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The Tuesday my CNC router cut 47 parts without a single scrapped piece, then Friday took it all back
I run a small job shop out of my garage in Akron and two weeks ago I had the best day I can remember at the machine. I had a run of 60 plywood brackets for a local cabinet guy, and from the first toolpath to the last one the router just hummed along, no chatter, no burn marks on the edges, and I finished 47 of them before lunch with zero scrap. I actually stood there with my coffee feeling like I finally had the feeds and speeds figured out. Then Friday hit and the same machine snapped a 1/8 inch downcut bit on the very first cut, then skipped a step on the X axis and ruined a $90 sheet of baltic birch. I checked the belts, blew out the rails, and still could not tell you what changed between those two days. Does anyone else get these swings where the machine acts like a different animal from one day to the next, and what do you check first when it happens?
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gavin2284d ago
Grab a cheap laser thermometer and shoot the stepper motors and driver after a long run. Heat changes things, and a motor that runs cool Tuesday can drag and skip steps Friday once the garage warms up or a fan gets blocked. Log the temp with your feeds so you have a base to compare against.
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