Tool wear/replacement vs. amount of production

so, this is my thought process on this topic. Your insights are welcomed and appreciated.

Buy brand A end mill, brand A cnmg insert, brand A tnmg, Brand A vnmg, etc. . I will start with the same brand name for a starting point. To clarify. All tooling will be purchased through one company. all ( lathe ) tool holders will be purchased through one company, nothing too costly, nothing too cheap.

As work commences. From day 1. log/keep notes, on the performance of said purchased end mills, inserts. i.e. ( brand A End mill, dulls after "X" amount of cuts @ max DOC with a given DIA. cutter, in XXXX steel after the manufacturers preferred feed/speed combo ).

after analyzing this data, say after one months worth of work. Start looking into other end mill producers, find something that is better suited to your job requirements, either with the same brand A, or a different Brand B...and purchase a few, document the data, repeat the process i listed in the above paragraph as much as you have to, to get more production out of your cutting tools than Henry ford could give you with a production line.

Ah, the search for the Holy Grail......

The tool manufacturers will give you a lot of support and advice if they see you as a potentially good customer. Many will give or lend tooling for evaluation and work with you to get the best results (and get your business).

It still boils down to testing; a set of feeds and speeds for one particular machine will not work on another and manufacturers recommendations are usually only a starting point. How many different materials and coatings are available? There are so many variables at work, but a good set of records can give you a better insight.

Hands on experience is also very important so if you are not operating the machine yourself you have to have an operator who has enough interest in the job to give you some meaningful feedback. Your CAD/CAM programmers should also be working with you.

Big manufacturers of course have this whole thing incorporated into their production process.

Regards,

Mike.