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Heard a guy at a parts counter say feeds and speeds don't matter on old machines
Was grabbing a new vise jaw set the other day and this dude behind me starts telling the counter guy that all that spindle load math is a waste. He runs his Haas from 2005 at 100% rapid and just listens for the squeal to dial it back. I about bit my tongue off. That approach works until you hit a $400 piece of Inconel or a tolerance that matters. I've seen too many guys scrap parts that way on older machines because they don't understand why the tool chatters or breaks. Anyone else run into this 'feel it out' mindset and have to bite your tongue?
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willow4073d ago
Honestly, isn't it pretty common for old machines to run better by feel than any chart, especially when the machine's already worn in? @anna_fox7 is spot on that most people aren't paying for their own tools anyway.
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anna_fox74d ago
Roll your eyes all you want but listen, how many of those guys actually have to pay for their own tooling? Most of the time its a shop machine and a shop endmill so who cares if they burn through a few. Plus half these Haas machines from the early 2000s couldn't hold a tenth if you fed it right anyway. The real joke is thinking the counter guy at the parts desk cares about your spindle load chart. He just wants to sell you the vise and move on. I've seen guys run machines by ear for twenty years and never scrap a part that mattered. Maybe your $400 Inconel job is the exception not the rule.
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jones.anna3d ago
My buddy Steve had an old Bridgeport at his garage shop and he'd run jobs by ear all the time. One time he had this tight tolerance part for a medical device, didn't bother setting up the DRO. He just listened to the cut and adjusted the speed by feel. Ended up holding within a tenth on all six parts. The engineer couldn't believe it when he checked them with a mic. Steve just shrugged and said the machine told him what it wanted. I'm not saying that works for everyone, but the guy had a point about knowing your machine better than any chart.
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