The picture of the R is a test piece I tried after I made the sign and it did it again. (The R is actually from the sign. I just set it up separately on another piece of material)
I did the WD40 and it worked real well. I actually prepped the entire area pretty well to keep the mess as contained as possible. I can do the side to side cuts and have done that several times in wood. My only issue with this was the initial cut of 0.035 depth instead of the programmed 0.010 depth.Make sure you're using a coolant cutting Alum.
Some do get by on plain air others do WD40.
I hate the WD40 smell and the mess it leaves.
Actually surprised at the cost of the FogBuster
Pretty soon I'll be cutting alum but not looking forward to
giant mess that'll be left all around the machine.
When doing the Alum cut setup, wouldnt be just the same as you
normally would? just a less than thru cut?
Can that program do side-to-side cuts? They look better
than the spiral if paint filling.
My Safe Z is set at 0.800Check your Safe Z and Home position settings.
Does the preview show the deep cut?
Your pic shows Safe Z at .2 - not .8My Safe Z is set at 0.800
I didn't look to see if the preview shows it. I can check when I get home this afternoon.
You're right. My Home Z is .8 and Safe Z is .2Your pic shows Safe Z at .2 - not .8
I'm sure it's possible but I even did the test piece and it was set to 3 passes of 0.010 and it also started at 0.035. I would normally ramp instead of straight plunge but since it was supposed to only go 0.010 I didn't think the ramp was as necessary.Is it possible that you forgot to recalculate your toolpath after setting your passes = 3? I have forgotten to do that on occasion after making a toolpath change. You could look at the gcode and see what it is being told to do on the first pass.
I would also recommend ramping instead of plunging to cut depth.
I can try that spray. I have used WD40 in the past and a friend of mine who is a tool maker with the big CNC stuff also recommended it. But I'm always open to try stuffA couple of possibilities. How was the stock held down? If clamped around edge, possibly not flat everywhere or lifting do to upcut. This may be a good application for the blue tape and superglue method. Clamped around edge but had no noticeable lifting
How did you zero off the top of material? If you use touch off puck, make sure that the thickness is set correctly. Mine seems to have not read some types of bits as consistently, have mine back off to 1", and double check with a 1-2-3 block. I did use the touch plate. I checked calibration a few weeks ago but will check again
Several sharks that I have seen tend to have a little flex in the gantry do to the unsupported rails, possible that "grabbing" of the aluminum is pulling the entire Z carriage down a slight bit. If you push up or down on the collet, is there any movement? No movement in collet. I thought about flex but everywhere I measured it was 0.035 deep so being this consistent I ruled out flex.
Do you know the alloy of the aluminum? I have had better luck with harder alloys (6061) than with softer (3003) alloys. The soft ones are gummy and grab more. It is the 3003. The last 2 passes of 0.010 it runs very smooth and no grabbing at all.
When cutting aluminum, I like to lubricate the bit with this spray. Use it all the time, but it seems to make a more noticeable difference with aluminum. May not be as necessary if you were using wd40, I have been cutting dry most of the time (or just air blast).
Try opening your g code file in 'notepad'. My post processor uses the extension *.tap and it displays in notepad just fine.I'm sure it's possible but I even did the test piece and it was set to 3 passes of 0.010 and it also started at 0.035. I would normally ramp instead of straight plunge but since it was supposed to only go 0.010 I didn't think the ramp was as necessary.
How do I bring up the G code? Can I just open the .tap file in another program?
DougTry opening your g code file in 'notepad'. My post processor uses the extension *.tap and it displays in notepad just fine.
That one looks nice. Thanks for the info!!
GerryYour Z zero is set incorrectly.