Before determining tool life, what preparations do you need to make?

Release time:

2025/11/07

In a high-production environment, tool life is often the top priority. To some extent, having the best or most expensive tools is not as important as maintaining consistent tool life to avoid part damage—but the question is, how can you achieve this?

How can you know in advance when a tool is wearing out?

Many factors contribute to tool wear, from the tool itself to external factors such as coolant, machine maintenance, and material hardness. While achieving 100% repeatability is unrealistic, the key is to keep as many factors as possible consistent between each job and part.

Establishing repeatability makes it easier to prevent catastrophic failures that can damage parts and tools—even before the tool is fully worn. This is much more cost-effective than removing a tool too early. Therefore, cost savings are one of the greatest benefits of consistent tool life. It is better to replace a tool in advance rather than push it to its maximum life and risk damaging the tool or machine components, leading to more setup time and machine downtime.

Considering the benefits of establishing a controlled process, here are some tips to help you achieve this:

Proper coolant maintenance and filtration
Contaminants in coolant—ranging from bacteria and machine lubricants to acidic substances and cutting debris—can interfere with the protective layer the coolant provides to the tool material and cutting edge.
Maintaining the coolant is always cheaper than replacing the entire system or risking tool damage. Whether using a refractometer to assess concentration levels or pH test strips to measure acidity, consistent coolant maintenance is essential.

Perform preventive maintenance
To achieve consistent tool life, preventive maintenance on machine components and fixtures is necessary. Vibrations or lack of rigidity caused by worn output parts can damage new tools in the shop. Overall, scheduling regular equipment maintenance and service is critical to reducing tool costs and machine downtime.

Source materials from consistent suppliers
Although supply chain constraints may make it difficult to buy from the same supplier every time, it is important to try to do so because material variations affect how tools perform. When sourcing from different suppliers, it is essential to monitor the incoming Material Test Reports (MTRs) to ensure comparable chemical compositions and make necessary adjustments in procedures to extend tool life.

Focus on the tool holder
For general-purpose machining, the tool holder is usually not the main factor reducing tool life. However, for consistent results at higher spindle speeds, a dynamically balanced tool holder is needed, and the tool must be mounted with minimal runout to achieve good outcomes. Tool cleanliness is also critical for maintaining tool components. Used tools may carry residual coolant, which can cause measurement errors and inconsistent results or even tool failure.

The same tool, under the same operating conditions and machining processes, produces consistent results. To achieve this, it is crucial to purchase tools from manufacturers with strong quality systems so that each time, parts are produced with consistent quality. If the manufacturer changes, even if the tool dimensions are the same, the process can be affected because quality and performance standards vary between producers.

Finally, not all business owners are able to predict tool wear in their processes, but collecting data and tracking tool usage is a good habit and a starting point. If you don’t have this habit yet, now is a good time to start.

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