I was reading through some manufacturer docs last night and apparently predicting insert life based on spindle load can be more accurate than counting parts or time. I ran a test today on one of our older Haas machines and it caught a worn tool about 8 parts before I usually swap them out. Has anyone else messed with this type of adaptive control or is it mostly a new machine thing?
Told me he's been running production parts for two weeks without checking his G54 shift after a tool change, so after I showed him how to verify with an indicator we found he was off by .018 on 40 parts, anyone else have horror stories about new operators skipping setup checks?
I ignored the flashing light for about 30 minutes during a rush job at Precision Machine in Cleveland and the tool holder cracked in half, has anyone else had those warning systems give false alarms that make you second-guess them?
I been running a job on a Doosan mill this week cutting 4140 steel. Normally I use a 1/2 inch rougher to hog out material then swap to a finishing endmill. But I got lazy on a rush job and tried using a 3/8 four flute AlTiN coated finishing tool for roughing at 2500 RPM and 30 IPM. It actually worked pretty good and saved a tool change. Now I'm wondering if I'm overthinking my setups. Anyone else skip roughers sometimes or am I asking for a broken tool?
Monday I was on fire. Ran 30 parts on the Mazak without a single reject. Felt like a god. Tuesday morning the coolant pump seized up on me. Took 3 hours to swap it out. Then Wednesday the spindle started making this grinding noise I never heard before. Maintenance says it needs a rebuild. Lost 2 days of production and my boss is breathing down my neck. Has anyone else had a week where everything just falls apart after a perfect start?
I finally got a whole batch of 30 aluminum brackets to come out within 0.002 inches of each other. I have been fighting tool chatter for weeks on this particular job. It turned out my feed rate was just a hair too high for the end mill I was using. I slowed it down from 40 IPM to 35 IPM and it was like magic. The surface finish came out so smooth I didn't even need to deburr them. My lead hand Dave came over and said 'now that is what I like to see.' Has anyone else found a small speed adjustment suddenly made their parts come out way better?
I was running a 3 inch face mill on a 2015 Haas VF-2 and it started making this grinding noise that got worse over about 20 minutes. Had to shut it down and wait until Monday for the repair guy to come out and replace the whole cartridge. Anyone else had a bearing failure kill a whole weekend of production?
Spent 2 years flooding the workpiece like the old guys taught me until a mentor at a shop in Detroit last month showed me a dry finish cut that dropped cycle time by 40% with no chatter, anyone else ditch the flood for certain jobs?
I see guys at my shop drowning parts in coolant and wondering why their surface finish looks like sandpaper. Switch to a mist setup and you'll cut your cycle time by 20% at least, has anyone else made the switch and noticed a difference?
Had a batch of 50 aluminum parts to run on my VMC. Usually I use mist coolant to save on cleanup, but this job needed deep pockets and I was getting bad chip welding. Switched to a full flood setup with a 5% semi-synthetic mix and the finish came out way cleaner. Had to buy a new coolant pump for $180, but it was worth it for the time saved. Anybody else stick with one over the other for certain materials?
I always thought it was a waste of a line of code until I ran a 200 piece aluminum run last week and the M00 saved me from crashing the tool three times during mid-cycle checks.
I was setting up a job on a Haas VF-2 last spring and this retired machinist named Bill walked by. He saw me fighting with soft jaws and just said "son, you're overthinking it, use a stop block." He showed me how he used to gang parts together on a fixture plate and it saved me 3 hours on that run. Has anyone else had a random encounter that totally changed how you approach a setup?
I was running a Haas VF-2 last Wednesday and my coolant nozzle got knocked out of position during a tool change. It ended up flooding the chuck and the part, and I had to stop everything to clean it up. That mess convinced me to finally switch to a high-mist system instead of the flood coolant I've always used. Has anyone else made the switch and had better luck with part finish?
Been fighting with this job for weeks now. Running 304 stainless on a Haas VF-2 at my shop. Kept getting chatter and tool breakage no matter what I tried. Lowered my feed from 0.008 to 0.004 per tooth and bumped the speed up to 2800 RPM. Tried a different insert coating too, went with a TiAlN this time. First pass came out smooth as butter. Surface finish went from like a 120 grit to a mirror in some spots. Small change but feels huge for my confidence at work. Anyone else have a specific recipe that unlocked stainless for them?
