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I had to pick between running a job with a worn collet or shutting down to replace it
So I was about to start a run of 500 parts for a local bike shop, all needing tight tolerances on the seat post clamps. My go-to 3/4 inch collet had a tiny bit of play, maybe a couple thou, but I was already behind schedule. I mean, the part looked fine on the first piece. The choice was to just run it and hope, or stop everything, clean the spindle, and put in a brand new collet from the cabinet. I shut it down. It took about 20 minutes, but not a single part was out of spec after that. If I'd kept going, I would have wasted material and probably had to re-run the whole batch later. Has anyone else faced that 'just one more run' feeling with a tool that's almost done? How do you decide when to stop and swap?
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felixlane11d ago
Sometimes you gotta run the worn tool to make the numbers work. A couple thou on a seat clamp isn't the end of the world if you're checking parts.
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richarddixon11d ago
Been there with a drill press bushing that was just a hair loose. Told myself it was fine for a short run of brackets. Ended up with egg-shaped holes and a whole afternoon of rework. Now if a tool feels off, even a little, I swap it right away. That ten minute change saves hours later.
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