So far have logged in about 75 hours of running the mill not counting setup times, cleaning etc.
I have been running an IH CNC 3 axis 2hp for about a couple months now. So far have produced some decent parts some of them fairly large 24" with pockets, contouring, various Z-X Z-Y transitions as well. Working with aluminum.
So far so good I guess. No many scrap pieces at all. But I noticed I have destroyed quite a few endmills, and drills. Mabye about 20 total including drills.
A couple time have had the mill grind against or the holder grind down on the part clamps. Lots of times have not set the proper retract for tools or feed planes, many times restarted an operation that was paused forgetting to turn the spindle back on.
Most of endmills destroyed are 1/4-3/8. Never damaged the mill table. Yet. I have been told if I keep it up casastrophic mill damage is not far off! I have no machining background and can not take time to get educated in it or become a journyman. But I am just wondering how typical this destructive track record is, if it will end soon, or what.
These seem to be my most common mistakes.
1- forgetting that top of stock is z= .75 not z=0 (hence drills and endmills crashing in to the part
2- clamps too close to the endmill path or tool holder
3- smacking drills into parts while setting up parts
4- forgetting to turn spindle on when resuming an operation that was terminated with emergency stop (tool crashes into part)
5- Rapid moving mill table in wrong direction crashing into servo casing (forgetting the right direction) this is a problem with the long frame parts where there is no room for error like that while setting up.
6- Forgetting to turn coolant on in toolpath programming.
7- Not setting the proper retract in in programming toolpath.