Old timer told me to slow down my feeds on aluminum and he was right

I was running a job last week on a Haas VF-2, trying to push through some 6061 parts as fast as I could. An old machinist named Dave walked by and told me to drop my feed from 60 IPM down to 35 and increase my spindle speed a bit. I figured he was just being slow and old school, but I tried it anyway. The surface finish came out way better and I didn't have to deburr half as many edges. It cost me maybe 10 more minutes per part but saved me 20 minutes of hand work. Has anyone else had a senior guy give you a tip that you fought at first but ended up working?

2 comments

2 Comments

perry.lee1mo ago

amy_foster56 might be right but I dunno if it's that deep. Sometimes a guy like that just has one trick that works for a specific thing and it's not some big secret. Glad it saved you time though, that's what matters.

amy_foster561mo ago

Those old timers usually have a dozen good tricks buried in all their grumbling.