Compact Haas ST-20 lathe, 64 mm bar capacity and 4000 rpm spindle for UAE job shops.
First thought, straight to the point. Metal chips everywhere, hot smell of coolant, you get the vibe. The Haas ST-20 shows up, looks compact, feels dense, nobody calls it lightweight though.
You run a fab in Sharjah, maybe in Abu Dhabi, tight floor space, mixed batches, steel one hour, inconel the next. The ST-20 does not blink, it just keeps cutting. Saw guys on Practical Machinist saying the same, quote, “our ST-20 survived a rookie crash and stayed in tolerance”. Could be bragging, still sounds real.
Jump. Another note, Haas builds about 18 000 machines per year, official number from their 2022 report, roughly 35 models are turning centers, the ST-20 family counts three revisions since 2009. Tells me the design is settled, little drama.
Two lines, then the table.
Here you go, dry facts.
| Spec | Figure | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Max cutting length | 572 mm | one-shot shaft jobs, no tailstock shuffle |
| Spindle power | 22.4 kW | cuts 316 L like butter at 220 m min |
| Spindle speed | 4000 rpm | small diameter alu parts stay shiny |
| Rapid X Z | 30 m min | chip-to-chip under 1.8 s according to Haas |
| Tool turret | 12 stations | BMT65 live ready, need only wiring kit |
| Coolant capacity | 208 L | stock tank, high-pressure pump optional |
| Power draw | 33 kVA | UAE shops rarely flinch at that |
Numbers over, breathe, back to chatter. Notice the power draw, some old buildings in Deira struggle above 40 kVA, the ST-20 still slips under.
I visited a plant in Dubai Industrial City, they chase threaded pipe nipples all week, ST-20 paired with an automatic bar feeder, operator loads 3 m bars, walks away for coffee. Part comes off in 43 s, tolerance ±0.01 mm on the thread OD, inspector happy. Same machine later runs brass inserts at 3800 rpm, surface finish Ra 0.8 µm straight off the tool. Nothing exotic, just pragmatic.
Haas Next-Gen Control, yes the interface looks a bit Windows 98, but every button lands under the thumb. I wrote a macro for part probing in 27 lines, saved 7 min per setup, not a single PLC hack needed. UAE operators jump brands fast, Haas keeps English prompts plain, Arabic translation exists but almost nobody flips the toggle.
Time to throw punches.
Doosan Lynx 2100? Faster rapids at 36 m min, true, yet bar capacity stuck at 51 mm, oil-and-gas buyers walk away. Okuma GENOS L2000? Sweet thermal stability, sticker price higher, spare parts take weeks to ship through Japan customs. DMG MORI NLX 2500? Rigid, finishes like glass, but the footprint is over 20 % larger, downtown Dubai rents say ouch.
So ST-20 sits in the middle, not top spec, not bottom dollar, just punches within reach and spares land in UAE within days because Haas keeps a regional warehouse in JAFZA, at least that is what the rep told me and I had one actuator delivered in 72 h, backs up the claim.
ST-15, ST-20, ST-25 share the same control, same spindle nose, similar sheet metal. The smaller ST-15 offers 51 mm bar but max length only 406 mm. The bigger ST-25 stretches to 635 mm cutting length yet occupies another 300 mm on the floor. Pick your poison.
Random tip, drop the machine on 150 mm epoxy floor, shim to 0.02 mm over 1 m, the casting is stiff yet chases level if you ignore it. Hook up 6 bar air, machine pouts if pressure dips below 5.5 bar during turret index. Coolant pump rated 1.5 kW, standard breakers survive, still I swap to C curve to avoid nuisance trips.
Spindle liner pops out with two bolts, good when switching from 64 mm bar to small stock. Linear guides get grease through a manifold, 500 h interval, way simpler than the old oil-air systems on legacy Mazaks. Belts? None, the motor couples directly, fewer squeaks, one less item in the spare-part drawer.
End of day, the story is profit. A UAE sub-contractor running two shifts can push 18 000 turned parts a month on one ST-20, figure based on cycle data I saw first hand. Payback slides under 24 months if you keep the spindle busy, not counting night shift with a robot loader, that is a whole other rabbit hole.
Wrap it, short bullets, get on with it.
The end, almost poetic. Haas keeps rolling machines for over 40 years, they know the drill. ST-20 stays the go-to option for mid-range turning in the Emirates, shops from small jobbers to petrochemical giants snap it up, because it simply works, day shift after night shift, heat be damned.
