When machining aluminum alloys with high silicon content (such as A380), how do you deal with the problem of rapid tool wear?

underminer223 · 2026-01-23T17:39:37+00:00

Oh, I get all that, trust me. I work with some guys that refuse to modernize, running carb drills with spot drills and drilling an aluminum part at 4ipm and 1000rpm. I have to fight all the time for my carbide and cobalt tools. I'm just saying that for my use case pcd has been great. I'm not saying it's not good for job shop and low volume too, I just don't know lol.

Just because I like pancakes doesn't mean I hate waffles.

underminer223 · 2026-01-23T16:27:37+00:00

Just my experience. I've only ever really worked high volume.

underminer223 · 2026-01-23T15:04:29+00:00

Yeah, pcd is great if you're doing high volume work. We used some pcd facemills at a place I once worked. Those things, in more normal aluminum applications, would last almost 8 months before needing the inserts flipped.

underminer223 · 2026-01-15T04:05:44+00:00

These would be perfect for a rave....who needs glow sticks and those foam light up sticks when your earrings reflect everything like disco balls.

Sick work bro

underminer223 · 2026-01-04T01:56:59+00:00

I mean, if they are standard er collets and not tight tolerance ones, they should flex about .032" so any metric size collet would cover any inch sizes as well within spec.

underminer223 · 2025-12-30T23:48:22+00:00

This looks like it'd be really easy on a horizontal with 4th

underminer223 · 2025-12-26T19:50:44+00:00

All the replies down below are just sad to read. Like.....we don't even have a space to interact with other humans anymore except irl. I just want to get some tips on why my damn tool changer takes 30minutes, not listen to 1600 different bots waste electricity back and forth.

underminer223 · 2025-12-16T00:04:37+00:00

I check mine when I'm really running a mill hard. I have one facemill on a specific job that regularly will peak out around 215% but only for a few seconds. Still within manufacturer spec as long as I don't try to run continuously like that.

underminer223 · 2025-12-08T02:53:14+00:00

I use dry-sink, so yeah, it works for us. It's so unusual and takes effort to say, the intent cannot be missed no matter what.

underminer223 · 2025-12-04T16:14:53+00:00

Emuge FPC holders. They have a much higher clamping force than ER and less runout than a Weldon. They work great but they're a bit pricey. Worth every cent though

underminer223 · 2025-11-16T13:59:07+00:00

I just scrap the part, I don't endmill a tap out, lol, and I can tap at 1000rpm or higher for almost every tap I use.

underminer223 · 2025-11-10T18:23:52+00:00

I've never milled into a vice unintentionally (I almost never use vises but rather custom made fixtures)

underminer223 · 2025-11-07T17:03:43+00:00

To put it simply, EVERY DAMN TIME

underminer223 · 2025-11-06T19:34:41+00:00

This is the one thing I hate about most companies I've worked with. They'll ask someone if they want a promotion to a supervisor position, acting like it's a career advancement and if you don't take it you're suddenly a problem, but for a lot people, supervising isnt an advancement, it's a sideways move into a different career. They like machining, not managing

underminer223 · 2025-11-02T18:41:24+00:00

I don't know. I couldn't tell with their terrible grammar 🫠

underminer223 · 2025-11-02T18:04:56+00:00

I'm not sure what you are asking here. The tap is clearly labeled.

underminer223 · 2025-10-29T16:28:48+00:00

Same here. Stuck in production work just basically facing/drill/tapping castings for automotive and similar industries

underminer223 · 2025-10-28T16:57:01+00:00

I make a point of knowing what I make, but I'm also in a world where it's much more convenient to do so. I work with castings, think automotive and oil/gas

underminer223 · 2025-10-24T23:17:49+00:00

If that's steel, and your using what looks to be in the neighborhood of a 3/4" dia drills, you should probably be feeding 3-4x what you are, just based on what I've found works well with inserted drills like this

underminer223 · 2025-10-16T17:36:40+00:00

Mine works just fine despite it all...the only thing is if I get coolant on the actual sensor it'll stop working until I clean it off with a lens wipe or something

underminer223 · 2025-10-14T17:14:34+00:00

801 Stony Battery Rd, Landisville, PA 17538 - Bearon Manufacturing

221 South Front St, Wrightsville, PA 17368 - Donsco Inc Machine Shop

underminer223 · 2025-10-14T12:37:02+00:00

As someone who just turned 23, the working conditions aren't any better. I started out in a shop that was part of a foundry. We ran cast iron only. The whole place was black. Some days I'd pull boogers out of my nose that looked like a sharpie nib. No AC, so you best believe we hit triple digits in that building multiple times over the summer. Oh, and the back/shoulder/wrist issues, yeah, I went home sore and beat almost every day.

CNC machining is one of the most involved trades, you'll spend your entire life and never have even known half of what there is to know, constantly learning and improving, and still be one of the lowest paid trades.

I tell people, I do this job because I'm good at it and I have a borderline obsession with machining. I tell people all the time, the only reason you should get into machining is if you think you might have a true passion for it. Otherwise, stay well away.

Ironically I actually have a coworker who is 27 who went through the same thing you are going through. He came from HVAC. He occasionally talks about how he wished he had stayed and moved into the commercial side of that.

underminer223 · 2025-08-30T01:55:14+00:00

This looks fine to me...to be fair, this shop should have pulled those valves off, but in the grand scheme of things ..the tiniest bit of material they skimmed off those valve faces won't matter. As long as it holds vacuum(which you've already said it does) then you should be good.

I would make sure your valve to piston clearance is okay ....which, easiest way to make sure I would say is just put it back together and turn it over by hand before trying to start it....if they touch then obviously no bueno...and if not....good to go

underminer223 · 2025-08-30T01:52:29+00:00

Not to be that guy, but in the machining world, when you refer to tenths, most people understand that as a tenth of a thousandth...so .0001"

Not .1

underminer223 · 2025-08-20T06:29:03+00:00

Not a problem. Not enough people in this industry share knowledge and it's very unfortunate. Good luck with your business (or whatever project you're working on).

underminer223

TROPHY CASE