Spent 6 hours hunting a tool offset issue on a Mazak, turned out to be a .002 inch burr on the turret face

Tbh, I was about to pull my hair out on this one. Had a part coming in .015 off on diameter and every offset I dialed in just shifted the problem. Ran through all the usual stuff, even reset the tool setter, but it took crawling under the coolant tank with a flashlight to spot a tiny burr on the locating face from a crash the guy before me had. Has anyone else chased a ghost like that only to find a simple mechanical fix?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannah_wells10d ago

Man oh man, I feel your pain. I once spent a whole Saturday chasing a .010 inch taper on a lathe and it turned out to be a single chip wedged under the tailstock. That is the worst feeling. You reset everything, check all your tools, and it's just a tiny piece of swarf laughing at you. At least now you have a new flashlight story to tell the guys in the shop.

ivan_harris10d agoTop Commenter

Hold up, has anyone checked if the burr was actually from the turret or maybe from a previous job's chip that got stuck in the coolant line? @hannah_wells makes a good point about that tiny chip under the tailstock. I've seen coolant lines hide chips for months and then shoot one out right when you're trying to do a final pass. Sometimes the burr isn't even on the tool you're looking at. It could be from a tool holder that's been dinged up for years. That random burr could be hanging out in the tool changer pocket, just waiting to ruin your next part. Worth giving the whole machine a once-over before you start blaming the turret.

wesleyflores10d ago

Nah dude that burr was obvious from the start, shoulda checked the turret first.