Back in the day I always ran a separate finish pass on aluminum parts

We'd rough it out, then swap tools and run a whole new program just for a clean surface. About two years ago, our shop in Grand Rapids got a new Haas with that adaptive toolpath option. Now I just program one operation with a 0.005" stock left for finish and let the machine handle it in the same cycle. Saves at least 15 minutes per part setup. Anyone else switched over to doing it this way on their newer machines?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_jake3h ago

Our shop does the same thing now, saves a ton of time.

grace_hunt843h ago

Read a case study from a shop in Ohio that made the same switch. They were doing exactly what you described, separate rough and finish programs for aluminum housings. After they got a machine with good adaptive paths, they programmed a single operation leaving five thou like you said. Their floor to floor time dropped almost twenty percent. @the_jake is right about the time save, it adds up fast across a whole job. Makes me wonder how many older shops are still running two programs just because that's how they've always done it.