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Cutting 6 concentric circles in 1/2" plywood. Making 2 sets with offset diameters so the circles will overlap. The first set was made several weeks ago. I ran the second set today and since the run time was over an hour I went about other jobs in my woodshop.
I returned after a while to a smokey smell. The 3018 cut the first 2 circles fine and then it went on an excursion made several strange cuts and I found the spindle stalled and buried to the hilt in charred plywood.
I manually turned the Z axis screw and released the bit from the chuck, connected the offline controller after disconnecting the computer. Turned the control back on and moved the spindle away from the disaster area.
I have had similar excursions mysteriously happen before but was always nearby to shut the machine down.
I am about to give up on this machine and move it into a closet prior to trashing it. I have spent endless hours getting familiar with software and hardware for the past 4 months. I initially had 2 very successful jobs and nothing since has worked out.
Photos from today:
It appears that your 3018 is loosing steps. The 3018 model is a very entry level machine and requires very conservative settings, and decent maintenance to keep it running. . . wood chips getting onto the linear rods and on the lead screw can add enough resistance to cause trouble, or even worse yet, using overly aggressive cut settings can cause lost steps when the machine sees too much resistance.
I started with a 3018, and by babying it and keeping it clean, I had decent success after getting to know the machine. . .
I suggest joining the SainSmart facebook group as they have over 20K members most of which use the 3018 model. Even if yours is not their brand, the members will still help provide guidance to any 3018 owner, and some of the people there are very knowledgeable of that model cnc.
Thanks for the tips. I am in process of partial disassembly and serious cleaning and lubricating. I also tightened the springs on the threaded feed rods. I’ll get it back together and slow down the feed rates.
Jobs with any complexity are forecast to take over 12 hours and I don’t trust the machine to operate without close monitoring. That’s not good. I guess I will have to phase into multiple sessions to limit 2 hour segments.
