Rant: That job shop in Detroit got me to stop using soft jaws for everything

Ngl, I used to keep soft jaws on every op, even when it was a pain to swap them. Then I ran a batch of 40 parts at a shop outside Detroit last month, and the setup guy watched me struggle for 10 minutes. He just said "you're turning a simple thing hard" and handed me a set of hardened parallels. I thought he was crazy, but the part held better and I finished the run in half the time. Now I only use soft jaws when the print actually needs them. Anyone else stuck in a habit that a veteran had to break you out of?

1 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

1 Comment

jesseb2024d ago

That line about "you're turning a simple thing hard" hit me. I had the same problem with my indicator holder. I used to clamp it the same way every time, even when I was fighting with the swivel. Then an old timer at a shop in Toledo just watched me for a minute, reached over, and flipped the whole thing around. He didn't say a word, just pointed at the part and walked off. I was too proud to ask, but I tried it his way and the needle barely moved. It was a tiny change, but it saved me so much setup time that week. I still think about that whenever I catch myself doing something just because it's how I always did it.

4