Just had a talk with a guy who machines parts for fighter jets

I was swapping stories with this older operator named Jerry at a union meeting in Cleveland last week. He told me he still runs his Haas VF-2 like it's 1999 because he says new guys rely too much on the probing cycles and can't feel when the tool is actually cutting right. It hit me different because I've been leaning hard on the probe and my surface finishes have been getting worse, so now I'm trying to actually listen to the machine more. Anyone else ever get called out by an old timer and have to rethink their whole approach?

3 comments

3 Comments

matthewking12d ago

That probing thing you mentioned is exactly what Jerry was getting at with the tool feel part. You ever try just running a manual pass with no probe and seeing if you can hear the difference between a good cut and a bad one by ear? It's wild how much noise the machine makes when something's off once you start paying attention instead of staring at the screen. I remember this old guy at my dad's shop would just lay his hand on the spindle housing and tell you the insert was chipped before the sound even changed. What happened with your surface finishes after you started backing off the probe did they actually get better or was it just a mental thing?

ward.diana12d ago

Oh absolutely that hand on the spindle trick is wild I do that too now and it's almost never wrong.

owens.laura12d ago

Wait is it really that serious though? I mean I get the whole "feel" thing and those old timer stories are cool and all but half the time I think we romanticize that stuff. I tried the no probe manual pass thing once and honestly my surface finishes got worse because I was too busy trying to listen for ghosts in the machine instead of just watching my feeds and speeds. Maybe it's just me but I feel like as long as the insert isn't visibly chipped and the coolant is hitting right the numbers on the screen tell you plenty.