[DawgAtHeart]

Hi, I recently got a new job producing mostly film and some commercial signs.
My main duty is to operate our Multicam Apex 3R CNC Router alongside the Enroute software program. I have only a few weeks experience so I know the bare minimum, the main operator, is currently on medical leave.

My issue to simple yet difficult to pinpoint so I’ll start off with what has happened. Our drill bits are going deep into materials, not making any progress. The knifes work fine but the drills/dust collector are imbedding themselves into our materials, leaving a sizeable impression without doing any real work.

My boss tries to avoid using our machine however he has much more experience and knowledge in both this field and the machine. He believes the dust collector is causing the problem. I don’t know what to think as I never had this problem when I getting trained by the main operator and I am hesitant break anything else on this CNC.

We tried recalibrating the drill bits, changing the max and surface depths, as well as the number of passes. No luck.

If anyone has any clue as to what is the issue and/or the steps to go about fixing or giving a more detailed diagnosis, you’d be saving me a lot of headaches.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

-Newbie

[joeavaerage]

Hi,
I presume you are talking about some sort of plastic material?

Plastics are very heat sensitive and therefore any chips (dust) that gets recut will be heated even further than the initial cut it just endured, and in short order the plastic chips start welding themselves back
together and creating havoc.

You MUST remove the chips/dust ASAP. I use flood coolant on ALL plastics. If flood cooling is not practical then you need some sort of airblast.

Holes should be peck drilled with full retract in order to clear swarf.

Craig