Design Nomenclature / Physical Model Making
Feed and speed
Also called feeds and speeds, surface speed, chip load, SFM
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.