I MACHINED THESE INSERTS FOR MY UNIVERSITY'S FORMULA SAE TEAM. THEY ARE MADE FROM A HIGH TECH, EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE POLYMER, AND REQUIRED TOLERANCES SO TIGHT THAT THEY WERE ULTIMATELY CHANGED FROM A MANUAL MILL PART TO A CNC ONE.
THE MACHINING OF THIS PART WAS MORE SIMILAR TO A MANUFACTURING ENVIRONMENT THAN TO THE ONE-OFF PARTS I NORMALLY CREATE. MANY (~100) HAD TO BE MADE, SCRAPPING PARTS WAS A SERIOUS PROBLEM DUE TO EXPENSE OF MATERIAL AND LIMITED AVAILABILITY. THERE WAS ALSO SIGNIFICANT TIME PRESSURE.
I WAS ABLE TO DISCOVER A PROCESS AND SETUP THAT ALLOWED ME TO TURN OUT ONE INSERT EVERY 15 MINUTES, COMPARED TO THE ONE HOUR IT TOOK TO CREATE THE FIRST ONE. I CREATED 36 PARTS TOTAL, AND HAD TO SCRAP ONLY THREE (TWO OF WHICH BEING IN THE FIRST FIVE PARTS.)