Used to baby my tools with constant cleaning, now I only do it weekly

I was wiping down my spindle and ways after every single job until I watched a guy run 500 parts without touching his machine and still hit tolerance. Has anyone else noticed their machines run fine with way less maintenance than the manual says?

3 comments

3 Comments

henryt1815d ago

500 parts is nothing though, try 5,000.

simonk9815d ago

That thing about "500 parts is nothing" is kind of missing the point though. @lewis.brian made a good call about checking actual tolerances because that's where the real story is. I mean, I've seen machines that look beat to hell but still hold a tenth, while some spotless ones drift like crazy. Maybe it's just me but I'd rather check my parts every 50 pieces than follow some blanket rule about how many parts you can run before touching the machine.

lewis.brian15d ago

How often are you checking actual part tolerances versus just running the machine and assuming it's fine? I've seen guys brag about no maintenance until a bad batch cost them a whole shift. Have you ever measured tool life or surface finish falloff to know when it actually needs attention?