[pickled]

Yep mistakes and errors can get us all. In my case this is especially true when I am rushing, down to my last end mill and/or working with very expensive parts/stock. I typically whip out my phone and record my first run of a new program to visualize where I can get rid of a bunch of air cutting via manual G-code touch up. Well the other day I did that and caught this gem! I was machining a part on the 1100 as I was running back and forth to my computer making last minute changes to the CAM for this part to run on the 770. In true multi-tasking form I screwed up the retract height setting in Sprut and you guys get to see the fun! Thankfully I was able to fix the program, re-zero the machine/fixture and save the part. It wasn't fun though!
CNC FAIL Assault of the Evil Fastener ID10T Error - YouTube

[Steve Seebold]

Yep mistakes and errors can get us all. In my case this is especially true when I am rushing, down to my last end mill and/or working with very expensive parts/stock. I typically whip out my phone and record my first run of a new program to visualize where I can get rid of a bunch of air cutting via manual G-code touch up. Well the other day I did that and caught this gem! I was machining a part on the 1100 as I was running back and forth to my computer making last minute changes to the CAM for this part to run on the 770. In true multi-tasking form I screwed up the retract height setting in Sprut and you guys get to see the fun! Thankfully I was able to fix the program, re-zero the machine/fixture and save the part. It wasn't fun though!
CNC FAIL Assault of the Evil Fastener ID10T Error - YouTube

That could be really hard on an expensive carbide cutter if you happened to try to go thru a steel clamp going that fast.

When you're doing something like, ALWAYS have your clearance plane one inch above the highest point in your set up.

[WOTDesigns]

Just another day! I like your outlook! "groovy" looking parts what were you making?

I seem to always mess up when making a slight change to a known program... So slight that I don't bother to use "verify" and notice that the depth is part bottom instead of part top. It's pretty fun hearing the spindle growl down to a stop just in time to hear the tool break.



Brian
WOT Designs

[WOTDesigns]

Just had a flash back of using the tormach modular insert mill on the HAAS at 1.5" DOC, full width at 70 ipm.... Didn't fair too well. Broke both inserts, the cutter and the holder. Sounded pretty cool stalling the 7.5hp motor though.

Brian
WOT Designs

[Steve Seebold]

Just had a flash back of using the tormach modular insert mill on the HAAS at 1.5" DOC, full width at 70 ipm.... Didn't fair too well. Broke both inserts, the cutter and the holder. Sounded pretty cool stalling the 7.5hp motor though.

Brian
WOT Designs

WOW, that can get expensive, real quick.

[mountaindew]

I use fixtures in every cam program I set up. Doing this I limit this or avoid this and or you can spot the problem real easy when simulating. Also I use saved setups for all my operations and tools, The preset operations have all those gotcha setting set correctly and again avoids tool and part damage. These days I have it setup for woc, doc, feed, speed based on material and tool type and I don't need to review these unless I see a tool trap point. Imho there is to many gotcha settings in cam software to not setup default operations and use fixtures including fasteners, plates, vise or other obstructions that you want the tools to avoid.
Anyway Im not saying these methods are fool proof and I do nick a fastener now and then because I get very close to them
md

[wtopace]

Great advice for us newbies MD. I put a small "character mark" on my vise earlier this week because I didn't take the few extra minutes to draw and add my fixtures.

Since then, I have drawn simple fixtures (my vise, although dimensioned correctly, looks very crude) and Sprut does a wonderful job of avoiding it, while at the same time making you think, "Why in the world does my tool path look so strange... ooooh, my stock is too low".

On a side note, if you create an assembly of your fixtures and part in your CAD software, you can import the entire assembly to Sprut and move the meshes for the fixtures to the fixtures folder. That way you can orient everything in your CAD software (which is much easier for me).

Overall, I think it is well worth the extra 5-10 minutes per project to draw and import all fixtures.

[pickled]

Wow man that had to hurt! I bet you actually got your heart racing a little bit on that one. 70IPM at 1.5" DOC huh? I think that cut falls under the G-Wizzard slider setting somewhere to the right of the rabbit icon under an icon of a spider monkey hitting a crack pipe LOL! Yeah there are days when I'm just like- really??? Could I have planned to p!ss away all my profit on a product run any quicker?? Then there are those great days where I find a unique way to bang some things out efficiently that nobody else has ever laid there eyes on before. Those are the good days that keep me going. If I can't learn from my own mistakes and laugh at them later I'm not living.

[pickled]

FYI- these are functional accent grips for a pistol. A friend of mine wanted something unique...I figured that these fit the bill.

[pickled]

Steve and MD I definitely take what you guys are saying to heart. Sometimes I just have to learn the hard way. As I am getting older I am doing this a lot less often. Maybe others can learn vicariously from my documented failure.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

I once made a similar mistake, forgetting to remove a fixture bolt that was half on the path of a roughing profile cut. At the time, I was using a carbide 2-flute, running about 70 IPM. I had enough time to see what was about to happen, but not enough time to do anything about it. Amazingly, it took half of the head, and part of the shank, of a 3/8" Allen bolt, leaving practically a mirror finish, and the tool was completely unscathed! I kept using that same tool for quite some time after that.

