Meet my new little friend, Haas super mini mill

[Eric642]

Think you can DNC from the USB if not from a PC. HAAS memory is stupid. Think last I looked it was $1200 a Gig or something crazy.
YAY first parts! I would suggest supporting thin parts like that with only a 1/8" gap under them. Run singley turned 90deg. Would help OP2 from rattling so much. If your machine is set up right the parts should not be coming off with so much chatter but it could be caused by other issues.
Did you do a rough and finish pass? Cutter not sticking out too far? Proper feeds and speeds?

 

[Bacho]

Think you can DNC from the USB if not from a PC. HAAS memory is stupid. Think last I looked it was $1200 a Gig or something crazy.
YAY first parts! I would suggest supporting thin parts like that with only a 1/8" gap under them. Run singley turned 90deg. Would help OP2 from rattling so much. If your machine is set up right the parts should not be coming off with so much chatter but it could be caused by other issues.
Did you do a rough and finish pass? Cutter not sticking out too far? Proper feeds and speeds?

I’ve identified several areas for improvement. I’m hoping I can do a couple more runs this week and see what changes.

As I said, in the beginning, I don’t really know what I’m doing

 

[bdkw1]

Think you can DNC from the USB if not from a PC. HAAS memory is stupid. Think last I looked it was $1200 a Gig or something crazy.
YAY first parts! I would suggest supporting thin parts like that with only a 1/8" gap under them. Run singley turned 90deg. Would help OP2 from rattling so much. If your machine is set up right the parts should not be coming off with so much chatter but it could be caused by other issues.
Did you do a rough and finish pass? Cutter not sticking out too far? Proper feeds and speeds?

If you need a gig for a program in a mini mill your doing something really wrong. I've done molds where the finishing program take 40hrs to run on factory memory in a Haas.

 

[Eric642]

As I said, in the beginning, I don’t really know what I’m doing

Hope you do not take it as criticizing just offering friendly advice :) I do know when they install the machines they do level them well. We have a level that is the same as the technicians used and it is accurate to .005 over a foot. Would be a good place to start to make sure all the feet are the right toque (not sure what that # is. I may have an older installation/repair manual if you are interested) and the machine is level.

 

[Bacho]

I have leveled the machined as best as I can with the tools I have available. That I did not occur to me that I could look for a torque on the feet to make sure they’re all supporting equally. I’ve been wondering how to do that. I have a manual for it. I’ll have a look at that.

 

[Eric642]

..least I think they torqued them It has been a while but it would make sense to have them all loaded the same.
Our old VF3 had one foot that was bearly touching after a few years and it didn't seem to make much difference so I wouldn't sweat it too much lol

 

[Bacho]

I did note a few posts back that I thought it might be rocking some. Though it’s not really something I can get it to do by hand. A similar torque on all those legs makes sense.

 

[bdkw1]

I've leveled plenty of machines. I just go by feel to get the loads even on the feet. A machine that small is pretty easy. A digital level isn't very level, I roughed mine in using one. Then I borrowed the precision level from work, it was way out. Also check it after 6 months or so, things settle.

 

[Eric642]

In case you are curious this is the level we used at work.

Starrett 98 Machinists Level

 

[Eric642]

I was also quite surprised how much memory these programs required, and how low the memory is on the machine. I’ve got a couple of her and options there, but it looks like the only affordable answers are is running the program over drip or learn to cam in fusion much more efficiently. I’ll start with the latter for now.

Another thing that helps to reduce program size is to increase the filtering size for the roughing toolpaths. Programs can grow pretty quickly when using dynamic milling. Just be sure to leave enough that it doesn't gouge into the finished surface of the part because the filter amount is the distance on either side of the selected contour that the tool will be allowed to cut. If you increase the filtering size you will start to see facets because the toolpath was divided up into larger lines which is okay for roughing but makes an ugly finished part. A larger filter is also handy if your control is having problems keeping up with the program and starts to stutter.

Running DNC is fine but it is a pain if you need to restart in the middle of the program for some reason.

One other thing that I like to do which is handy, is to set up Fusion to only post line numbers that match the tool number at the tool change.
like this:
N15 T15 M06;

It's nice when restarting the program part way through if you are pre-staging tools but if your machine only has a carousel guess it's not an issue. Otherwise, I find line numbers are not needed unless macros are being used then I add likes as needed.

 

[Duc]

In case you are curious this is the level we used at work.

