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Watched a new guy crash a $3,000 face mill in Fort Worth and it made me think about training
Three weeks ago we got a new hire on the night shift at our shop in Fort Worth and he was running a face mill for the first time by himself. He fed it way too fast into a 4140 block and snapped the inserts clean off, whole thing was done in about 10 seconds. The kicker is he was never actually shown the feed and speed chart for that insert grade, just handed the controls and told to go. I get that everybody learns by doing but there has to be a better way than just throwing people at machines. How do you all handle training new operators without letting them wreck tooling that costs more than their paycheck?
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wright.sam15d ago
The guy should not have been alone at the controls on day one, that part is on whoever put him there. But blaming the shop for not handing him a chart feels like letting him off the hook a bit. Anyone with half a brain should know you do not bury a face mill into 4140 at full feed on your first solo run, and if he was not sure he should have stopped and asked. A feed and speed chart would not have saved him either, those charts get you in the ballpark and the rest is feel and sound and watching the chips. What actually keeps tooling alive is starting new guys on scrap blocks and cheap cutters for a few weeks so they can screw up without it costing three grand. Handing someone a chart and walking away is barely better than handing them the keys and walking away.
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