My Haas just ate a $400 piece of titanium because of a stupid coolant line

Happened yesterday afternoon, right after lunch. I was running a batch of 6AL-4V parts, finish pass on the last one. Heard a weird gurgle from the spindle but didn't think much of it. Next thing I know, there's a godawful shriek and the tool just digs in. Shut it down, and the whole pocket is trashed. Turns out a little plastic coolant line to the spindle nozzle had kinked and collapsed. No coolant on the cut, instant thermal shock, and the insert just shattered. The part was so hot I couldn't touch it for a minute. Now I'm out the material and have to explain this scrap to the boss. How often do you guys check those little lines? I feel like I'm always looking at the big stuff and the small things bite me.

2 comments

2 Comments

elizabethhart6d ago

Our shop lost a $2k Inconel part the same way, now I check those lines every Monday.

the_vera6d ago

Ouch, that's brutal. @elizabethhart has the right idea, those little lines are sneaky. Makes me want to go check mine right now.