Tried speeding up a part on a 15 year old Haas this afternoon and the finish went to crap

I had a simple aluminum bracket job that should have been done in 45 minutes so I bumped the feed rate up 20% thinking no big deal. By the third part the surface looked like somebody dragged a rock across it and I had to scrap the whole batch. Learned that older machines just can't handle being rushed past their sweet spot especially when the spindle bearings have some miles on them. Made me appreciate the old wisdom of letting the machine talk to you instead of trying to force it. Anybody else run into older machine quirks that slow you down when you push too hard?

2 comments

2 Comments

terrymitchell23d ago

Yeah dropping feed rates fixed it for me too.

terrymitchell23d ago

By the third part the surface looked like somebody dragged a rock across it" - that does sound bad, but are you sure it wasn't just a dull insert or a chip in the tool? I've had times where I blamed the machine when really it was a cheap endmill.