[Edster]

I bought a 2001 Fadal VMC 3016L a few weeks ago. Good thing I decided to check under the way covers.

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/q...ise/Chips2.jpg

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/q...ise/Chips4.jpg

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/q...ise/Chips1.jpg



The z axis was almost as bad!

I don't think the previous owner ever cleaned the machine.

[ddgman2001]

That's insane! Mine was't quite that bad but still took a lot of work to get the crap out from under the covers.

[helixcnc]

My company repairs and rebuilds Fadal's in the Boston area and you would be amazed what is under some of the covers. Especially the VMC15's with there one piece cover. A production shop running 24/7 can fill those empty voids with chips quickly. I recommend removing all covers once a year or every 2000 hours to clean and inspect.

[Waynno]

That looks like grey PVC, I used to cut a lot of that stuff, it sticks in machines forever unless you pull it out by hand. Last PVC i cut was 2 years ago, and some of my machines still have that stuff stuck in places like that, It can wreak havoc on clogging coolant systems