Hit a bad batch of aluminum stock yesterday and it cost me 4 hours
I was running a batch of 50 brackets on my Haas Mini Mill, nothing tricky just some 6061 plate I've cut a thousand times. About halfway through the run I noticed the finish was looking wavy and the tool was making this weird scraping sound that I've learned to hate. Turns out the supplier sent me some recycled stock that was loaded with inclusions, I found three hard spots in one piece that totally chipped my end mill. Had to stop the whole job, swap out the tool, and re-run every part that had already been cut. By the time I was done the shop smelled like burning coolant and my back hurt from leaning over the machine all afternoon. Has anyone else dealt with a bad batch of material from a supplier you usually trust, and how do you catch it before you start cutting?