Had my worst week in 8 years of running a CNC last month

Last Tuesday my spindle started making this grinding noise that gave me chills. Found out the bearings were shot and it cost me $1,400 to get them replaced by a guy over in Milwaukee. Then on Thursday my coolant pump died mid run and ruined a $600 batch of aluminum parts. I swear I almost packed up and went home but my apprentice talked me into sticking with it. Has anyone else had a string of failures like that where you just wanted to walk away?

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harper_owens3mo ago

Oh man, that sounds brutal. I had a buddy who owns a shop over in Green Bay, and he hit a streak like that a couple years ago. His CNC lathe threw a chuck jaw clean off during a run, took out the door window and sent carbide shrapnel everywhere. Then the next day his air compressor seized up and he had to borrow one from a competitor just to finish a rush order. The dude was ready to sell his machines and take a job at a gas station, I swear. He stuck it out though and eventually said that bad month taught him to keep spare parts for everything.

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fisher.charlie3mo ago

Did his buddy end up buying most of those spare parts from the same competitor he borrowed the compressor from, or did he find a better supplier after that mess? I'm curious if that relationship got weird or ended up saving him down the road.

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