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DAE think hitting 0.005 inches on a press fit is overkill for 95% of jobs?
Last week I ran a batch of 300 aluminum brackets on my Tormach and hit a wall at 0.010 inches on the bore diameter. I spent 4 hours dialing in the tool offsets and checking with gauge pins, and the parts worked fine. My boss asked why I wasnt holding 0.005 like the print said, and I told him straight up that chasing half a thou on a manual machine is a waste of time. We shipped them to a guy in Phoenix who welds them into frames, and he said they fit perfect. Another guy I know spent $600 on a reamer to hit 0.005 on a similar job and still had two parts scrap because his coolant was off. So why do so many people act like 0.005 is the gold standard for every fit? Is anyone else here actually checking what the mating part needs before they tighten up their tolerances?
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brianm667d ago
Chasing half a thou on a manual machine is a waste of time" is mostly fair, but half a thou in a CNC with the right reamer isn't the same thing, so the number itself isn't the problem. Prints get 0.005 slapped on because the designer never checked what the weld guy in Phoenix actually needs, and nobody wants to be the one who signs off on loosening it. Asking what the mating part needs first should be step one, not a thing you do after your boss yells at you.
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