I interpret this that doing the full thickness slot is a bad thing,
presumably the mill is conventionally milling one side of the slot and
climb
milling the other with resulting sideways movement. I have not seen this
documented elsewhere so my question is: Do those with the Big Beasts see
the
same thing? Is this a reflection on poor rigidity of my mini or is this a
universally bad procedure to do the full thickness at once?

The other question is the mill bit: I think I milled less than 10 slots
with
this particular one. Am I unreasonable expecting it to last longer? Was it
my technique or the provenance of the bit? Are there manufacturers I
should
look to preferentially for replacement?

Thanks,

--

Given the result, obviously something is moving.

Since that particular set-up is not giving you the results you want, I would
try this.

Center drill and then drill undersize holes at each end of the slot.

Swap to a full size end mill to then size each end of the slot.

Next swap to an under size mill and go between the holes at each end taking
passes until you get to full depth.

Now work the edges of the slot to bring it to full width.

By sneaking up on your desired dimension the flex in the cutter or the
machine will cause you a lot less mischief and your cutters will last
longer.

--

Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.