arkyengineer
Plastic
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2022
I'm still pretty green when it comes to machining, I have a small machine shop and we have been in business for a year. I got a brand new HAAS ST-15 here a while back and I have been really happy with it. There are definitely better machines out there, but its the biggest and nicest machine I have owned up to this point and also my first CNC lathe. I'm having a problem and I want to know if its a common one, is there something wrong, or maybe a quick fix? Or is this something that is a non-issue for 99.9% of people and because of the demands on this job its just going to always be a pain in the butt. This is a 2-axis lathe, no fancy Y-axis (or this would be a non-issue) but my finishing tool is leaving a small nub and on the parts I'm running, its unacceptable because its a cosmetic face. Now the material is 304 SS and I went through the process a few weeks ago of getting the tool shimmed to hit perfectly on center. I was getting really nice parts but its been about a month since I ran these parts and I have run steel, aluminum, stainless, and plastic parts through since I last ran these, constantly changing inserts along the way. Now I'm back to these parts and it looks like I never adjusted it to begin with. Now, for pretty much every other part I have run, the finish has been perfectly fine, but like I said, these parts NEED a 100% flat surface where there is zero nub. I will supply some photos but its hard to see in photos and like I said before, for 99.9% of machining jobs, tool is perfectly on center, its just this one job where its critical that the surface is 100% flat and you can see or feel any nub.
I have a feeling its going to be one of those things where the tool and machine is fine and its just a pain in the butt type of work that I will have to set up each time I run it. Or maybe, if I'm lucky, I just have to use a brand new insert every time I run the job and hope its on?
I have a feeling its going to be one of those things where the tool and machine is fine and its just a pain in the butt type of work that I will have to set up each time I run it. Or maybe, if I'm lucky, I just have to use a brand new insert every time I run the job and hope its on?