Chip control bit me hard on a Haas VF-2 last Friday

I was running a 304 stainless part and the chips built up in the pocket way faster than I expected. About 15 minutes into the cycle, a big birds nest wrapped around the holder and snapped my endmill clean off. The insert slammed into the part and gouged it out pretty bad. Cost me $120 for the tool and 4 hours of rework. Anyone else had chip evacuation issues bite them on stainless jobs?

2 comments

2 Comments

garcia.quinn6d ago

Blew a $150 carbide endmill on a Friday afternoon doing the exact same thing with 304. Watched the chips pile up in a blind hole like I was feeding a wood chipper. Had to spend Saturday re-doing the whole part while my buddies were out fishing. Really made me question my life choices around chip clearance.

zarapalmer6d ago

Ugh, that's brutal. I've been there with the exact same regret watching a good endmill just go up in smoke on a Friday. There's something special about hearing that snap and knowing you've just thrown away a weekend of work and a $150 piece of metal. I remember standing over the machine after one of those, just staring at the chips packed solid in a hole like concrete, wondering how I got so stupid. The worst part is you KNOW better, but you just get in a rhythm and that voice in your head says "one more pass" right before everything goes wrong.