Learning to Read the Chips: A Beginner's Journey
When I started in deep hole drilling, I didn’t understand why the experienced operators spent so much time looking at the chips coming out of the hole. They’d pick up a chip, look at it, and then adjust a parameter. It seemed like magic. My mentor explained: “The chips tell you everything. Short and broken means you’re cutting. Long and stringy means you’re rubbing. Fine powder means you’re forcing it.” ...