Shop Operations: Odds and ends

When working in a shop, a time will come when you’ll be obliged to attempt a technique or cutting routine you’ve never tried before. Those times can be a little unnerving. Most customers and employers want positive results immediately, which does not leave much room for error.

Following are some tips and unusual methods of machining that worked for me—and may help you.

• Use silicone mold release on toolholders for easier tool changes. Some tool changes can be bone jarring, especially when a toolholder has been in the spindle for long time. You should never leave a toolholder in the spindle for an extended length of time—even overnight.
• Use a scouring pad to remove rust and gunk from a toolholder. The task of maintaining proper water-and-oil-coolant ratios in machines often gets overlooked. Typically, water just gets poured into machines when coolant levels get too low. Among other things, this practice can lead to rusty tapers on toolholders.

Use a kitchen scouring pad to remove rust from a toolholder. Image courtesy of J. Harvey.