Hit 10,000 parts on the same fixture today, never expected that number

I've been running this one job for a big automotive customer since March, and today the counter rolled over 10,000 parts on a single aluminum fixture. The tolerance is only 0.005 inches on the bore, so I check every 50th piece with the CMM, and it's still holding better than when we set it up. Honestly surprised the soft jaws lasted this long, I've replaced them maybe twice but the base plate is original. What's the longest run you guys have had on one setup before re-tooling?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim_davis1d ago

Have you thought about how many more cycles that base plate can take before the stress finally shows up? The fact it's holding after 10,000 parts says a lot about the material and your setup. I've seen similar runs where the plate outlasts every other component, so you might get another 5,000 out of it if the coolant and chips stay managed.

michael8031d ago

Ran into a buddy from my old shop who had a similar thing happen, he was running some bracket job for a tractor company and hit like 12,000 cycles on the same tombstone before anything got weird. He only found out because the locator pin started sticking during a chip cleanout, not even a wear issue. Replaced that pin and the block itself is still going, he said it just needed a good degrease every couple thousand parts. Kinda wild how long some of that stuff lasts if the coolant mix stays right.