Worst shift of my life last Tuesday, everything that could go wrong did

I swear last Tuesday was cursed from the start. Got to the shop at 6 AM and my Haas was throwing a Z-axis overload alarm before I even touched it. Spent an hour on the phone with the tech guy, finally got it reset, and then my 1/2 inch end mill snapped on the first pass through some 4140. That set me back another 45 minutes swapping the tool holder and rezeroing. Then the coolant pump decided to die at lunch, so I spent the rest of the day running dry with mister bottles like a caveman. Boss came by at 4 PM and asked why I was only 60% done with the job, like I hadn't been fighting the machine all day. Ended up staying until 8:30 just to hit the minimum for the next morning's inspection. Any of you guys ever have a day where the machine just seems to hate you for no reason?

2 comments

2 Comments

alice8085d ago

Wait, you had a 1/2 inch end mill snap on 4140 on the first pass? That is brutal! What speed and feed were you running? I've had those days where the machine just fights back at every step, but snapping an end mill right away is a whole new level of bad luck. Running dry with mister bottles sounds like absolute torture, especially after the coolant pump died. I bet the boss had no clue what you were dealing with either.

david7015d ago

Turning down the feed rate by about 20% and using a pecking cycle helped me get through similar tough cuts on 4140 without breaking tools. Running a little slower saved me from snapping end mills left and right.