Another time I did basically the same thing, with a HSS endmill, at lower feedrate (probably 25-30 IPM). That one simply (quite literally) welded itself to the bolt (quite literally), before breaking off. I kept both as souvenirs for quite a while. At this point I very rarely break tools. Practice makes perfect!

Regards,
Ray L.

[pickled]

Did you build a little altar for that tool and its holder to live a comfortable retirement in? To go through that kind of abuse and live it must have been a "sacred end mill". I was certainly lucky on this one. At the last minute I chucked up a HSS EM because I have a ton of them laying around that are gathering dust in the name of rigidity. If it was carbide I'm pretty sure it would have been thrashed.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Did you build a little altar for that tool and its holder to live a comfortable retirement in? To go through that kind of abuse and live it must have been a "sacred end mill". I was certainly lucky on this one. At the last minute I chucked up a HSS EM because I have a ton of them laying around that are gathering dust in the name of rigidity. If it was carbide I'm pretty sure it would have been thrashed.

The holder was fine, I still use it.

Don't under-estimate HSS tooling. Below 1/4" carbide has extra rigidity, above that, these machines don't have enough power for the tool rigidity to be a major factor. I do 95% of my 6061 roughing with HSS 2-flutes, running 6000 RPM @ 110IPM with 0.05" WOC, and 0.5" DOC. The tools are dirt cheap (about $12 each), and last a looooooong time. It hurts a lot less to break or damage a $10 tool than a $30-60 one....

Regards,
Ray L.

[pickled]

Thanks for the tip on the 2-flute HSS! I pretty much lived by the <3/8" it's gotta be carbide for my stainless and titanium work- minus the corn cob roughers. I have some 7075 aluminum work coming up that is going to require a lot of stock removal so I'll throw the HSS at it in my 770 and check it out. Again thanks for the advice Ray!

[WOTDesigns]

Wow man that had to hurt! I bet you actually got your heart racing a little bit on that one. 70IPM at 1.5" DOC huh? I think that cut falls under the G-Wizzard slider setting somewhere to the right of the rabbit icon under an icon of a spider monkey hitting a crack pipe LOL! Yeah there are days when I'm just like- really??? Could I have planned to p!ss away all my profit on a product run any quicker?? Then there are those great days where I find a unique way to bang some things out efficiently that nobody else has ever laid there eyes on before. Those are the good days that keep me going. If I can't learn from my own mistakes and laugh at them later I'm not living.

LMFAO

The HAAS is in the very back of my shop and I was out front by my truck past the office and bathrooms and the entire shop. I heard a growl that got louder and louder so by the time it fully stalled the spindle then broke the holder I was in a full sprint to the machine. It errored out after stalling the spindle but not before melting a hell of a chunk of aluminum off.

I saved the part for a while but got so annoyed every time I saw it I finally recycled it.

Just found the cutter. LOL. those blunt edges sure did try to cut... I'll give em that

Attachment 264586

Brian
WOT Designs

[pickled]

Now that's a trophy that you proudly display, but just don't show the HAAS guys when they come in for that warranty work :-). Nice thanks for sharing!

[WOTDesigns]

Haha, right?!

Brian
WOT Designs

[Steve Seebold]

LMFAO

The HAAS is in the very back of my shop and I was out front by my truck past the office and bathrooms and the entire shop. I heard a growl that got louder and louder so by the time it fully stalled the spindle then broke the holder I was in a full sprint to the machine. It errored out after stalling the spindle but not before melting a hell of a chunk of aluminum off.

I saved the part for a while but got so annoyed every time I saw it I finally recycled it.

Just found the cutter. LOL. those blunt edges sure did try to cut... I'll give em that

Attachment 264586

Brian
WOT Designs

Hey Brian, Just in case you forgot, the black part of the cutter is made to hold the inserts, not to rub its way through the material.

[WOTDesigns]

Hey Brian, Just in case you forgot, the black part of the cutter is made to hold the inserts, not to rub its way through the material.

D'oh!

Brian
WOT Designs

[mountaindew]

Steve and MD I definitely take what you guys are saying to heart. Sometimes I just have to learn the hard way. As I am getting older I am doing this a lot less often. Maybe others can learn vicariously from my documented failure.

Agreed!
I have a tray with the broken taps and drill bits to remind me to double check as much as possible. There are so many ways to scrap out tools and parts while machining them. I spent couple hours milling out a set of flanges and on the very last operation I failed to get the tts holder with chamfer bit all the way seated to spindle and thus it milled to deep and scrapped out all the parts and prep work. It looked like a tool pull out issue "but not on a chamfer " and thus operator error.

And to be clear sprutcam would not have avoided your fixture in rapid moves between parts or operations. Having the fixtures included in cam model would only have shown you the problem if you looked at it carefully "and you still might not see it" . It only avoids fixtures or restricted areas during normal operations not rapids or returns. Funny how the cam software has a large area to move around from operation to operation or part to part and somehow it generates a b-line to the nearest screw or fixture. its like why did it do that
all fun stuff and the reason I figure another 4-5 years before I get very good at this.
md