Thread: chips stuck inside spindle taper during tool change

My Haas has the side-mount tool changer, and I've never once gotten a chip on the taper. I let it run overnight unattended, using the tool touch-off probe to check for tool breakage after most tools. If you left a chip on the taper while hand-loading a tool, that's on you. If it got on the taper during an automatic toolchange, it's a bad process / bad machine, and there isn't much you can do about it.

So the boss knows this a existing problem and has done nothing to improve the process?
Wow and he just jumps your ass? for scraping more than one pc i get. Sounds like an easy fix and he is to lazy to do it.

What could he do about it? Buy a new machine that includes an automatic tool setter? Would be the sensible thing to do, but he couldn't be justified to buy a new machine especially when it worked fine under his watch. He jumped on me for not paying attention and noticing bad machining at the first part and that he only discovered it 8 parts later. Said if he hadn't then I would have made hundreds of bad parts...

But what would be the easy fix? all of this seems to involve hardware changes, or at least additional attachments that costs more money and requires more tech support.

His business model simply doesn't allow for failures as profit margin is so thin.

Likely someone is making $60 USD per hour and paying you perhaps $9.00 per so show much grief and know he is still making out fine..Likely he is making only $10.00 per and getting chewed out by his boss.

But what would be the easy fix? Make the workers think that the world will end with every lost dollar and make no changes to a shop that is making money..

A tool setter is not a solution, it's just a coverup.

Is the spindle air blast working? As I said perhaps it needs to be increased. Also if you are using TSC pull studs it can reduce the effectiveness of the spindle air blast.

Also as I said, if the chips are coming from the coolant nozzles then block off the nozzle's on that size of the spindle


I have a machine that the previous owner installed a regular socket head cap screw where there was supposed to be a hollow one for the air to pass through. 30 minutes removing and install the screw and 60 seconds on the lathe solved Mr. install the wrong screws blunder

I don't think he pays attention to what the pull stud is constructed of, just use whatever the tool holder came with. But he also mentioned that he will never ever use pull studs made in China as if they break it will ruin the machine in the process. I notice a hole on top of the pull stud so I assume they all come with through coolant types.

I didn't know there is an air blaster on the spindle to clear it of chips. The machine is old though and the spindle on the other machine makes LOUD noise as it spins, loud as in not supposed to be this loud during operation. It also shows a "low oil" warning on boot up which I have no idea why (maybe bad oil sensor?), as the oil box is topped up regularly.

Maybe he turned off the air blower thingie because the machine will rupture an air hose every few months... Because he keeps using cheap plastic air hoses on them rather than proper braided ones.

So I don't know if it's my fault or the fact that he skimps on maintenance.

OP: [So I don't know if it's my fault or the fact that he skimps on maintenance.]

Take care, consider he, your boss may be reading your posts here on PM.

The worst thing for job security is to make your boss look bad..even if he deserves it.

Things may be different there, but if a shop ran like that here they wouldn't be in business long.

Originally Posted by michiganbuck

OP: [So I don't know if it's my fault or the fact that he skimps on maintenance.]

Take care, consider he, your boss may be reading your posts here on PM.

The worst thing for job security is to make your boss look bad..even if he deserves it.

No time to maintain equipment but time to stalk employees.....wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Never time to do it right be always time to do it over

Does the machine have spindle air blast? If so you can up the airblast time or slow down the tool change to give it a chance to clear chips. Also make sure the tools don't have a sticky oil on the taper

Originally Posted by michiganbuck

OP: [So I don't know if it's my fault or the fact that he skimps on maintenance.]

Take care, consider he, your boss may be reading your posts here on PM.

The worst thing for job security is to make your boss look bad..even if he deserves it.

Highly doubtful. He does not speak English nor does he use English speaking forums.

Originally Posted by taiwanluthiers

I was hopping between two machines, but more importantly, I didn't notice the engravings, and when I measured the part nothing was out of spec (which would have clued me in that something wasnt right) apart from the engravings. So I had failed to notice it until the boss did.

Not sure how quick you should have seen bad parts running two or more machines.
Shit happens and for some reason the boss thought you would catch it in one part or so.
One gets spanked. Looking back could you have caught it earlier if more attention?
But when running two, three or five there is not a whole lot of time for checking.

Failed to notice says something and a lesson?
I do think your boss a real ass to write you up here but how many bad before you pulled the cord?
Did you care about parts made or just a robotic part loader?
Bob

Originally Posted by taiwanluthiers

But at the same time he requires things to be done very quickly with little to no time to inspect thousands of parts that you see every day.

That's just an excuse for laziness. And you also just described pretty much every job shop that exists.

You might be saying "That dirty bugger boss embarrassed me so I'm going to have a fit and nitpick everything wrong in his doings until he fires me, that will teach him a lesson."

The boss might be expected to ball you out, that may part of his job.

In mainland China, you might be called a problem worker and get sent to a reeducation camp.
In Cuba, you might get to disappear and help feed the alligators.

Q: [So I guess how can I prevent this from ever happening again?]
Take you come-up-ens on the chin and try to not make the same mistake next time.

I take it the spindle does not have an air broom? An air broom would help keep that from happening

Originally Posted by cgrim3

I take it the spindle does not have an air broom? An air broom would help keep that from happening

Or an operator that was paying attention to his/her job.
A spank on the butt needed for sure but with a understanding of why the process failed,
I tend to hesitate a lot on reprimands or write ups. Told more than once upstairs that I'm too soft.

Redoing the tool offset isn't really going to fix the runout of the tool caused by the presence of the chip. That eccentricity is going to transform the tool tip into an effectively larger tool. Now that you know, you can probably see the effect very plainly when you look at the engraving. That's all you gotta do, is look. It isn't the boss's fault: if you owned the shop and made the part, you'd learn to watch for the problems all by yourself.

But a laser and do the engraving at the end of the run no more lost parts
Don


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