Hit 10,000 parts without a single scrap. Not sure if I should be proud or worried.

I'm the guy who runs the overnight shift at a shop outside Nashville, and last week I got a printout showing I ran 10,027 parts with zero scrap. Most folks here think that means I'm the best operator on the floor, but honestly it felt like a red flag. I had to ignore tool wear warnings and push speed feeds past the recommended limits to keep that number up. Anyone else feel like a perfect scrap count can hide some bad habits or am I just overthinking it?

2 comments

2 Comments

lee_butler8d ago

Buddy of mine ran 8000 perfect parts then the spindle grenaded on him.

lindaw128d ago

Wait, isn't it weird how nobody talks about what happens when you push a machine right to that 8000 part mark without any break-in? @lee_butler, your buddy probably had a good run going but spindles are like engines, they need some time to settle in before you start cranking out perfect parts. If he ran all those parts back to back without stopping for maintenance or checking the spindle load, that thing was bound to fail eventually. I've seen shops treat their machines like they're invincible and then act surprised when something breaks. Sometimes taking a few minutes to let the machine cool down or doing a quick inspection saves you thousands in repairs. Nobody wants to hear it but running a machine hard from day one is a gamble that usually doesn't pay off.