Tom Skubala Returns to the Shop Floor to Put Edge Tooling to the Test
By Tom Skubala
Tom Skubala recently returned to his roots on the shop floor, stepping away from presenting duties and back onto the machine at the MSC Industrial Supply Co. UK Tech Centre for a hands-on machining session.
Working on a Hurco Europe VMX42SRTi, Tom set out to test the performance of the new Edge tooling range in a real production environment. The session began by running the tooling exactly to the recommended book data, allowing him to establish a baseline for performance.
Once the initial cuts were proven, the testing moved into deeper optimisation. Drawing on more than a decade of shop floor machining experience, Tom gradually increased feeds and speeds of cut to explore the limits of the tooling while maintaining controlled, measured conditions.
The goal was not simply to demonstrate the tooling, but to evaluate how it performs when pushed beyond standard parameters by someone with practical machining experience.
The result was a series of increasingly aggressive cutting conditions that reduced cycle times while maintaining stable machining performance. Throughout the process, the machine’s behaviour, chip formation, and cutting sound were carefully monitored to guide each adjustment.
The entire session was captured on film by Chris Thomas and will soon be released on the MTDCNC channel, offering viewers a detailed look at real-world tooling optimisation and the decision making that happens at the machine.
The upcoming video promises to provide valuable insights for machinists and manufacturers interested in tooling performance, process optimisation, and the benefits of combining technical knowledge with hands-on experience.