I used to always split the difference and run a test cut three times to find the sweet spot on the old machine at my last shop, but now on this newer one I just bump it .001 at a time and check the backlash parameter directly from the manual, does anyone else have a preferred method that just works better for them or am I overthinking this?
I used to spend like 15 minutes dialing in every tool to within half a thou. One of the senior guys at the shop in Portland watched me one day and said 'hey, youre wasting time chasing air. If the part calls for +- .005, just get it in the window and run.' So I started backing off to about .002 and my cycle times dropped a ton plus I dont feel burned out after the first hour. Anyone else have a moment where someone made you realize you were overthinking it?
I was looking at a 2018 Haas VF-2SS and a mid-2000s Mazak Nexus 510C for the same money, around $45k. Went with the Mazak because the iron felt heavier and the local dealer had a good rep for parts. Three months in, the spindle drive went out and cost me $3,200 to fix... still glad I picked it though, the control is way friendlier for the complex parts I run now. Anyone else take a gamble on an older machine and have it work out?
A guy at a shop in Dayton told me he always double checks his offsets before any run. I figured that was overkill. Then last month I watched a .001 inch mistake on a finish pass pull a $1200 endmill right out of the holder. That stat about how even half a thou can screw a part? I get it now. Anyone else have a crash that convinced you to check the small stuff?
I messed up a setup last week running some aluminum 6061 parts on a Haas VF-2. I was at my shop in Portland and goofed the tool offset on a 3/8 end mill by .025 inches. It snapped the tool and dug a groove into the vise jaw before I hit the e-stop. Most guys say you gotta start the whole program over after a crash like that, but I just re-zeroed my workshift and swapped the tool and ran the rest without issues. The part was still in tolerance on the micrometer. Has anyone else saved a run after a crash like that or am I just lucky?
Been running a Haas VF-2 for about two years now. There's this guy Frank who's been here since the 90s and he kept saying to check backlash first thing. I figured it was old school nonsense since the machine seemed fine. Woke up one Monday and my tolerances were all over the place. Spent 3 hours chasing a 0.003" error on a part run. Finally checked the backlash on my X axis and it was way out. Adjusted it and everything went back to normal. Has anyone else had a older machinist give advice that you blew off then later found out they were spot on?
I was running a 3/4" aluminum block too fast and he literally grabbed my hand off the override knob and showed me the chips coming out blue instead of silver, and after I slowed it down the finish came out mirror smooth with zero chatter, has anyone else had an old machinist save them from wrecking a part?
I was browsing a thread last night where a guy said he always measures his tool offsets twice before he even touches the stock. That got me thinking about how I always rush into setups to save 5 minutes. Yesterday I took my time and checked each offset two times on a job for a local cabinet shop. The part came out perfect on the first run and I saved myself an hour of rework. Has anyone else had a similar thing where slowing down a tiny bit saved your whole shift?
I was at this job shop in Toledo last month helping a buddy with a tight tolerance run on some aluminum parts. This old guy who programs the Haas machines there wrote his offsets right on the paper with a dry erase marker. Said he's been doing it for 20 years so he can wipe mistakes off fast. It looked stupid at first but then I tried it on my own setup sheet back at my shop. Actually works better than pencil or pen when you're making quick tweaks on the fly. Has anyone else seen weird little hacks like that from the old timers?
Was showing a dude how to set up a production run on the Haas VF-2 last Thursday and he says that right in front of our old timer foreman. Foreman just stared at him for like 20 seconds then walked off muttering about broken inserts. Has anyone else had a rookie say something that made the whole shop go quiet?
I was cleaning up my station yesterday and counted 47 dull carbide end mills in the scrap bin from just the last 3 months. Thats roughly $1,200 in tooling that walked out the door. Most of these were from pushing feeds way too aggressive to hit cycle time targets. I tracked it back and I am losing about $4 per part on tooling cost alone when I run at max speed. Dialing back 15% on the feed rate nearly doubles tool life and only adds like 30 seconds to the cycle. Found this number crunching in the Sandvik Coromant tooling guide last week and it surprised me how much money I was just throwing away. Has anyone else run the numbers on their actual tooling cost per part?