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Session 13: Cut Your Practice Build

Unit 2 — Manufacturing Foundations, Week 4

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Session 13

Cut Your Practice Build

Real Material Today

Four weeks of design, materials, safety, and CAM — all of it, running on the actual machine.

Before Anything: Your Checklist

Walk your Session 10 pre-cut checklist one more time, against this exact job, before touching the machine.

Every Session 4 Protocol Still Applies

Certified, supervised, one job at a time — nothing about today changes those rules.

Today's Sequence

  1. Confirm material is secured
  2. Verify zero/home
  3. Run the job, supervised, start to finish
  4. Remove tabs by hand once cutting is done

If Something Goes Wrong

Stop the job. Diagnose using Session 10's symptom list before assuming anything.

A Failed First Attempt Isn't a Failed Session

Diagnosing a real problem, correctly, is worth as much as a clean first cut — same philosophy as Unit 1's Mismatch Activity.

Two Things to Remember

Watch the whole cut.

Never leave a running job unattended — Session 4's rule, still true, no exceptions today.

Two Things to Remember

Keep the part, even if it's imperfect.

Next session is about evaluating what actually happened — you need the real result, not just a memory of it.

Next Time

Session 14: Evaluate & Reflect

Comparing what you designed to what you actually got — and closing out Manufacturing Foundations.

'F' → Fullscreen

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Build

Step 1: Final Checklist Pass

Walk your Session 10 pre-cut checklist one more time against your actual Session 12 job file.

Step 2: Load, Secure, Zero

Load your stock, confirm it's fully secured, and verify your zero point — per Session 4's protocols.

Step 3: Run the Job, Supervised

Run the job start to finish. Stay with the machine the entire time.

Step 4: Remove Tabs and Inspect

Once the job finishes, remove any tabs by hand and take a first look at your part. Save it — you'll need it next session regardless of how it turned out.

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Checkpoint

Before you leave the machine, confirm:

  • You stayed with the job for its entire run
  • You have the physical part in hand, whatever its condition
  • If anything went wrong, you have a first-guess diagnosis written down, not just "it didn't work"
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Reflection

Answer the following questions before submitting your work.

  1. Did anything go wrong during the cut? If so, what was your first-guess diagnosis, using Session 10's symptom list?
  2. Did your pre-cut checklist actually catch something today, or did it just confirm everything was already fine?
  3. Looking at your physical part right now, what's your honest first impression — before you formally evaluate it next session?
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Submit

Submit your completed checklist pass, any diagnosis notes, and your reflection. Bring your physical part to Session 14.

Activity Complete