T
4

Chose the 5-axis over the 3-axis for a job in Nashville, now I'm second guessing

So last Thursday I had to run this custom bracket with some crazy angled holes for a client down in Nashville, and the shop had both the 3-axis and the 5-axis open. Tbh, I picked the 5-axis thinking it'd save me setup time since I didn't have to flip the part twice, and the CAM software made it look simple. But let me tell you, the post processor fought me for an hour, and the spindle had a weird vibration at 12k RPM that I never noticed on the 3-axis. I got the job done by 6 PM, but the part had a slight tool mark on the second bore that I had to clean up with a hand stone, which felt like cheating. The old timer next to me said I should've just used the 3-axis with a tilting vise, but I was already committed. Has anyone else jumped to a fancy machine for one job and then wished they stayed with what they knew? I'm thinking about redoing the setup on the 3-axis next time just to compare cycle times, but I'm not sure it's worth the extra fixture work.
0 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In
0 Comments

No comments yet

Be the first to share your thoughts on this discussion.