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A chat with my neighbor about his old Bridgeport mill made me see my own machine differently

He came over to borrow a tap and saw my Haas VF2. He said, 'You know, I ran that exact model at a shop in Dayton for 8 years. We pushed it to 95% spindle load daily and it never quit.' I always baby my spindle, keeping it under 70%. Hearing that from someone who actually ran one hard for years made me rethink being too careful. How hard do you guys typically run your spindles on production jobs?
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3 Comments
phoenix_wright4
That Dayton shop story is a good point, but leoshah is right about paying for the whole machine. The thing is, 95% load on the gauge isn't always 95% real stress. If his cuts were smooth and the tool was good, the spindle bearings saw clean force. A bad setup at 70% with chatter is way harder on everything. It's more about watching the whole cut, not just the number.
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the_oliver
the_oliver20d ago
Just because his machine didn't break doesn't mean yours won't. Pushing to 95% is asking for a huge repair bill. Babying it is how you keep making parts instead of waiting for a tech.
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leoshah
leoshah19d ago
But you're paying for the whole machine.
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