Just hit 1000 pours on the same set of gating pins

I was doing my monthly tool check and the logbook showed we passed 1000 aluminum pours on the same steel pins. I thought they'd be shot by 500. The key was switching to a graphite spray lube after every shift, not just at the start of the week. It kept the sprues from sticking and saved us from a lot of hammering and prying. We're in a small shop in Toledo, so saving that kind of wear on tools is a big deal. Has anyone else pushed a set of pins this far, or did we just get lucky?

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3 Comments

rileynelson6mo ago

Guess you found the cheat code for tool life.

5

xena_fox396mo ago

That cheat code was just running a way lower feed rate than the book said to.

3

gavina736mo ago

That last run was supposed to be maybe 50 parts before we changed inserts. You got over 300 out of it? That's insane, man. What coolant mix are you even running? Our tools would be dust halfway there.

0