Tool offset wipeout on a rush job... took 4 hours to figure out

Ran a 316 stainless part last Tuesday, 14 pieces, customer breathing down my neck. Everything looked fine on the first run, but the second part came out 0.003 over on the bore. I kept adjusting the wear offset, running test cuts, and it kept drifting. Four hours later I finally checked the tool holder and the set screw was loose, whole insert holder was wobbling just a hair. All that time I was chasing the offset when the real problem was mechanical. I used to trust the numbers on the screen before checking the physical setup, now I go straight for the tool first. Has anyone else burned hours on a loose holder or something dumb like that? What's your go to check when the offsets just won't hold?

1 comments

1 Comment

davis.noah21d ago

Buddy of mine runs a small shop and had the exact same thing happen on a lathe job. Spent a whole Saturday chasing a bore that kept moving around, thought his machine was losing its way. Turns out the turret bolts were torqued all wrong from a tool change the day before. He said the offsets would zero out fine but the cut would still wander, so he finally grabbed a wrench and wiggled the whole holder, that's when he felt it move. Now he checks for play before he even looks at the control screen. Drives me nuts how much time we waste on the dumb stuff instead of the hard math.