I'm not a complete novice but with some projects I sure feel like one at times.

I have a 770 with all the bells and whistles. I've been trying to find the best way to mill some very small parts
out of 1018 cold rolled flat bar. I've actually already done it with decent success but, every once in while it goes south on me.

It's not the Machine's fault. It's has to do with my skill level or experience.

I'm making some very small parts that are .250" thick. I'm using a 1/4" coated carbide end mill. In order to minimize the post milling work I've used 1/4" metal stock but once my end mill gets to the final layers of my cut, I run the risk of my parts breaking free of the metal stock and either flying off into obscurity in a damaged condition, breaking free just enough to trap and break my small end mill or damaging both the end mill and the parts I'm machining.

I have tried milling these same parts using .375" metal stock and then going back and in the post processing, actually use a metal file to remove the remaining 1/8" of metal to get it down to the 1/4" thickness I need. If I turn my metal stock around and mill off the remaining 1/8" of metal, I run the risk of the same thing happening to ruin my parts. Even though I'm using a larger end mill to plane off the remaining metal, as it reaches the last light passes, the small parts break free to their doom.

Please don't ask me to post my CAD or CAM files. I really don't want to do that at this time. I will post a pic of some of my prototype parts in order to give you an idea what I'm trying to describe. What I'm really asking is, how would you more experienced guys go about setting up your cutting paths for such small thin parts?

Picture trying to machine eight 3/4" x 1/4" thick trianglular parts from a piece of 1/4" thick by 1 1/4" wide metal stock. The actual geometry is a little more complex than a triangle. I'm just trying to paint a mental image for you.

Tim M.