Caught myself using a dull end mill for 2 months straight

I was running a job on a Haas VF-2 over in Toledo and kept getting rough finishes on aluminum parts. Turns out my 1/2 inch end mill was totally chipped and I just kept increasing feed rate instead of swapping it. Anybody else realize they've been fighting a tool way longer than they should have?

2 comments

2 Comments

reesemiller13d ago

Man, I read somewhere that something like 80% of tool life issues are from people just running dull tools too long instead of checking them. I saw a post on Practical Machinist where a guy said he ran a chipped insert for three weeks on a lathe before he finally listened to the finish and swapped it. It's wild how easy it is to blame the machine or the material instead of just looking at the cutting edge.

-1

hart.mark13d ago

My buddy Mike had a Bridgeport in his garage for years. He was fighting a weird finish on some aluminum parts, chasing the belt tension, the spindle bearings, everything. After two days he finally swapped the end mill and it cut perfect. He told me he felt like an idiot for not checking the tool first.