Old timer at the shop told me to stop chasing tenths with my finish pass

I was always trying to get that perfect 16 microinch finish by taking super light cuts on the last pass. This guy with 30 years on a lathe walked over and said my tool was rubbing instead of cutting, making the surface worse. He told me to bump my feed rate up by 0.002 per rev and take a deeper cut around 0.010. Tried it on a 304 stainless job last Tuesday and the surface came out way better with less tool wear. Has anyone else found that backing off on the finesse helped their parts?

3 comments

3 Comments

matthew1661mo ago

Sounds like trying too hard usually makes things worse in every trade.

the_joseph1mo ago

Overthink my toast this morning and now I'm eating charcoal.

adamthompson1mo ago

Burned toast sounds like a rough morning, @the_joseph. Was it on a cast iron skillet or a toaster? Those things can turn on you fast when you're trying too hard to get the perfect crunch.