Design Nomenclature / Physical Model Making
Feed and speed
Also called feeds and speeds, surface speed, chip load, SFM
This entry has not been translated yet and is shown in English.
The pair that governs every rotating cut: how fast the tool turns and how fast it advances. Together they set chip thickness. Too slow a feed rubs and burns the edge off the tool; too fast deflects or snaps it. Most shop failures blamed on a dull cutter are a feed-and-speed error that dulled it.
In practice
Beginners raise speed and lower feed because it sounds safer. It is the combination that kills tools fastest — the cutter rubs instead of cutting.