My 1100M arrived about ten days ago and after fine tuning the setup i.e. leveling, squaring, tramming, etc. today I was able to run my first test part. It took me most of the day to machine the part mainly because I was learning Path Pilot along the way. No complaints with the results but a few questions.

I initially had the roughing passes in 6061 set for a 3/8" 4 flute end mill at 1/2" DOC, .035 WOC, feedrate of 30 IPM and 7500 rpm. The motor bogged down significantly. I ended up reducing the DOC to 1/4", WOC to .025", and feedrate to 25 IPM. The RPM stayed at 7500. Even at these adjusted parameters the motor seemed to be working hard. Am I missing settings in Path Pilot or am I being overly aggressive? My previous mill, a converted PM-932 with a 2HP 3-phase belt drive, was able to plow through aluminum at the initial settings with no problem.

Below I've attached a picture of the test piece finish. Notice the faceting. Is this an expected finish? For info I generate code with F360. I have Tolerance set at .0001" and Smoothing turned on and set at .0001". RPM on the 3/8" 4 flute uncoated end mill is 7500 rpm, feedrate is 20 IPM, and WOC is .010". I also ran a spring pass.

I run flood coolant with a full enclosure, which works great. Other than a few minor leaks at some of the screw holes I have a somewhat large leak at the back of the machine stand. It appears that the coolant tank is not set back far enough and as the coolant drains it misses the back of the chip basket and runs onto the floor. anyone else experience this? Any recommended fixes.

All things considered this is definitely a huge step up from my previous mill. The fit and finish of the machine components and accessories is impeccable. I had to fine tune the setup but that was expected. I'm a happy camper! I just need to get my arms around the speeds and feeds issues and stop the coolant leaks.