My shop's 5-axis machine threw a tool through a $3k aluminum block on Friday because someone didn't tighten the collet nut enough.

Honestly, after we found the tool holder still in the spindle but the end mill buried in the scrap, I made the whole crew watch me run the drawbar force test three times in a row to prove the point.

3 comments

3 Comments

hugomurray1mo ago

Drawbar test won't catch a loose collet nut.

christopherwilson1mo ago

What test would catch it then?

richard_west681mo ago

Wait, the tool holder was still in the spindle but the end mill was just... stuck in the part? That's a new kind of scary.