Took me 2 years to realize my speeds and feeds were backwards

Started running a new 5-axis at a shop in Dayton and kept getting terrible surface finish on aluminum. I was blaming the tool holder and even the coolant mix. Then a senior guy walked over and watched me set up a finish pass, and he just said 'why are you running 18k rpm with a 1/2 inch end mill at 60 inches a minute?' Turns out I had been treating every job like it was stainless steel, low spindle high feed, but for aluminum it's the exact opposite. Switched to 12k rpm and 120 ipm, night and day difference. Anyone else spend forever fighting a problem that was just a basic setting?

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