Snapped a 3/8 end mill running a production job in Cleveland yesterday and I think the CAM guy fed me bad speeds

3 comments

3 Comments

and you're telling me the CAM guy actually put a 3/8 end mill in a production run without double checking the material hardness? that's wild, i've had similar stuff happen where they just trust the default library values and it totally backfires. gotta wonder if he even checked the chip load before hitting post.

pat7811mo ago

Honestly just never trust the default values without checking them first, that's how you end up with a bill for a new tool. What worked for me was making a habit of quickly verifying the chip load and stepover against the material spec before hitting post, it takes like two minutes. Saved my butt a few times when the library said everything was fine but the material was way harder than expected.

jamesf291mo ago

Three years back at a shop I used to freelance for, the lead CAM guy loaded a 1/2" rougher with a 0.100" stepover into some mystery steel and walked off for lunch. @lily_torres31 it's honestly impressive how fast a tool can go from "sounds fine" to "well that was a $400 mistake" when nobody bothers to validate the feeds. Default libraries are like training wheels that flip you off when you need them most.