Over the weekend, I tried getting my mill to start up. No joy. Finally, I busted out the multimeter and schematics to find the source of the problem. I checked the E-Stop switch, the power in and out, the switches. Still no clues. The green power light was lit on the front of the machine, which led me to believe that the fuse was in working order. Finally, finding no AC voltage inside the machine, I double checked the fuse. It was fine. When I screwed it back in, though, I screwed it farther in than I had when I last checked it.
The first time I tried getting the machine running, it seemed intermittent. At one point when it refused to work, I checked the fuse. Not wanting to over tighten the fuse, I only inserted it gingerly. Apparently it was not screwed in tightly enough. A note on the machine, in order to run the spindle you must turn the direction to 0, then turn on power, then turn the directional knob to your desired direction. In any other order, the machine seems to decide not to run.
The following photos are of a 1/2” piece of aluminum plate. The cuts were made with a 1/2” endmill at a depth of approximately 1/10-1/8”. Plunging a 1/2” endmill was dodgy, but I suspect that might always be the case. After taking the first 1/2” cuts, 1/4” cuts were smooth. Plunging and initial cuts produced a fair amount of chatter. In the coming days I’ll bolt the machine to the bench, check the gibs, and make sure the column is tight. Then, I’ll revisit the aluminum plate. To be fair, I put the machine to a fairly aggressive test, so I’m not terribly concerned about a bit of chatter when using such a large cutter.
