Compared production runs on two different mills last week

We had to run the same part on both a Haas VF-2 and an old Fadal 4020 to meet a deadline. The Haas finished the first 50 parts about 15 minutes faster overall. But the Fadal had way fewer surface finish rejects, only 2 compared to 11 from the Haas. Makes me wonder if speed is always worth the trade-off on finish quality. Anyone else see this kind of difference between newer and older machines?

2 comments

2 Comments

jennyh5510d ago

Oh man, I gotta push back on that a little. I mean, 11 rejects versus 2 is a big deal on paper, but were both machines set up exactly the same with the same feeds and speeds? Usually if you just let a newer machine like the Haas run its default high speed paths, you're gonna get chatter and poor finish on certain materials. I'd bet with a little tweaking on the CAM side you could cut those rejects way down and still beat the Fadal's time by a solid 10 minutes. Honestly, if you're chasing finish quality every time, you might be leaving a lot of money on the table in cycle time.

hernandez.brooke9d ago

That 10 minute savings goes right out the window if you're reworking 9 extra parts or scrapping them completely. I'd rather add a few minutes to the cycle and ship good parts than gamble on getting the CAM dialed in just right.