Cnc Ticking Noise

I keep hearing this ticking noise for my Shapeoko Pro. It only happened when i get 1/2 into wood. I can feel it when i touch the router almost like hitting something. Thanks in advanced Hunter

Likely, you are loosing steps on the x motor. What depth of cut and feeds and speeds are you using ? They might be too aggressive.

I am doing with the #210 1/4 endmill also i am cutting in hard maple.

Stepover 0.118
Depth per Pass 0.040
Plunge Rate 12.0
Feed Rate 30
Rpm 18000

Those are more than ok, so that’s not it. Any chance you are bottoming out the Z axis once you reach 1/2" depth?

No it is 1.26 inches thick. Also it does it on soft woods to. So I don’t think it is going to fast.

Does it seem to happen during Z moves or X/Y moves?
If you could capture a video and share a link to it here, it could help figuring out what happens

I’m uploading a video to YouTube right now.

Here is one video of it doing it once at 13 seconds. It gets worse as i go faster. I am trying to find another one right now. Ticking - YouTube

I don’t really hear much in that video (other than the router). Are the cuts coming out clean and correct?
Any chance it’s coming from your Sweepy hitting something or the vac hose?

Here is another video i just up the speeds for a pass. Ticking2 - YouTube

When i feel the router when it makes the ticking you can feel it almost hit a bump for a second and keep going. I don’t think it is the sweppy because there is plenty of room for it. And the dust collector hose is not hitting anything.

Does it do it with different bits?

I have only tried it with 2 #201 Endmill bits. I don’t have any other bit except for vbits witch worked fine.

I’m sorry. I still don’t hear a clicking sound. Is it the router changing pitch suddenly or is there an actual clicking that I’m missing?
By the way, I’d triple that feedrate or more when you’re only cutting .040" depth.
Sounds like you’re not cutting much and then periodically you’re recutting some chips.

1 Like

Here is one more video with the machine at the default settings for hardwoods. The noise gets worse the faster I go.I don’t believe it is the router changing pitch. Because when i touch it. I can feel when it makes the ticking noise. Or am i just over reacting to something normall? Ticking 3 - YouTube

I think I heard it that time. Any chance the router cord is getting caught?
If you don’t notice anything mechanical (could be coming from anything), I’d start checking the actual router. Maybe a bad beating it something (guess). Does the router speed affect it?

2 Likes

Everyone hears something different. What I think the noise is the material being chipped out while being cut. Chipped out at the bottom of the cut as the router moves forward. I heard the clicks while cutting with the grain and not cross grain.

I checked the routers cord and it is fine. And it does affect it on router speed. The faster it goes the less it does it.

Do you think it is fine to continue using it?

Yes continue. Just look at the bottom of the cut to see if the finish is acceptable. If it is a through cut it will likely not be visible on the side of the cut. I could be wrong but sounds like chipped out wood.