Overheard a guy say he never checks his tool offsets mid-run

I was at a shop in Phoenix last Thursday picking up some stock and this old timer told his apprentice he never bothers checking offsets once the program is rolling. Said if it looks good on the first part it's fine till the end. I'm thinking about all the times I've caught a .001 creep at part 20 and saved a whole batch. Am I crazy for stopping the machine to verify after every 10 parts?

3 comments

3 Comments

riley_taylor17d agoTop Commenter

Stop every 10 parts if you want tight runs, slow chips beat scrapped batches every time.

jamesfox17d ago

That's exactly what caught me once on a big run of 304 stainless, .001 creep at part 8 turned into a .004 variation by part 30 and scrapped the whole batch. Stopping every 10 isn't crazy, it's the difference between making chips and making headaches.

-1

seth68317d ago

Hold up, STOP right there. If you're getting .004 creep in 30 parts from 304 stainless, you've got a BIGGER problem with your setup or your tool pressure, not the frequency of your checks. A TENTH of a thou per part is basically nothing, that's normal wear and thermal growth if you're not using coolant right. Checking every 10 parts just hides the real issue - you're compensating for a loose setup instead of fixing the root cause. I'd rather dial it in ONCE at the start and let it run for 100 parts than waste time stopping constantly for something that barely moves.