Had to redo a whole part because I ignored the spindle load meter

I was running a 3/4" endmill in 6061 aluminum at my shop in Austin, and I thought I was babying the tool by keeping feeds low. The part came out fine but the cycle time was 45 minutes. Last Tuesday an old timer named Dave walked by and pointed out my spindle load was only at 15% so I was basically wasting time. I bumped it up to 90% load and finished the same part in 12 minutes with better surface finish. Anyone else ignore their load meter for too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

foster.jordan5d ago

My buddy at his shop kept running a big facemill at like 50% load for months cause he was scared of chatter. Another guy showed him how to punch it up to 85% and he cut his time by over half. Said he felt like an idiot.

allen.iris5d ago

Honestly, I'm not sure pushing it that hard is always the right call though.