Heard a new guy call a worn-out collet 'good enough' for a finish pass

I was walking by a machine at our place in Dayton and heard him say it to his partner. They were running a stainless part that needed a tight tolerance, maybe plus or minus two thousandths. It made me stop and think about how a small thing like that can wreck a whole batch of parts. Has anyone else seen a simple tool choice cause a big problem down the line?

4 comments

4 Comments

viola_allen2mo ago

That "good enough" mindset is everywhere once you start looking for it. My landlord used a cheap sealant on the bathroom tiles last year and now the whole wall is moldy. People skip changing their car's oil on time because it still runs fine, then wonder why the engine seizes. It's always a small choice that seems okay right up until it very much isn't.

patricia_gonzalez2mo agoTop Commenter

Yeah I used to cut corners like that too. But @viola_allen is right, it always comes back to bite you. My old car taught me that the hard way.

milarodriguez2mo ago

But sometimes a worn tool is fine, like @patricia_gonzalez said she used to do.

spencer9811mo ago

Man I had a fridge that started making this weird clicking sound and I was like "eh it still keeps stuff cold" for like six months. Then one day the compressor just gave up and I lost like $300 worth of groceries. The repair guy said if I had called him when the clicking first started it would have been a cheap fix but now I needed a whole new fridge. My wife still brings that up whenever I try to ignore something lol.