[busted blade]

yea i hate that sound of the chips gettin cut. my thickest part is .625 which im gonna cut here in an hour or so is a couple 3" holes. just gonna go ahead and clean the whole hole out (only 1 part).
are you ready for this? i talked to tech today at hanita to ask the question about breaking in the tool and he said it makes no difference in life between running it dry and coolant. might have been talking to the forklift driver? also said the coating rubbing off is normal

[davereagan]

I can't believe that guy said that. You're gonna make the whole 3" slug into chips? I'd drill a starter 3/8" hole at X1.3" then run this with a 3/8" varimill assuming a good rigid setup:

:G90
M6T1
G0G95 X1.313 Y0 Z.1 M3S4000 F.002 H1
G1 Z-.35
G3 X1.313 Y0 I0 J0
G1 Z-.8
G3 X1.313 Y0 I0 J0
G3 X1.313 Y0 I0 J0 F.0015
G0 Z1M2

When dropping a slug out, I have broken a lot of varimills when the piece could not fall completely out of the way (ex: only a 1/2" clearance below part in vise, etc) If it dances around, the cutter is in grave danger. Plus, you get a puck you might someday use for something and a whole lot less tool wear.

[davereagan]

I forgot to ask you what length tool holder you are using. I recently picked up some GS holders with a 1.38" gage length. This makes a huge difference compared to a 2.5" gage length holder, especially with a 1/2" or 3/4" endmill.