[914paul]

What's the most time you've invested in a project before F'ing it up? This morning I completed about 25 operations in approx 6 hours and then ruined the whole thing with a bad toolpath. Now I need to hear about your mess ups to calm me down.

[Lee DeRaud]

We're gonna need a separate poll for people like me who are a bit better at screwing things up. Maybe something along the lines of:
"How many pieces of expensive stock do you bugger up before you give up a project as a bad idea?"

[osphoto]

Dad told me, "Son, if you are gonna f'k something up, do it right the first time."

The time I've spent screwing something up far out does the time I spent on getting it right. It's the screws up's that teaches me the lessons I need to learn.

So, your time spent... is just dime in hat. I've spent a week of evenings to make a part I can't use.

[louieatienza]

Think of it as the cost of tuition.... Happened to me before. I even spent 6 hours cutting parts, everyhing looked perfect till I tried to fit the pieces, but I used the wrong tool definition in CAM and everything ended up being 1/16" too short!....

[fizzissist]

What's the most time you've invested in a project before F'ing it up? This morning I completed about 25 operations in approx 6 hours and then ruined the whole thing with a bad toolpath. Now I need to hear about your mess ups to calm me down.

Maybe the money spent on verification software/hardware, and time spent to render doesn't seem as expensive after all?

.... Running $400 blanks and 16hr programs, scrapping on toolpath #16 isn't an option, especially with an end user breathing down your neck. Especially when you'll run through $60 worth of inserts just to get that far..

But rest easy... you're not the only one who's enjoyed this lesson in attention to details.

[OCNC]

My favorite mistake was entering 0.3125 when I meant 0.03125. Needless to say I don't do that anymore but I did it more than once just to learn it well.

Chris

[underthetire]

Don't feel bad. I've seen Complete cross slides torn out of large cnc lathes from a simple error. Decimal points do matter.

[Khalid]

What's the most time you've invested in a project before F'ing it up? .

Last time it took an hour on the project of my girl friend...

[SirDenisNayland]

Maybe the money spent on verification software/hardware, and time spent to render doesn't seem as expensive after all?

.... Running $400 blanks and 16hr programs, scrapping on toolpath #16 isn't an option, especially with an end user breathing down your neck. Especially when you'll run through $60 worth of inserts just to get that far..

But rest easy... you're not the only one who's enjoyed this lesson in attention to details.

No amount spent on verification software can prevent the operator from sticking a 5/16 endmill in instead of a 3/8 though, or punching in a diameter offset wrong.

[vtx1029]

Don't feel bad I did the same thing this weekend. 5 or so hours of run time and the last tool path didn't bring the Z up as far as I wanted it to and it sliced and diced the 3d parts I had done.

[Med-Pac]

Glad to see this poll.......Thanks fer the chuckle. Thought I was the only one. There is a cure for the F'd up blues........happy hour at the waterin hole!

[Geof]

Are you talking hobby projects just done for fun or real projects with a marketable product in mind? In the case of fun-type projects I have often spent many tens of hours before I realised they wouldn't work. Marketable products are a totally different ball of wax, my most expensive was about $500k and five years of work before throwing in the towel.

[G. Hoffman]

Gods, I've got at least half a dozen guitars that were 99+% of the way there, and were for some reason unworkable. Some times, the best thing to do is just cut them in half, and start over, but man that sucks when you've got a $300 piece of figured maple for the top!!! (Not to mention all the time spent on the bloody things!)


Gabriel

[CarveOne]

I was once told that the mark of a True Master is that he can cover his mistakes with design improvements that look like intentional artwork to his customers.

I haven't found any True Masters that could repair my finest disasters.

[Izitbrokeyet?]

I see I'm not the only one to mark "over 6 hrs". Makes me wonder how much total time has been blown.

"If you don't screw up....you're not doing anything".

I'm still learning the fine art of knowing when to start from scratch rather than invest more time in a part (to fix imperfections).

[metalmansteve]

Geof,

Thanks for making me feel so much better today!

[zool]

I'm still learning the fine art of knowing when to start from scratch rather than invest more time in a part (to fix imperfections).

This just might be the most valuable piece of advice ever on CNC Zone.

Now all I need to do is remember it at the appropriate time!!

[Mountaincraft]

I just destroyed a brand new amana insert bit yesterday... took the protective coating off of it, put it in the router, 30 seconds later, 'junk'... It was the replacement I had bought for the one I destroyed by running it into the side of the zero plate...

This time it was because of lack of sleep.... It was a 45 degree bit, when I was supposed to put in the 60 degree.... Yesterday was a rough day....

ruined the piece I was cutting too.... 'twice'....

[RomanLini]

I was working on a specialised piece that required about 10 operations and with a tool change between each operation.

After about 4 hours of fine machining I got to the very last operation, changed the tool and was REALLY looking forward to it being finished! Due to mental and or physical exhuastion (yeah I'm a wimp ) I forgot to zero the tool height, the first time in all the tool changes.

So it thought the tool was 1/2" shorter than it was, then proceded to mash the tool through the delicate 90% finished piece, with plenty enough force to bend and snap the tool off then STILL keep chewing through the piece with a bent broken tool.

I started all over again the next day, and did NOT forget to set the tool height again!

[ihavenofish]

Marketable products are a totally different ball of wax, my most expensive was about $500k and five years of work before throwing in the towel.

i worked on a film where my friend spent $350k to have it go nowhere. then he spent $250k on a music video for his wife which was a write off after she divorced him. :/

not cnc of course although cnc'd things were made for both.

ive never made a machining goof worth more than a few hundred bucks. ive definitely gone and made several prototypes of things to then decide the design was crap somehow.