Kind of related, but I was thinking about this a few weeks ago when we had 2 machines both running similar parts across the shop from each other, and they were getting into some kind of harmonic "symphony" with one another and produced a really annoying pulsating vibration throughout the shop. I was thinking microphone and loudspeaker with a short delay to throw it off.... Changing the spindle speed ever so slightly would eliminate it though. We had blueswarf in here a few years ago - got dashboards for 10 of our most common tools. Never really got the results we were looking for, although it was a really interesting learning experience.

do you really need that many per part? Have you tried using less? I hold a 120lb block of AL cutting 80-85% load on a 30hp machine with just 4 of the 1/4-20 clamps..

so download fart.exe (sourceforge.net is where I downloaded it) and and put it in the same folder as the file - then just create a .bat with something like this. obviously tweak for whatever orientation it was put in the machine. Im pretty sure this one has the base of the tombstone in the horizontal on the left side of the table in the vertical. fart "C:\Users\Joe\Desktop\test\testfile.NC" X U fart "C:\Users\Joe\Desktop\test\testfile.NC" Y X fart "C:\Users\Joe\Desktop\test\testfile.NC" U Y fart "C:\Users\Joe\Desktop\test\testfile.NC" Y- V fart "C:\Users\Joe\Desktop\test\testfile.NC" Y Y- fart "C:\Users\Joe\Desktop\test\testfile.NC" V Y fart "C:\Users\Joe\Desktop\test\testfile.NC" I U fart "C:\Users\Joe\Desktop\test\testfile.NC" J I fart "C:\Users\Joe\Desktop\test\testfile.NC" U J fart "C:\Users\Joe\Desktop\test\testfile.NC" J- V fart "C:\Users\Joe\Desktop\test\testfile.NC" J J- fart "C:\Users\Joe\Desktop\test\testfile.NC" V J PAUSE

I wrote a batch program that will do just that to any NC file. Had to do this to a few programs that were written before my time, hand edited over the years, etc. the program I used was called fart.exe (find and replace text)

trying to get some ideas for recovering coolant from our chip barrels. We have chip conveyors on all of our machines (makino a51 horizontals and doosan dnm verticals). We fill up about 25 55gallon barrels a week and they get picked up in the barrels and then the empties returned. I drained one yesterday by turning it on its side with our forklift for a while and got about 3 gallons out of it, so I feel its worth the effort considering the cost of our coolant. I thought about holes in the bottom with some kind of pan/dolly, but that could turn into a big mess in the storage area and when they are transferred to and from the truck. Also found someone that would stick a small pipe in the barrel before its filled and suck the coolant from the bottom with a wet/dry vac. We really don't want to have to dump the chips in any way or lift the barrels with a forklift or crane. Any ideas? Thanks!

been using mistbuster 850s on most of our machines for about 5 years now. (makino a51s, doosan dnm) they do an excellent job - key is to minimize the open areas of the machine enclosure so it takes less airflow to create a slight negative pressure in the machining area. we use an extra 4" filter on top that reduces alot of the humidity but its tough to get rid of it all. still have to run the buildings hvac to keep it dry.

ive had issues with chips on the pallet seating cones on our a51's. they were thin enough to not throw the air gap alarm, but enough to cause some issues higher up on the tombstone. The sensitivity of the gap switch is adjustable. not sure how the nx is configured, but check under the shield that divides the two tables. Its a place that chips like to hide and this swings over the seating area during a pallet change. If you are comfortable in maintenance mode, raise the apc and bring the table forward and clean the cones to eliminate the possibility. (be sure you know where machine z was when you lifted the apc to bring it back when you are done) Also check under the tables in the 4 pockets and verify everything is clean....

I am having a similar if not the same issue with opti-rest. (X7 MU1) I have a containment boundary set, using steep/shallow, retract height and clearance heights set, but the tool will retract above the stock model no matter what settings I use (which is unfortunately about 5 inches above where I am machining). I have tried using previous operations, cad file, and stock model (as 1 operation) for the remaining stock, but get the same result. file was sent to mastercam to have a look. first post btw. been watching from the sidelines for a while.... great forum.