Finally switched from HSS end mills to carbide inserts, wish I did it 2 years ago

Been running a Haas VF-2 at a shop in Toledo for about 3 years now. Always used HSS end mills because the owner said they were cheaper and fine for our aluminum work. Last month I had to cut a batch of 316 stainless brackets and kept burning up tools every 15 parts. Swapped over to carbide inserts with a higher feed rate and the same job now runs 80 parts before I even think about indexing. The insert cost more upfront, like $18 per edge versus $9 for a whole HSS tool, but the downtime savings alone paid for it. Plus the surface finish is way better, no more chatter marks on the walls. Anyone else deal with a boss who fights tooling upgrades even when the math is obvious?

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the_wade1d ago

Man, the "math is obvious" part hit way too close to home. My last shop had a guy who would flip out over a $50 end mill but wouldn't blink at losing 2 hours of cycle time every shift. I ran a similar job, some 304 frames, and the inserts basically paid for themselves in the first day. We went from changing tools every 10 parts to maybe 50, and that's just the time you save not messing with offsets. The finish was so clean I actually got a compliment from the QC guy, which never happens. Once you see that first batch run without a single hiccup, it's real hard to go back.