Starrett 98 Machinists Level

Once in awhile they are for sale on MSCdirect or can be found on ebay easy. Do not buy the master level unless you want to spend alot of time trying to level that thing out perfect. The 98 will be good enough for your work. Its something worth owning so you can move the mill around to clean or just for checking the level of the machine. I had a chuckle when the riggers were going to level my fadal with a regular level.

 

[bgaidan]

Once in awhile they are for sale on MSCdirect or can be found on ebay easy. Do not buy the master level unless you want to spend alot of time trying to level that thing out perfect. The 98 will be good enough for your work. Its something worth owning so you can move the mill around to clean or just for checking the level of the machine. I had a chuckle when the riggers were going to level my fadal with a regular level.

I scored a 12" with cert from Amazon Warehouse for like $110 last year. I think the box might have had a little scuff on it or something.

 

[Bacho]

I applied some lessons learned and made this part again. Learned new lessons along the way.

After cutting the backside of the part in the jaws, I found the Y axis off about .003 again. I search pretty hard and found several factors contributing. I found the part had moved in fusion. But that did not take care of all of the error. I eventually found that the Haimir was out of calibration by several thousandths. I have treated it very well. Is that something I just need to check every day?

There’s a lot of tool marking on the first side of the part. I forgot to have it cut that in multiple depths.

For chamfering. It’s not wanting to treat outside perimeter the same as the interior edges. Do I need to do inside and outside as separate operations?

 

[bgaidan]

I applied some lessons learned and made this part again. Learned new lessons along the way.

After cutting the backside of the part in the jaws, I found the Y axis off about .003 again. I search pretty hard and found several factors contributing. I found the part had moved in fusion. But that did not take care of all of the error. I eventually found that the Haimir was out of calibration by several thousandths. I have treated it very well. Is that something I just need to check every day?

Is it a CAT40 Haimer or the straight shank version mounted in a tool holder? If the latter, try flipping the tool holder 180 degrees in the spindle and re-indicating.

There’s a lot of tool marking on the first side of the part. I forgot to have it cut that in multiple depths.

For chamfering. It’s not wanting to treat outside perimeter the same as the interior edges. Do I need to do inside and outside as separate operations?

What are you using for your CAM again? In Fusion, you need to tell it what side of the line you want it to chamfer. Other than that, as long as the geometry is similar, it shouldn't care if it's internal or external.

 

[Eric642]

For chamfering. It’s not wanting to treat outside perimeter the same as the interior edges. Do I need to do inside and outside as separate operations?

What is it doing on the outside for chamfering? If it is skipping parts Fusion could be stopping the cutter from hitting the vise jaws... maybe?
Do you model the vise as well at the part? I would recommend modeling each operation in fusion. Adaptive milling and simulation work much better when modeled.

 

[Bacho]

What is it doing on the outside for chamfering? If it is skipping parts Fusion could be stopping the cutter from hitting the vise jaws... maybe?
Do you model the vise as well at the part? I would recommend modeling each operation in fusion. Adaptive milling and simulation work much better when modeled.

For each set up the jaws are selected as fixture and the part is the model. I guess it’s possible I did not set the tip off set enough to miss the jaws. But I didn’t get an error on the subject. It just didn’t chamfer the exterior of the part.

 

[Bacho]

Is it a CAT40 Haimer or the straight shank version mounted in a tool holder? If the latter, try flipping the tool holder 180 degrees in the spindle and re-indicating.




What are you using for your CAM again? In Fusion, you need to tell it what side of the line you want it to chamfer. Other than that, as long as the geometry is similar, it shouldn't care if it's internal or external.

Using Fusion, I guess I need to review that. Although the raised areas inside of the part would’ve been cutting on the same side of the cutter.

The haimer is a straight shank in a tool holder. Unfortunately the default spindle orientation is 90° off to the side to view the dial.

 

[Eric642]

Could check what your setting is in the chamfering toolpath for "Chamfer Clearance" I know it is the amount it stays away from ledges but it may also be used for the tip?

 

[bgaidan]

The haimer is a straight shank in a tool holder. Unfortunately the default spindle orientation is 90° off to the side to view the dial.

I'm saying just manually load the haimer 180 degrees from it's current setup and see if it changes anything on the indicator. Just trying to rule out the tool holder as the source of error.

 

[bdkw1]

For reference, these are 20x10, profile is dynamiced, top surface was roughed with a .050 step over and finished with a .008 step over. Program was under 3 Meg. They took about 2 hours to run.