Walk away from a machine?

[skydivebase]

We just purchased a VF1 and are machining loads of aluminum parts. Each part takes about 20min and there's a bunch of tool changes. Because this is our first machine and none of us have worked in a machine shop with cnc equipment, we a bit short on common procedures. Do you leave a machine and come back to reload? I bet there's more than one answer here and I'm ready to learn something,

Thanks
J

[dertsap]

if its a straight forward aluminum job that has had one part proven ,walk away if you feel its safe to do so !
if its stainless types or hard steels of the sort then you may want to stick around depending on your tooling and procedure

the question is so broad in the big scheme of things ,

its all dependant on materials , tooling , speeds/feeds and tolerancing ,
its boils down to common sense and leasons learned after having melt downs tool breakage , parts flying out etc,etc

since you sound inexperienced your best bet is to play it safe until you are comfortable to leave the machine alone , this type of knowledge comes with experience and not under other peoples suggestions who don t know the parts or the process your running
i used to run a 8 pallet system lights out on the weekends , i'd go back every 8-10 hrs to load some parts and leave again , but we understood the process and any potential problems that we would face ,then we eliminated those troubles


the short version to your question is sure i do it all the time with aluminum jobs

to be honest the ball is in your hand
without us totally understanding what it is you are doing ,all we can do is blow wind out of our butts which could mean potential troubles for you

[skydivebase]

Yeh that all sounds cool. I understand that at the end of the days it's my call- I own the machine so any stuff ups will hurt my pocket anyway.. I have in the last week of so left the machine running while I did some office work and having watched the machine make the same part 100 times I felt more than comfortable. When we purchased the machine (2nd hand), the toolmaker that ran the machine said to make sure I'm there for every tool change, because "that is when things can go wrong". What does that mean??
What I really wanted to know was, are there people setting and forgetting after they're confidant with the machine and the part they're machining OR is it in fact a complete no no to step more than 12 inches away from the big red button.
I think you've answered my question.
Any other input would be greatly appreciated as well.

Thanks
J

[M30]

The mill I run is in an environment around others who do not know how to operate the machine. So whenever they could be around (normal business hours) I make extra sure I don't leave it unattended.

Generally speaking though, I'm so new to CNC that I just like to sit and watch the machine run my parts.

[Geof]

There is another thing to consider and that is if something goes seriously wrong the machine will probably have shut itself down before you have responded even if you are hovering right there.

One thing we do that greatly reduces the chance of serious damage is have the Tool Overload Setting on Autofeed and set the maximum load at 120%. This means the feed backs of if the load starts going up and the machine grinds to a halt more gently.

[ltmquik]

At the end of the day we set our machines to turn off after M30. This is done in the settings mode though I do not recall the exact number. So the machine is set to this and we start the program as we are leaving and the machine will turn off at the end of the machine. You can also do alot with the Max Tool Load and Tool Life so that if a tool breaks or exceeds the load or life the machine will stop protecting all the following toolling.

[binzer]

I also have the Haas turn off at m30 and I always walk away while its running but I also like to gamble lol.

[Geof]

Originally Posted by binzer I also have the Haas turn off at m30 and I always walk away while its running but I also like to gamble lol.

It is not really a gamble when the machine is set up correctly and doing routine running on light alloy parts. If you are doing something exotic then it is not a gamble either it is silly.

[Switcher]

The cnc I run has a param. so I can enter my cell phone number, If it has an alarm, it will send me a text message (how you like them apples! )

It would be to late for a crash & burn, bet I can get to the machine before the fire dept.




.

[Excelmachine]

You could also program an M1 at each tool change and use the optional stop function to pause at each tool change if that is a big concern.

[JHamdan78]

they crash so fast. it would prob crash twice before u hit the tiny red button (it shrinks when u panic) but like they said, the load its self will stall the machine. we always set up the mills and leave.

[dertsap]

Originally Posted by JHamdan78 (it shrinks when u panic) .

i think they outright disappear


most crashes happen fast but i can t necessarily agree 100 % with the machine stalls out idea , weve got a four sided chick tombstone that is carved pretty badly because nothing was stopping the cutter

i snapped a 50 taper holder in half once on the 4 axis , the only thing that stopped me from destroying the $15000+ chunk of titanium i was working on was the estop button ,and yes it all happened fast
most crashes can be avoided with common sense ,as most crashes are due to human error or lack of judgement