600V transformer, as I paid for the F4 with plain table, but with a DRO. (The F5 seller included a DRO, but it is only 2-axis and meant for an optical comparator, so not particularly useful for mills without an EPROM change (maybe DIP switches inside if I am really lucky).)
The F4 and F5 are in about the same mechanical condition. Both were Canadian machines set up for 600V. I swapped out the 600-V motors in the F4 for 240-V motors driven with VFDs. The F4 is an outstanding machine tool, but the F5 does it several notches better, and not just in terms of capacity. I'll post more as I get into cleaning it up, changing the oils, greasing the spindle bearings, adjusting the belts, adjusting the gibs, and actually using it.