Just had a new guy try to override feed rates on a 5-axis job

Kid set the feed at 300 IPM on a titanium part without checking the tool data. Wrecked a $400 endmill in under 30 seconds. How do you train people to respect the machine limits without sounding like a jerk?

2 comments

2 Comments

seanlee3h ago

@morganhill makes a fair point about tuition fees, but I think the bigger issue here is that he never learned how to read tool data in the first place. A quick checklist taped to the machine with minimum and maximum feed rates for common materials would save a lot of money. Some shops I've been in use a mandatory sign-off procedure before anyone touches a 5-axis run, and that tends to weed out the overconfident operators pretty fast.

morganhill4h ago

Well, that's one way to learn the "measure twice, cut once" lesson, I guess. Maybe next time he can turn the coolant off too for the full experience. Honestly, you just have to let the small stuff happen sometimes, like a $400 tuition fee. Better he did it on a single tool than on a machine crash. Just hand him the scrap bin and tell him to go think about what he's done.