Edges
Editorial notes from the desk
Twenty-seven edge notes written for SA shop leads who need Tuesday to hold.
Mr Pieter van Wyk
Chip load before hype
Why chip load beats flute count on a loud aluminium Monday.
Mr Pieter van Wyk
Flute count honesty
When four flutes help, and when they just rub soft aluminium.
Ms Lerato Mokoena
Compression before tearout
Laminate nests fail from the wrong spiral, not the wrong machine.
Mr Jacques Botha
Collet torque notes
Nm that keep ER collets honest on shared school spindles.
Mr Sipho Ndlovu
Slot width discipline
Metric slots that match extrusion drawings without guesswork.
Mr Jacques Botha
Holder clearance
Giving the holder room before the flute hits the fixture.
Ms Amina Hassan
Acrylic melt notes
Feed and chip-break habits that keep letters cool.
Ms Amina Hassan
ACM nest order
Pierce order that keeps ACM panels flat for Friday installs.
Mr Pieter van Wyk
Single flute polish
Finish passes on aluminium without rubbing the shine off.
Mr Pieter van Wyk
Mist vs dry Highveld
When mist helps, and when dry cutting is cleaner inland.
Ms Lerato Mokoena
Nest order calm
A one-page nest order beats a console demo every time.
Ms Chloe Naidoo
Climb vs conventional
Softwood edges that stay clean when climb milling is allowed.
Ms Chloe Naidoo
Softwood chip lift
Upcut habits that clear pine chips without tearing the show face.
Mr Jacques Botha
Spoilboard honesty
When the spoilboard is the real tool-life problem.
Mr Sipho Ndlovu
Chamfer before paint
Edge breaks that make paint and vinyl stick without sanding theatre.
Ms Amina Hassan
V-bit letter depth
Depth stops for trophy and sign lettering that still read at night.
Ms Lerato Mokoena
Stepover without drama
Relief stepover cards you can defend in a standup.
Mr Sipho Ndlovu
Relief stock prep
Foam and timber prep before the taper ball-nose starts.
Mr Jacques Botha
Runout ritual
A two-minute dial check that saves a week of bad edges.
Ms Chloe Naidoo
Tool life before scrap
Colour tags that pull dull tools before they scrap a nest.
Ms Chloe Naidoo
Regrind windows
When regrind still pays, and when you should stop.
Ms Amina Hassan
Feeds for MDF letters
Straight and spiral feeds that keep MDF letters sharp.
Mr Jacques Botha
Shared spindle manners
School and hobby cells that share one spindle without chaos.
Ms Amina Hassan
Coastal humidity bits
Storage and coating notes for Durban and Cape shops.
Mr Pieter van Wyk
Highveld dust edges
Dust and coating habits for inland aluminium weeks.
Ms Lerato Mokoena
Friday install edges
What still matters when the install is tomorrow morning.
Ms Lerato Mokoena
Blocker sentence tooling
Write the tooling blocker in one sentence before you widen scope.