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Rant: Old timer told me my speeds and feeds were killing my tool life at a shop in Denver
Guy walked up and said I was running my end mill way too fast for the aluminum I had. He showed me on my own machine how dropping 1500 RPM kept the heat down and doubled my bit life. Anyone else had to unlearn bad habits from watching too many YouTube tutorials?
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kimr103mo ago
Yeah you just described my first year in the trade perfectly. I watched so many YouTubers running their machines light speed and thought that was the only way. Then an old timer at a shop in Ohio asked if I was trying to melt my parts. He slowed me down by like 800 RPM and I couldn't believe how much smoother the cuts got. My bits started lasting way longer too. It's funny how the guys who have been doing this for decades can spot a bad setup from across the room. I still catch myself thinking I know better sometimes but that lesson stuck with me.
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kelly3853mo ago
Wait lol 800 RPM is a lot. More like 200 usually.
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diana202mo ago
The old timer at our shop saved me from ruining a whole batch of parts in stainless steel. I was running a 1/4 inch end mill at like 6000 RPM with a super light cut, and he just reached over and dropped it to 3500 with a deeper engagement. The chips actually went from dust to nice little curls and the tool stopped screaming. I thought I was being careful by going light and fast, but that just rubs the tool instead of cutting. Real lesson is feel the machine and watch the chips, don't just copy what some guy with a nice camera is doing.
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