Practices to develop

DavidR8

DavidR8

H-M Supporter - Sustaining Member
Staff member
H-M Platinum Supporter
Joined
Oct 16, 2019
Messages
6,596
Here I am, a good three years into my machining journey and I feel like I need some basics on developing good practices.

Coming from a woodworking world where 1/64” was a reasonable tolerance I sometimes struggle to adapt to a machining world where .001 (or less) is the goal.

Specifically, how does one learn to be more precise and accurate?
Apologies in advance if I’m asking huge question!
 
Last edited:
The classic saying, "measure twice, cut ....."

Well for years I've been measuring twice, then verifiy with a caliper twice, then measure again with a micrometer twice, then verify with the machine dials and/or DRO twice, I still end up remaking the part/cutting twice. :D

I'm not qualified to answer here but to be serious, practice & getting to know your machine(s). One thing that helped me a lot was getting familiar with how much my machines cut/behave at different depths of cut & with what type of cutting tools.
 
I grew up on precision grinders . External , internal and surface where holding tenths was critical . A thou is wide open to me now . I / we were always taught as apprentices to shoot for and hold the nominal dimension . If the tolerance is 1.000 +/-.005 , shoot for 1.000 . This is good practice and this also helps you in later machining set-ups . Where critical dimensions aren't needed , it still helps to shoot for the middle of the road . If ya mess up , no biggie but you still get the practice . :)
 
darkzero said:
The classic saying, "measure twice, cut ....."

Well for years I've been measuring twice, then verifiy with a caliper twice, then measure again with a micrometer twice, then verify with the machine dials and/or DRO twice, I still end up remaking the part/cutting twice. :D

I'm not qualified to answer here but to be serious, practice & getting to know your machine(s). One thing that helped me a lot was getting familiar with how much my machines cut/behave at different depths of cut & with what type of cutting tools.
Click to expand...
" I cut it 3 times and it is still too short ".........
 
Deburr your part between fixtures.
Wipe your vise/table/fixture clean clean before fixing work to it. Make everything tight.
Use a test indicator and watch how everything on the machine deflects and moves as you work.
Find the edge as many times as it takes.
If you can't get a stable measurement, use statistics and re-index for the center of the curve.
Don't bring chips into the house.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top