Been flipping vises wrong for 8 years, feels dumb

I do 3-axis work at a shop in Dayton, and I always clamped soft jaws with the step facing toward the spindle because my old lead hand said it held better. Got a new job last Tuesday and the setup guy asked why my parts walked off center on a 40-part run, so he flipped it around and zero walked on the next 30. Anyone else ignore the obvious just because someone senior told them it was fine?

2 comments

2 Comments

felix14721d ago

Was the step maybe grabbing your chips and pushing the part? Just a thought.

jesse_fisher21d ago

Might be the opposite actually. Chips usually get pushed away from the part if the step is sharp enough, and most people run the step in a way that clears the flutes before they can bunch up. If anything, I'd say the step is more likely to let chips pack tighter against the shoulder, which makes them act like a solid block and that's what drags the part. The grabbing thing sounds more like a clearance problem or maybe a bellmouth on the bore, not a chip issue. But hey, your mileage may vary, and I've been wrong plenty before.